Medical Portal

American scientists have suggested using of gene therapy for struggle against chronic pain. Developed by them method is deprived of adverse effects, typical for opiates, and renders long-term anesthetizing effect in experiments on animals, informs Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Now for struggle against chronic pain doctors apply narcotic analgesics – morphine’s analogues. These preparations have such side-effects as constant drowsiness, dormancy and hallucination that forces some patients to refuse taking of them.

Scientists from Medical school Mount Sinai (New York) have developed a technique, which simulates anesthetizing effect of opiates, but renders more directive effect.

Head of the research Andreas Beutler informed, that in the future the directed gene therapy can become an alternative to existing methods of struggle against a strong chronic pain, for example, at patients with the extensive cancer stages.