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Researchers from the University of Texas have discovered what they say is a powerful painkiller that acts on a previously unknown pain pathway. The synthetic compound, known as UKH-1114, effectively relieves neuropathic pain in injured mice, but it works at a much lower dose, with a longer duration of action. If the researchers can demonstrate that the drug is safe, effective and nonaddictive in humans – a process that can take years – the discovery could address one of today’s biggest public health challenges: the opioid crisis. Opioids are addictive and users quickly develop a tolerance for the drugs, requiring...

A population-based cohort study of more than 10,000 persons using gabapentinoids found that their use was associated with an increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. This study supports the warnings from regulatory agencies and highlights the importance of considering this potential risk when prescribing gabapentin and pregabalin to patients with COPD. Gabapentinoid drugs are anticonvulsant drugs indicated for the treatment of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. Despite limited indications, its prescription has surged across North America and Europe, which may partly stem from excessive off-label prescribing. However, these drugs have been reported to cause central nervous system depression,...

Also see: Dead 11 month old and dog YORK COUNTY, Va. — A woman is charged in relation to the death of an infant and dog after they were both left inside a hot car, according to Sheriff Montgomery with the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office.

The drug gabapentin, currently prescribed to control seizures and reduce nerve pain, may enhance recovery of movement after a stroke by helping neurons on the undamaged side of the brain take up the signaling work of lost cells. Results showed that daily gabapentin treatment for six weeks after a stroke restored fine motor functions in the animals' upper extremities. Functional recovery also continued after treatment was stopped, the researchers found. The team previously found that gabapentin blocks activity of a protein that, when expressed at elevated levels after an injury to the brain or spinal cord, hinders re-growth of axons,...

Anybody have experience taking this drug? It's interaction with morphine sulfate? Does anybody take this for Sciatica?

A widely used drug that has been mired in controversy for most of its decade-long life may now bring relief to postmenopausal women whose lives have been disrupted by unrelenting hot flashes. The relief may be especially welcome to women who have had breast cancer and cannot take estrogen. The drug, best known by its trade name, Neurontin, but now prescribed generically as gabapentin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1994 to treat epileptic seizures. In 2002, it was approved to treat postherpetic neuralgia, horrific pain that sometimes follows shingles. Aided by the Internet and, the government...