A Novel Approach to Treatment of Chronic Pain #Science

When anything describes itself as game-changing, the Rockhouse is suspicious.  Cliche usually only leads to mediocrity and the idea of game-changing for pain management is ludicrous.  There is no game.  (Science Daily:  Game changing strategy for pain relief developed)

However ...

Researchers from Monash University have developed a new drug delivery strategy able to block pain within the nerve cells, in what could be a major development of an immediate and long lasting treatment for pain.

More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain and this figure is expected to grow, driven by the increased life expectancy, increasing incidence of diabetes and cancer, combined with better survival rates, often leaving patients with severe and poorly treated pain. The global market for nerve pain treatments is over US$600 billion and yet current pain therapies are not completely effective and often suffer from unwanted side effects.

- SD

I've had chronic pain for twenty-five years and my approach has been ascetic in refusing pseudo-relief from opiates.  That's one approach but people try many to avoid those foul chemicals.


The science is going to go deep so hold your nose, mates.

Research published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine, reveals how a target protein, long known to be associated with both chronic and acute pain, works within the nerve cell. This protein is the NK1 receptor, the receptor of the neuropeptide substance P, which mediates pain transmission. Because of its association with pain and other diseases of the nervous system, many drug development attempts have focused on inhibiting this receptor, but the efficacy of these treatments has been very limited. This new work shows that such ineffectiveness could be in part because the treatments targeted the protein on the surface of the nerve cell.

- SD

The researchers already knew opiated pain relief doesn't work that well except for extreme cases of pain such as during palliative care and that goes far beyond chronic.

Note:  palliative care is that which is received in an end-of-life situation at a hospice.

From the research, they discovered why such chemical approaches have not worked too well since, like many things, they have only been attacking the problem on the surface.


Together they have found that the NK-1 receptor controls pain once it is inside the cell -- so drugs that merely block it when it is on the surface of the cell have little efficacy. Instead, this new research shows that, in animal models, if the NK-1 receptor is blocked once it enters the nerve cell, it is possible to suppress pain more effectively.

Dr Halls said that the new strategy of "targeting receptors inside the cell represents a new frontier in drug delivery and a novel therapeutic strategy for dealing with pain."

- SD

Rockhouse must emphasize this technique may not eliminate opiates.  Instead they're proposing a delivery system which looks like it has serious potential to make them work.


Watson:  would you take the opiates then?

Probably not although this may reduce the potential for prescribed addiction since pain relief may come through much lower doses if it's delivered effectively.