Brain Study May Lead to New Ways to Control Pain without Opioids

Scientists in the U.K. and Japan say they have identified how the brain's natural painkilling system could be used as a possible alternative to opioids for the effective relief of chronic pain, which affects as many as one in three people at some point in their lives. The team, led by the University of Cambridge, pinpointed an area of the brain that is important for endogenous analgesia—the brain's intrinsic pain relief system. They believe their study (“ The Control of Tonic Pa