Why Painkillers May Not Work For You

If you are like millions of Americans, then you may know what it is like to be let down by painkillers. So many people suffer with lasting pain and cannot find comfort in the form of a pill because of the unfavorable side effects of the drugs inability to truly treat the symptom.

At the University of Leeds, a team was assembled by Dr. Nikita Gamper, who understood the concerns of the medical community and pain patients everywhere. It was admitted by the team that it is not as easy to get the funding for pain-related studies today. Though the general path of pain is fairly well understood, there are many details of the process that remain a mystery. As a result, the ability for researchers to discover a noteworthy medication is limited. There is no doubt that there have been a number of failings in the effort to produce an effective treatment.

So, Gamper’s team set out to investigate the difference between persistent pain, such as toothache, and pain resulting from increased sensitivity of nerves. The results, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrated that the same nerves are at play in either situation. The difference lies in the underlying mechanisms.

Gamper’s team discovered that there were two substances that came into play – bradykinin and substance P – which bind to the nerves causing a message to be sent to CNS. Each of the substances caused a unique message to be sent. It was theorized, after this study, that substance P could actually act as a pain suppressant, by changing the action taken by the nerves.

This certainly isn’t the answer that pain sufferers are longing for, but it could point this area of research in the right direction. If you want to learn more about the findings, continue reading here. At Interventional Pain Associates, we continue to stay updated on the latest research findings and treatments to serve our patients the best we can at our clinic in Austin.