Long-Term Benefits of Morphine Treatment in Infants Confirmed in Rodent Study

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 weeks 4 days (www.filterproof.com)

A recent study conducted by researchers at Georgia State University is the first of its kind to demonstrate that administration of preemptive morphine prior to a painful procedure in infancy blocks the long-term negative consequences of pain in adult rodents. These studies have serious implications for the way anesthetics and analgesics are administered to neonates prior to surgery.

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Unconscious Brain Still Registers Pain

jerry submitted, created time 1 month 1 week (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

Most of the time, doctors have a simple way to determine if a patient needs pain medication: They ask. But when a brain injury renders someone unable to respond to questions, the right course of action becomes murkier. Now a study finds that the brains of some patients with brain injuries respond to an unpleasant electrical shock much as do the brains of healthy people, suggesting that these patients may feel pain even though they're unable to show it

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New Cannabis-like Drugs Could Block Pain Without Affecting Brain, Says Study

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.sciencedaily.com)

New research shows that CB2 receptors, a type of cannabis receptor, are present in the peripheral nervous system but not in the brain. The signficance? Now cannabinoid drugs that can be tweaked to affect only this receptor can be used for painkilling purposes without causing physical addiction or intoxication or any of the mild mental side effects know in recreational marijuana. Osteoarthritis in particular seems a likely place to apply this information.

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Is Aromatherapy actually good for you?

DanyC submitted, created time 8 months 2 weeks (www.washingtonpost.com)

Researchers are reporting that two of the most commonly used scents in aromatherapy do nothing to heal wounds, relieve pain or enhance immune status, although one did briefly improve mood.
In fact, in some cases, distilled water showed more of a salutary effect, the study found.

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Treating chronic pain without side-effects?

'Painkiller' gene turned off in mice

Eric wu submitted, created time 11 months 4 days (www.newscientist.com)

Mice lacking a key protein took longer to react to a painful stimulus, prompting hopes for a new class of painkillers

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