Compound suggests chronic pain treatment without opioid or medical marijuana side effects
The study was discussed during the annual m eeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. Hohmann was joined by three other international researchers whose work focuses on similar topics. "The most exciting aspect of this research is the potential to produce the same therapeutic benefits as opioid-based pain relievers without side effects like addiction risk or increased tolerance over time," said Hohmann, a Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience and professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Chronic pain is estimated to affect nearly 50 million adults in the United States. The rise in opioid-based pain relievers to treat chronic pain has also contributed to an opioid addiction epidemic in the United States, with 19,000 deaths linked to prescription opioid abuse in 2014. In Indiana, the use of needles associated with prescri...