Bite into a hot pepper, and you'll feel the burn :torch: . But then, your tongue
will go numb. It is that numbing process that scientists are studying
in an effort to reduce post-surgery pain. Scientists have found that
the chemical that makes chile peppers so hot (capsaicin) can actually
relieve the pain of surgery. Capsaicin is being dripped into open
wounds during knee replacements and other highly painful operations.
Bathing surgically exposed nerves in a high enough dose of capsaicin
numbs them for weeks, so patients have less pain and require fewer
painkilling drugs after surgery. Researchers at Harvard University and
the National Institutes of Health, and pain specialists in Denmark,
have been researching capsaicin in combination with other anesthetics
for cancer patients, dental injections, and epidurals used during
childbirth.
Anesiva, a California company, has produced purified capsaicin called
Adlea, which is dripped into cut muscle and tissue. The surgeon waits
five minutes and then stitches up the wound. The capsaicin is a one-
time dose that works inside the wound, rather than body-wide, and
reduces the need for morphine and other narcotic painkillers. The
numbness lasts for weeks.
Visit http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20071105A2 for more information.
will go numb. It is that numbing process that scientists are studying
in an effort to reduce post-surgery pain. Scientists have found that
the chemical that makes chile peppers so hot (capsaicin) can actually
relieve the pain of surgery. Capsaicin is being dripped into open
wounds during knee replacements and other highly painful operations.
Bathing surgically exposed nerves in a high enough dose of capsaicin
numbs them for weeks, so patients have less pain and require fewer
painkilling drugs after surgery. Researchers at Harvard University and
the National Institutes of Health, and pain specialists in Denmark,
have been researching capsaicin in combination with other anesthetics
for cancer patients, dental injections, and epidurals used during
childbirth.
Anesiva, a California company, has produced purified capsaicin called
Adlea, which is dripped into cut muscle and tissue. The surgeon waits
five minutes and then stitches up the wound. The capsaicin is a one-
time dose that works inside the wound, rather than body-wide, and
reduces the need for morphine and other narcotic painkillers. The
numbness lasts for weeks.
Visit http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20071105A2 for more information.