Scientists discover how to 'turn off' pain:
Threshold can be raised by altering chemistry in the brain
Patients can be made more resistant to pain by altering the structure of their brains, scientists believe.New research has raised the possibility of creating more effective treatments for people who suffer from chronic pain - which could be as simple as encouraging them to take more exercise.
Scientists discovered for the first time that people left in agony by arthritis develop more receptors in the brain that respond to opiate pain relief. Having extra receptors makes the body more resistant to pain – both by using our bodies’ natural painkillers, endorphins, and through prescribed opiates such as morphine. The researchers believe that if we can find out how the body increases the number of opiate receptors, we will be able to improve pain relief treatments.
Nearly half of the UK population are thought to have suffered from chronic long-term pain – lasting six months or more - and one in five consultations with GPs are for this complaint. But some people seem to cope better with long-term severe pain, leading scientists to investigate which coping mechanisms were at work.The University of Manchester team found that the more opiate receptors an individual has, the better able they are to resist pain. To test the theory, the scientists warmed the skin of patients with a laser to measure how much pain they could withstand.
They then scanned their brains with a PET scanner to count the number of opiate receptors.
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