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Higher Pain Ratings in African Americans Rooted in Discrimination

Despite a still-common belief that African Americans feel less pain than Whites, the evidence shows that the former report more pain than the latter, both in clinical and laboratory settings. […]

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An Approved Drug for Multiple Sclerosis Also Eases Pain

It takes billions of dollars and years of research and testing to develop new drugs, including novel treatments for chronic pain. So rather than try to reinvent the wheel, one […]

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Helping Others Eases Pain

Over the past few decades, many studies have examined the paradox of altruistic behaviors, which benefit others at a person’s own expense. Considering the often significant cost of these prosocial […]

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The Culture of Research: “A Shocking Portrait” Calls for Immediate Change

What is it like to be an academic researcher today, according to researchers themselves?   The Wellcome Trust, a huge funder of biomedical research based in London, UK, has now […]

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In the Search for New Drugs, the Migraine Field Wins the Day ─ Again

The pain field has seen its share of disappointment on the drug development front, to the point where the so-called “failure of translation” has become an unavoidable cliché. But over […]

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A New Clinical Trial Shows Clear Benefits of TENS for Fibromyalgia ─ Finally!

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used to treat various forms of chronic pain for decades, yet studies investigating the benefits of this intervention for pain have failed to […]

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Nav1.7 Channels in DRG Neurons: Where Are They and How Do They Get There?

The sodium channel Nav1.7 is a key regulator of the firing of nociceptive neurons, and mutations in this channel can result in pain conditions as well as insensitivity to pain. […]

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Providers’ Expectations Directly Transmit Placebo Effects to Patients via Facial Expressions

For decades, scientists have tried to understand why some people experience the placebo effect, a positive outcome from an inert drug or other inactive treatment. This is often attributed to […]

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Biased Opioid Agonists Isolated From an Australian Fungus

Major efforts are underway to develop new opioid drugs that relieve pain without dangerous adverse effects. One strategy relies on biased agonism—a term that describes preferential activation of one downstream […]

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A Newly Identified Scorpion Toxin Targets TRPA1

Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is an ion channel expressed by many primary afferent sensory neurons. Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), a pungent chemical that gives wasabi and mustard oil their […]

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