A New Way to Treat Pain

So, Norbert has heard my complaints over the years – that I live with chronic pain.  

More than 50 million Americans are with you, Dave. It’s tough. I use over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen. Steroids help too, but the pain returns.  

Common pain treatments just haven’t changed much. Over-the-counter brands block an enzyme called COX, which produces the chemicals behind swelling and pain. Opioids like Oxycontin are prescribed for severe pain, but they are highly addictive. The chemicals bind to receptors in the brain and spine to block the body’s pain signals.  

Some drugs block pain locally. Dentists use novocaine to numb your gums, and lidocaine numbs tissues wherever it’s applied on the skin. Both drugs work by blocking sodium ion channels in the cells and tissues, which then interrupts the pain signals sent to the brain.  

Now, after years of testing drugs on these sodium ion channels, a new class of pain drugs has been approved. Suzetrigine targets the sodium channel Nav1.7, which initiates pain signals in our nerve cells. The drug was tested in two clinical trials on patients with acute pain: one recovering from tummy tucks and the other from bunion removal.  

Patients were divided into groups that received opioids, suzetrigine, or a placebo. The results showed that the new drug was as effective as the opioids but, unlike opioids, is not addictive 

For now, it’s only approved for acute pain, but there’s a push to get it approved for chronic pain. For me and millions of others, it would be a tremendous relief.