Pain

History

2024

A neurostimulator attached to the ear has been released to relieve abdominal pain

In early November 2024, NeurAxis introduced the new IB-Stim non-implantable neurostimulator, which is mounted on the auricle. By triggering pulses of a certain frequency, IB-Stim is able to reduce the severity of functional abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Read more here

Ultrasound device for chronic pain control entered the market

In late August 2024, engineers at the University of Utah developed the Diadem ultrasound instrument, which non-invasively stimulates deep parts of the brain to treat chronic pain. Read more here.

2023

Implantable fiber designed to manage pain

On October 19, 2023, US researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported the development of a hydrogel-based soft optical fiber that can be used to relieve pain. This implantable device, scientists believe, will also help in the study of the causes of pain associated with the work of peripheral nerves. Read more here.

Chronic pain began to be treated with gene therapy

On July 27, 2023, American researchers from New York University announced the development of a new method for treating chronic pain based on gene therapy.

It is noted that chronic pain is a serious problem, which affects about a third of the US population. This entails huge costs in the public health system. Scientists are seeking to develop painkillers that will become a more effective and safer alternative to opioids. Gene therapy in this regard has great potential, but its development is slower than expected. The new achievement was announced by specialists from the Center for Pain Research at the College of Dentistry at New York University.

Chronic pain can be cured with gene therapy

The proposed approach is based on controlling the operation of sodium ion channels in cells. They are important elements of the pain signaling mechanism. We are talking, in particular, about the NaV1.7 channel, which can be used to relieve chronic pain. Various scientific teams for many years tried to develop methods that selectively block NaV1.7, but these works did not bring success. In the new study, American experts took a different approach: instead of blocking NaV1.7, scientists tried to indirectly regulate it with a protein called CRMP2.

It turned out that the CRMP2 can change the amount of sodium passing through the channel. Due to this, it is possible to control the activity of transmitting pain signals. To limit the interaction between CRMP2 and NaV1.7, the project participants created a special peptide, which was then included in the adeno-associated virus for delivery to nerve cells. As a result, it was possible to disrupt the work of the NaV1.7. The engineered virus was administered to mice experiencing pain, including sensitivity to touch, heat or cold, and peripheral neuropathy resulting from chemotherapy. After 7-10 days, the researchers noted the disappearance of chronic pain.^[1]

The US Army received wearable devices for rapid pain relief

On July 27, 2023, biopharmaceutical company Bexson Biomedical announced the release of the Akeso wearable device for the U.S. Army. This solution is designed for rapid pain relief in difficult field conditions. Read more here.

Medasense Biometrics Develops NOL Device to Monitor Physiological Response to Pain

On June 14, 2023, it became known that Medasense Biometrics had developed a NOL device for monitoring nociception (physiological response to pain). Read more here.

How a person works pain. Using the example of the most painful insect bite in the world

On June 6, 2023, Australian scientists from the University of Queensland released the results of a study shedding light on the mechanism of severe pain after insect bites.

Experts studied the effect on the body of poisons of the green-headed ant and the bullet ant. Insects of the first species living in Australia have a strong sting, and their poison is able to cause anaphylactic shock in humans. In turn, bullet ants are common in Central and South America. They are characterized by an extremely powerful poison that surpasses the strength of the poison of any wasp or bee: pain can be felt during the day and all this time is accompanied by paralysis of stung limbs, nausea and vomiting - up to a semi-lateral state. Pain in this case is comparable in strength to a firearm wound - this explains the unusual name of insects.

Ant bullet

Studies have shown that the venom of these ants includes a paralyzing neurotoxin - poneratoxin, which affects sodium channels in skeletal muscle fibers. These channels allow information to be transmitted from peripheral nervous system pain receptors to the central nervous system.

In the usual state, as noted by Australian scientists, sodium channels in sensory neurons open briefly in response to stimulating effects. However, ant toxins bind to sodium channels and cause them to remain open and active for a long period of time, resulting in a stronger and longer-lasting pain signal. The researchers say the discovery is important for understanding how the pain mechanism in the human body works. The findings could help create next-generation painkillers.^[2]

New PET scan method developed to detect inflammation

At the end of January 2023, a tool called a LW223 for a positron emission tomograph for scanning to detect inflammation was presented. Researchers received just under $2.5 million to test it. Read more here.

2022

A universal way to combat pain in various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract has been discovered

On December 23, 2022, researchers from Flinders University in Australia reported a new discovery that could lead to the emergence of advanced ways to combat chronic pain associated with various gastrointestinal disorders (GI), such as irritable bowel syndrome. Read more here.

A device that relieves joint pain has entered the market

On October 16, 2022, the Kineon Move + device was released, which relieves joint pain using medical laser technology by stimulating the natural healing processes of the body. Read more here.

A wearable device that treats dizziness has entered the market

On September 7, 2022, Otolith Labs announced the closure of a $20 million Series A funding round, thanks to which the company was able to bring a device for the treatment of chronic dizziness to the market. Read more here.

An implant has been created that relieves pain without drugs

In early July 2022, a group of researchers from Northwestern University of the United States (Northwestern University) developed a small and flexible, as well as a soluble implant that relieves pain on demand and without the use of painkillers. This first-of-its-kind device could be a much-needed alternative to opioids and other highly addictive drugs. Read more here.

XVII century: How patients were anesthetized in Europe

At the end of February 2023, researchers from the University of Milan studied the remains of patients at the Italian hospital in Milan in the 17th century and found out how doctors of those times carried out anesthesia.

In the report, scientists presented the results of toxicological analyses of preserved samples of brain tissue and bones from the remains of 17th-century patients from Ospedale Maggiore, Milan's main hospital and one of the most innovative hospitals in Renaissance Europe. Under it was a crypt that served as the burial place for the deceased patients of the hospital. In this interdisciplinary study of the remains, in particular, toxicological analyses were performed by HPLC-MS/MS on various biological samples from nine individuals. Anthropological, paleopathological, histological, radiological studies and radiocarbon dating were also carried out.

Conclusions about pain relief in the XVII century were made on the basis of toxicological analysis of the remains of a patient of that time

As a result, archaeotoxicological analyses showed the presence of codeine, morphine, noscapine and papaverine derived from the poppy hypnotic, a plant present in the hospital pharmacopoeia and used as a narcotic, analgesic, astringent, coagulant and anti-shock agent. Such analyses shed light on pharmacological therapies applied to patients near the time of death, and expanded the researchers' knowledge of medical treatment and use of drugs in the 1600s.

According to principal researcher Gaia Giordano, the first references to anesthesia in incisions are given in the Babylonian manuscript, the Ebers papyrus, dating from the 15th century BC. Even then, the root of the mandrake, dope and poppy were used as painkillers. General pain relief was used in China at the very beginning of our era, the founder of the Chinese surgeon Hua-To. The medicines of Ancient Russia were also familiar with the analgesic effects of opium and mandrake. However, the methods of anesthesia of our ancestors did not provide the proper effect or were extremely dangerous. The end of the empirical approach was laid by a number of turning points at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, this was facilitated by the rapid development of science and technology. The achievements of anesthesiology also had a negative side, many types of drugs were discovered in search of painkiller, such as cocaine, hemp, morphines, amphetamines, opiates and many others.^[3]

Reflected pain

Have you ever experienced pain caused by indigestion, and it seemed to you that it hurts the chest?

Such confusion occurs because all nerves feeling pain in internal organs send signals through the same spinal cord channels that transmit information from the surface of the body.

This combination does not allow the brain to understand what exactly is wrong. Pain felt in the wrong place where its source is located and is called reflected pain.

For example, pain in the left hand can mean a heart attack. Similarly, pain from a kidney stone can be felt in the stomach, gallbladder pain near the collarbone, and pain from appendicitis can manifest itself near the navel.

If you have persistent pain without any obvious cause in any of these areas (but especially in your left arm), you should see your doctor as soon as possible.

Fibromyalgia

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Headache

Main article: Headache

Notes