A new way to treat pain?

Hope has been nurtured by a new way of treating pain after scientists have succeeded in "silencing" the brain cells that interpret the discomfort.

Exposing mice to unpleasant temperatures or skin pricks activates a region of their brain called amygdala, which processes emotions.

When rodent tonsil cells were blocked, the animals still produced pain signals but these were not interpreted by their brains.

This caused the rodents to move away from the source of pain but showed no signs of distress, such as licking wounds, scientists said.

"It's like they do not care about pain anymore, although they can detect it," said lead author Grégory Scherrer of Stanford University.

To study how the brain interprets pain, researchers have genetically modified mouse tonsil cells so that they become fluorescent when they are active.

They found that these cells were lit when the mice were exposed to heat or a small bite, New Scientist reported.

To silence these cells, scientists have genetically engineered them to express the receptors of an unnamed drug that is slowing down their activity.

The brain circuits of pain tend to be similar between species, these mechanisms can also occur in humans.

The researchers hope their findings could lead to "new therapeutic strategies" that would minimize persistent discomfort.

"We hope this will be a new way to treat pain," said Professor Scherrer. The results were published in the journal Science.

This discovery follows earlier research that damage to the amygdala alleviated the sensation of pain.

However, it is important for people and animals to know that they need to get away from the source of the discomfort, which could lead to harm.

Scientists have warned that pain signals must still be generated but not interpreted by the brain.

In the United States, 50 million adults – 20.4% of adults – suffer from chronic pain, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report defines chronic pain as occurring every day or almost, for at least six months.

In the UK, 28 million adults – two-fifths of the population – live with pain that has lasted for at least three months, reveal data from the British Pain Society. Common causes include headaches, abdominal cramps, muscle tension and arthritis.

Posted in Daily Times, January 21^st 2019.