Living with chronic nerve pain can be exhausting. For many people, it feels like a constant burning, tingling, or stabbing sensation that never goes away.
This type of pain, known as neuropathic pain, happens when nerves outside the brain and spinal cord are damaged. It affects millions of people worldwide and is often hard to treat.
The drugs currently used to treat nerve pain include medications like gabapentin, which is often used for seizures, and duloxetine, an antidepressant. These drugs may help some people, but they also cause side effects like feeling dizzy, tired, or sick. Even worse, many people find they don’t get much pain relief from them.
Some doctors also prescribe opioids for nerve pain. These are strong painkillers, but they can be dangerous. People can get addicted to them, build up a tolerance (which means they need more and more to feel the effect), and risk overdose. Even when taken properly, opioids often don’t work well for nerve pain.
But now, scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Burke Neurological Institute may have found a better way. In early experiments on rats, they tested a new drug that reduced pain without causing serious side effects. The drug could one day be a safe and effective option for people with chronic nerve pain.
What makes this new drug different is how it works. Instead of affecting the whole nervous system, it focuses on one part of the nerve cells that’s linked to pain.
In nerve pain, certain cells become overactive and send too many pain signals to the brain. This happens because of special proteins called HCN ion channels. These proteins help send electrical messages, but when they become too active, they make the pain worse.
The problem is that these same HCN channels are also found in the heart and brain. Blocking them in the wrong place could be dangerous, causing issues like heart rhythm problems or extreme tiredness. So the researchers had to find a way to target only the pain-related nerve cells.
Dr. Gareth Tibbs, who led the study, created a drug called BP4L-18:1:1. He started with a common anesthetic called propofol and added a special chemical “anchor.” This anchor helps the drug stay in the peripheral nerves—those outside the brain and spinal cord—so it doesn’t affect other parts of the body.
You can imagine the anchor like a boat tied to a dock. It keeps the drug where it needs to be and stops it from floating to the heart or brain, where it could cause harm. Once in place, the drug calms the overactive HCN channels and reduces pain signals.
In tests on rats, the drug worked well. It reduced their pain without making them sleepy or causing heart issues. Even better, the drug was given by mouth, so it might be available as a pill in the future. That would be easier and more comfortable for people to take.
Dr. Steven Fox, founder of the company Akelos, which is helping to develop the drug, said this new medicine could change how chronic nerve pain is treated. It doesn’t just cover up the pain. It goes after the cause.
The team now hopes to start testing the drug in humans. If all goes well, this new treatment could offer hope to people who feel like they’ve run out of options.
For now, it’s a promising step forward. People living with chronic nerve pain may no longer have to choose between suffering or using risky drugs. A better solution might be on the way.
If you care about pain, please read studies about how to manage gout with a low-purine diet, and a guide to eating right for arthritis.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the link between processed foods and chronic diseases, and avoid these 8 foods to ease arthritis pain.
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