All articles tagged with #pain
A 14-year-old girl from Yorkshire endures crippling period pain after doctors repeatedly dismissed endometriosis as a possibility due to her age; after her family pushes for a second private opinion, she receives a diagnosis and undergoes laparoscopy, highlighting delays in recognizing endometriosis in teens and the need for better menstrual-health education and access to timely investigations.
A University of Missouri study found that older adults who kept a consistent daily schedule—waking, first social interaction, main daytime activity, dinner, and bedtime within 45 minutes of their usual times—reported less physical pain, fewer depressive symptoms, and a lower BMI, regardless of insomnia status, suggesting that regular time cues help synchronize the body clock and support health, with social jet lag identified as a disruptor.
Quanta Magazine's The Joy of Why interviews Columbia neuroscientist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor about how pain and touch arise from skin-brain circuitry, the molecular receptors that distinguish hot, cold, touch, and pain, how researchers infer animals' internal states, the ethics of animal research, and the naked mole rat's unique sociality and pain-insensitivity, along with cutting-edge tools like optogenetics and ongoing work to translate basic findings into therapies that target perception and emotion rather than sensation alone.
Researchers identified prodynorphin-expressing sensory neurons in the colon's enteric nervous system that, when activated in isolated colon tissue, push fecal pellets forward, and when stimulated in living mice trigger pain-like behaviors without changing stool output. This suggests these neurons may help coordinate gut movement and internal sensing, potentially reacting to inflammation, and could relate to constipation or irritable bowel syndrome, though the findings are preclinical (bioRxiv) and not yet confirmed in humans or peer-reviewed.
Medical experts say certain pains should never be ignored: sudden, persistent pain; chest pain especially if new or worsening; calf pain with redness or swelling (possible deep vein thrombosis); upper back pain with a tearing sensation (potential aorta issue); and lower abdominal or flank pain that could signal kidney problems, infection, or appendicitis. If you’re worried, seek prompt evaluation at the ER or urgent care as appropriate, keeping in mind that costs matter but safety comes first.
Two young women with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders describe turning to Botox injections—traditionally a cosmetic treatment—as a way to relieve jaw pain after NHS delays left them pursuing private care. One woman had 12 vials at age 24, while another was diagnosed with stage IV TMJ at 22, illustrating how TMJ affects millions in the UK (more commonly women) and how Botox is used as a pain-relief measure rather than a cosmetic fix. The piece calls for better awareness, access to specialists, and acknowledges that while Botox can ease symptoms, it is not a cure.
A Royal Society B study tested 40 male and 40 female house crickets (Acheta domesticus) by applying a heat stimulus to an antenna and found they groomed the heated area significantly longer than controls, indicating pain-like responses beyond a reflex. With crickets being the world’s most farmed insect (about 370 billion annually), this suggests insects may have subjective experiences and underscores the need for welfare protections as giant-scale farming continues and concerns about animal suffering grow.
A Colorado study of 169 adults aged 60+ found that older first-time cannabis users mainly seek relief from pain, sleep problems, and mental health concerns to improve quality of life, not to get high. They often rely on word-of-mouth rather than healthcare providers, and many favor CBD–THC combination edibles—the so-called 'Goldilocks option'—as a balanced approach. The findings point to a need for better patient–provider information and clinical tools to guide safe, effective use, especially as legal and regulatory contexts vary by state.
Researchers are growing brain organoids and assembloids to study brain diseases and even model pain pathways, but the organoids are not conscious and remain developmentally immature; the debate now centers on ethics and governance, especially around transplanting human organoids into animals and balancing potential therapies with welfare concerns.
New research combining mouse experiments with human vehicle‑crash data suggests that pain after injury lasts longer in women because monocytes produce less IL-10, a molecule that both reduces inflammation and directly dampens pain signals; testosterone boosts IL-10 production in male monocytes, helping men recover faster. This shifts the view of the immune system from solely driving pain to also helping resolve it, pointing to therapies that enhance the body's natural pain‑resolution pathways to prevent chronic pain.
A new Science Immunology study links IL-10–producing monocytes to an immune brake that dampens pain after injury. In mice, males had more IL-10–producing cells and recovered faster, with pain lasting longer when IL-10 or its receptor was blocked. Human data from the AURORA trauma study showed higher IL-10 levels at injury in men and lower subsequent pain, suggesting a biological basis for women’s longer-lasting pain. While not the sole pathway for all chronic pain, the findings point to immune signaling as a potential target, with ideas like skin-applied testosterone to modulate IL-10–positive monocytes under exploration (noting more research is needed).
New research in mice and humans suggests that immune cells produce IL-10 to help resolve pain, and sex differences in this response—shaped by testosterone—may explain why women often recover more slowly from injury and have a higher risk of chronic pain. These findings point to therapies that boost the body's natural pain-resolution system rather than only blocking pain signals.
Researchers engineered human pluripotent stem cell–derived sensory neurons that act as a biological "pain sponge," soaking up inflammatory pain signals at the site of inflammation in mice with osteoarthritis and also promoting bone and cartilage repair. The SN101 approach is in preclinical stages, with safety, immune response and translation to humans unresolved and no peer‑reviewed human data yet.
A preclinical CNS-targeted gene therapy dampens pain signals in specific brain circuits to relieve chronic pain while avoiding the brain reward pathways tied to addiction, using AI-guided imaging and animal models, with an off switch for long-lasting relief and moving toward clinical trials to help the roughly 50 million Americans affected by chronic pain.
A large genetic study has identified 26 genetic regions linked to fibromyalgia, revealing that the condition primarily originates in the brain's neural circuits that control pain sensitivity, rather than in muscles or joints. The findings suggest fibromyalgia is related to nervous system hypersensitivity and shares genetic links with other disorders like chronic fatigue and PTSD, offering new avenues for early detection and targeted treatments.