Author of The Painful Truth
As if it’s not enough that some people have chronic pain, we know that these people also don’t live as long. There is new evidence that persistent pain affects the function of the same cells that fights AIDS, lymphomas, and other diseases associated with an impaired immune system.
It is hard to know how much shorter life expectancy is with people in persistent pain, but this discovery offers some insight as to why life expectancy is less than the average person without persistent pain.
Scientists at Tulane University and the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System are working on a new painkiller that would be safer and not be addictive. Research like this should give everyone hope.
There are a number of promising drugs in development, such as this one, that could replace the current type of opioids. The new class of drugs are just as powerful but are not nearly as addictive, nor do they cause respiratory depression.
Our Congressmen and CDC would be doing the country a great service if they could find a way to accelerate the development of these drugs.