Pain
We all feel pain at some point in our lives. The most common type of pain is the type associated with cuts, burns or an injury. In these examples we feel pain because the injury has damaged or activated nerve endings, which sends pain messages to the brain through nerves.
Often, these pains are described as aching or sharp and are generally treated by traditional painkillers including paracetamol, ibuprofen and morphine.
Pain remains a global unmet medical need present in all medical areas. It is the most common reason anyone consults a GP. Unfortunately despite billions spent on research and development our best analgesics remain those related to willow bark (aspirin and the NSAIDs), the opium poppy (morphine and opioids) and also paracetamol. Indeed over the last 50 years only one out of the 45 analgesics licensed by the food and drug administration (FDA) in the United States had a new mechanism of action.
With this in mind clinical trials into pain are ongoing in order to try and find new pain relief methods.
