Scientists find gene that controls (Neuropathy) chronic pain: Scientists from Cambridge University said that if drugs could be designed to block the protein produced by the gene, they could treat a type of pain known as neuropathic pain, which is linked to nerve damage and often very difficult to control with currently available drugs.
HERE IS THE NEW LINK. THE OLD ONE STOPPED WORKING FOR SOME REASON. http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/us_pain_gene
I hope this goes somewhere. It’s a start…
Sheila, I read the study. And, this has given me more hope than anything yet. But, I just don't know if my need for a break through gets my expectations too high. Until there are human clinical trials, I suspect that five years is the ballpark time frame for something I can actually put in mouth and wait for heaven on earth to return.
Missing in the study is more discussion about the functionality of the gene. Turn it off and one must loose something more than just neuropathic pain. ?
Thanks for posting. Not much else being posted here. Surprising.
Hi William;
Yes you're right. This is just a beginning...but at least it is something. I don't suppose the scientists of the world ever thought that a gene might be a cause for chronic pain. I just posted this day before yesterday, so that's why there are few comments. Until that day, we need to keep trying the very many meds and different combinations of meds, and different disages that will work for each individual.
RED LAWHERN had similar thoughts as you. He posted this on our facebook page.
One of the mountains that must still be climbed in this research thread is that many genes tend to serve multiple purposes. Before a therapy based on gene suppression can even be tested in humans, it must first be demonstrated to work with...out interfering with necessary healthy processes in animals. For the HCN2 gene, there are indications that its action may also be related to heart rate regulation. Thus quite a journey may be involved before any therapy based on this gene can be brought into widespread use. My personal best guess would be 15 years, unless procedures similar to those of the Myelin Repair Foundation are employed and a few resistant NIH bureaucrats are publicly discredited and personally embarrassed by pain patients who refuse to accept a 15 year answer to a "right now, DAMMIT" question." - Red (Richard) Lawhern
I knew when I found the news release that there would be a long timeline involved before we would see this in practical use.
Yes 15 years seems like a very long time away but on the other hand it just seems like yesterday when I was diagnosed and that was already 7 years ago. Time flies and at least Red has given us his best guess for when we will see this in use. Keeping positive thoughts - at least in 15 years we will be ahead of the game. That's better than we can say without the discovery!
Elaine
Such a good point Elaine. Time does fly. 15 years for me. Remember this gene would affect ALL chronic pain. It sounds like paradise if they could manipulate the gene or do something, so that we still feel pain when our body needs to warn us of a problem, but that it wouldn’t be chronic.
Red or Sheila...do you know if there are any updates on this?
I defer to Red. I have no news.On a different subject, I did listen to a doctor's lecture who said that the hormone HCG, when used in competent doctor's hands, can replace morphine due to its pain killing properties.But where to find a competent doctor willing to dispense the hormone is another thing again.