Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have discovered a non-opioid treatment for chronic pain that may revolutionize severe pain treatment.

James Moore

A recent article in the Medical Xpress newsletter covered what may be the new way to treat chronic pain, including workers’ compensation workers.  

TRPC5 key to non-opioid treatment 

According to the article, blocking transient receptor potential canonical 5 (TRPC5) activity reversed touch pain in mouse models of sickle cell disease, migraine, chemotherapy-related pain and surgical pain.

If you wish to find out more, the MCW staff put together a nice video on the research.  The video is a little heavy with medical terms, but the bottom line is a new method of alleviating pain is on the horizon.  

While the research is in its infancy, this looks to be a major step in controlling pain.  

There are two TRPC5 inhibitors currently in clinical trials for kidney disease and depression. Pending successful completion of Phase 1 safety tests, these drugs could potentially be fast-tracked for use in chronic pain patients.

This means TRPC5 could be a new, non-opioid target for alleviating pain in chronic inflammatory pain conditions that affect so many patients worldwide. Furthermore, a finding that TRPC5 had no effect on non-painful touch means that people can pick up their coffee cup, walk, dress and caress their grandchild without losing tactile perception.

Bringing any type of new drug to the market is likely years away unless the drugs are fast-tracked. The research group is working with mice. Humans and mice do have very similar pain receptors. 

I am sure there are many studies on non-opioid treatment. This one seems to be the most promising for pain relief without the all-too-familiar complications with opioid use.  

This blog post is provided by James Moore, AIC, MBA, ChFC, ARM, and is republished with permission from J&L Risk Management Consultants. Visit the full website at www.cutcompcosts.com.