- Patients with a current general medical illness that is life threatening or inadequately treated will be excluded: moderate-to-severe chronic pain, evidence of fracture or malignancy, inflammatory joint disease, severe physical impairment (e.g., bilateral amputation, blindness), morbid obesity, autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, cardiopulmonary disorders (i.e., angina, congestive heart failure, COPD), chronic renal insufficiency, uncontrolled endocrine or allergic disorders (i.e., hyper-/hypothyroidism, diabetes, allergic rhinitis), malignancy.