Genes and Chronic Pain

Recent studies by McGill University in Canada show that chronic pain may change how DNA is activated in the brain. These changes may continue months after the initial pain-inducing injury.  These DNA changes, called epigenetic changes, can also be a result of changes in environmental conditions, such as stress, diet, exposure to contaminants, and poverty.

Genetic causes for diseases are thought to be inherited and unable to be altered, but epigenetic causes are different in that they come as a result of how genes are activated/inactivated.  As a result, there are some theories that suggest that epigenetic diseases can potentially be altered or reversed. 

McGill researchers examined this theory and discovered a biological mechanism that encodes the memory of an injury into the DNA, by use of a chemical coating called DNA methylation. In cases of chronic pain, by changing or reversing the process of DNA methylation, the symptoms of chronic pain may be reversed. This study is the first to link chronic pain to epigenetic changes in the brain. This study could  change the way that chronic pain is diagnosed, treated, and eliminated.  Pilot studies surrounding altering DNA methylation in labratory mice have found that chronic pain directly corresponds to the amount of DNA methylation in certain regions of the brain.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving Blair and the seven surrounding counties in central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for clients who are experiencing chronic pain as the result of an injury due to the fault of another.   For more information on his Altoona, PA area firm, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com. 

Strange But True: Chronic Pain Researchers Discover "Erasing" Chemical

Occasionally while investigating a research problem, scientists stumble upon something that they did not expect.  Researchers studying the pathways and treatment of chronic pain had that experience recently.  While studying the genes involved in chronic pain, the scientists discovered a chemical that can erase "memories".  Neuroscientists at McGill University claim that the chemical, with the  acronym ZIP, can selectively wipe out the nervous system’s “memory” of chronic pain while still leaving other memories intact.

This chemical may work because pain that lasts more than a few minutes, leaving a permanent memory trace (which is the reasoning behind phantom limb syndrome).  To begin experiments with ZIP, the scientists injected the chemical into the spinal area of rats.  This successfully wiped out pain memories in their hind paws that had become tender and very sensitive from the use of capsacin, the burning chemical in hot peppers.  Although this chemical is in the very early stages of development and may not possibly become a drug for many years, its future is bright and many result in chronic pain relief for thousands of patients.

Chronic pain is a tricky diagnosis in terms of finding the right medication combination that will work, but will not lead to overmedication.  Working with your physician and seeing what is right for you is the only way to find an effective, realistic pain management treatment.  If you would like more information about this page or central Pennsylvania attorney Doug Stoehr's areas of practice, contact our Altoona, Pennsylvania, law firm by calling 814-946-4100.