Posted on 04/26/2010 10:00:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Studying chilli peppers is helping scientists create a new type of painkiller which could stop pain at its source.
A team at the University of Texas says a substance similar to capsaicin, which makes chilli peppers hot, is found in the human body at sites of pain. And blocking the production of this substance can stop chronic pain, the team found.
They report their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Capsaicin is the primary ingredient in hot chilli peppers which causes a burning sensation.
It does this by binding to receptors present on the cells inside the body.
Similarly, when the body is injured, it releases capsaicin-like substances - fatty acids called oxidized linoleic acid metabolites or OLAMs - and these, via receptors, cause pain, the researchers have found.
Blocking pain
Dr Kenneth Hargreaves, senior researcher at the Dental School at the University of Texas, and his team next set out to see if they could block these newly discovered pain pathways.
Lab work on mice showed that by knocking out a gene for the receptors, there was no sensitivity to capsaicin. Armed with this knowledge they set about making drugs to do the same.
Dr Hargreaves said: "This is a major breakthrough in understanding the mechanisms of pain and how to more effectively treat it.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
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It works great as a topical analgesic, and it works great as a breakfast of chicken wings. Better living through chemistry.
‘Hot’ Substance in Indonesian Chili Peppers Key to Stopping a Kenyan Pain in your Butt’
BBC ^ | Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Posted on 4/26/10 10:00:41 PM by nickcarriedaway
Studying Jakarta chili peppers is helping scientists create a new type of painkiller which could stop Obummer butt pain at its source.
I’d seen a mention of this about 12 years ago, on Discovery Channel.
this has actually been known for years. what’s more? new studies have been done which, in the lab, put the capsaicin compounds directly on cancer cells and it kills those cancer cells deader than hell. of course, i’m thinking anything would die with serious chile pepper heat smeared all over it.
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