Jan. 17, 2006 - 20:24 MST

COMFORTABLE

It is great to see something in the news that holds some hope for those in dire circumstances. An article by Lauran Neergaard of the Associated Press in today's Rocky Mountain News appears to hold out hope for the almost forgotten few. In full then:

DOG FORGETS UNBEARABLE PAIN; HUMAN TRIALS NEXT

WASHINGTON -- "The dog hopped on three legs, pain from bone cancer so bad that he wouldn't let his afflicted fourth paw touch the floor. His owner was bracing for euthanasia when scientists offered a novel experiment: They injected a fiery sap from a Moroccan plant into Scooter's spinal column -- and the dog frolicked on all fours again for several months."

"The chemical destroyed nerve cells that sensed pain from Scooters cancer, not helping the tumor but apparently making him no longer really feel it."

"The dramatic effect in dogs has researchers from the National Institutes of Health preparing to test the chemical in people whose pain from advanced cancer is unrelieved by even the strongest narcotics."

"The first human study could begin by next year, at the NIH's Bethesda, Md., hospital. A second study in pain ridden dogs is slated for this summer at the University of Pennsylvania."

"If the research pans out, it might one day offer doctors, and veterinarians, a desperately needed new approach to attack intractable pain. And it's from an unlikely source, a more potent cousin of the chemical that makes chile peppers hot."

"Why would a substance that feels like it is burning a hole in your tongue -- yes, one researcher tasted it -- relieve pain, too ? This fiery chemical called resiniferatoxin or RTX, can poison certain nerve cells that control a type of heat-related, inflammatory pain, apparently eliminating one of the body's pain-sensing systems. Yet it doesn't seem to harm other nerves that sense, say, the sharp pain from stepping on a tack."

"The discovery led government scientists to scour the hillsides of Morocco for the cactus-like plant and take the unusual step of essentially manufacturing an experimental drug from its sap."

"Narcotics called opioids, such as morphine, are the mainstay of treatment for pain from late-stage cancer. But between 5 and 15 percent of patients -- anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 Americans a year -- don't get relief, estilmates Dr. Andrew Mannes, an NIH anesthesiologist and pain management expert."

"Michael Iadarola, a pharmacologist with NIH's National INstitute of Dental and Cranofacial Research, was studying the "I'm hurting" message moves to the brain. For cancer-caused pain, one route is through certain nerve cells, or neurons, in the spinal region that also carry a receptor that controls calcium flow. Too much calcium kills cells."

"Capsaicin, that chile-pepper chemical, stimulates this so-called vanilloid receptor to let in extra calcium. But RTX, from a plant long known to cause skin rashes and other irritation, proved 1,000 times more potent, spurring a flood of calcium that shatters the receptor cells' walls and quickly kills them."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Oh, how I hope that the tests that are going to be run with dogs this year are successful. Which will definitely lead to human tests I suppose.

Pain relief today is a loaded gun. Doctors fear the federal narcs and hesitate to prescribe a decent amount of pain relieving narcotics. And up to now what could they do about pain when it reaches the intractable stage ? Right - - - - nothing.

The feds are busting folks for the use of medical mary-jane, which has been pretty well proven to relieve pain in many cases. Are they going to come up with some faith-based whimper that it is a sin to kill pain cells in the human body ? ? ? ? wouldn't surprise me a bit. Certainly they can't come with the old saw that a pain reliever can become addictive in this case. But the Prim Prigs of the Potomac will see that the drug companies will make increased billions of profit from the procedure.

Or am I just cynically bitter about things ? Having seen some folks suffer deeply without relief, you are right, I am cynical and bitter -- both.

One benefit that will come from human trials will be the ability of a human to communicate with medical professionals which will give the profession a better handle on pain relief. Will this method have bad psychological effects ? A dog can't really tell what is on his or her mind, but a human can. A human can state how things are on a scale of one to ten, which an animal can't do.

To my uneducated mind the freedom from pain perception would give a quality of life heretofore unimaginable for cancer sufferers. Just having a bad back, I can say that the perception of pain is so very, very fatiguing and debilitating.

This is obviously something that will only be used on people who are terminal, but can, if effective, make their last days or months COMFORTABLE . . . . . . . . .

Blog