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Gaining control of chronic pain by turning it off may be in future...

Persons with chronic pain disorders know that regular discomfort is a part of every day life.  And while we all know that there are some ways to manage that discomfort, it is ever present.  Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to just...turn if off? The exciting news I have for you today is...maybe someday in the future it will be possible to do just that!



About a year ago, researchers at the University of Saint Louis discovered that pain pathways originating in the brain could be the key.  According to their findings, if a certain chemical receptor in the brain and spinal cord was turned on,  the pain pathways in animal models of chronic neuropathic pain were turned off.  Activation of the A3 receptor was accomplished using a naturally occurring substance known as adenosine. Synthetic molecules developed by NIH were also tested during the study.

The beauty of using a system such as this is that there are no risks of analgesic tolerance or intrinsic
rewards in contrast to opioids, which are a current standard of treatment.  It's still too early to tell where this research will lead us, but let's remain optimistic!

Sources: Newswise; Flickr
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