Spotlight on Chronic Pain
Today there are no good medications for chronic pain. In await on functional medicine, research has taken an interest in how patients can manage their pain in a better way. Read more in our feature on chronic pain research.
Warning signals that run amok
Pain is a vital warning signal. But when things go wrong, it turns into a fire alarm that will not switch off even when the fire has long since been put out
Even healthy backs ache
Back pain is so common that it’s considered part of life. Up to 80% of people are estimated to experience lower back pain at some point in their lifetime.
Supporting those with fibromyalgia
Resistance and challenges have not stopped Professor Eva Kosek. On the contrary, she has actively swam against the tide. Thanks to her research, there has been an increased understanding of the pain disorder fibromyalgia.
Autoantibodies a possible contributor to fibromyalgia
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and their British colleagues have identified a possible contributory cause of fibromyalgia, a difficult to treat pain condition. In a study on mice and human tissue, the researchers found that fibromyalgia patients’ antibodies played a key part in symptom development. The results, which are published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, pave the way for developing new treatment strategies.
Key breakthroughs in pain research
Photo: Manfred RichterUnexpected mechanism behind chronic nerve pain
It has long been assumed that chronic nerve pain is caused by hypersensitivity in the neurons that transmit pain. However, a study by researchers at KI shows that another kind of neuron, that normally allows us to feel pleasant touch sensation, can switch function and instead signal pain after nerve damage.
The black out that revolutionized medicine
Today, operations has become routine and it is considered a matter of course to undergo surgery with anaesthesia without experiencing either pain or discomfort. However, this has not always been the case.
Photo: Martin Stenmark"Pain should not be allowed to dominate your life"
As a teenager, he experienced how chronic pain can destroy a person's existence. Today, Rikard Wicksell offers an evaluated method that support his aim – to help pain patients regain a meaningful life.
News from KI on pain research
Some of our researchers in this area
Changing our view of persistent pain
Living with chronic pain is challenging – not least because of the limited number of good treatments. Camilla Svensson is researching the mechanisms behind persistent pain in rheumatic diseases and how it can be tackled in new, more effective ways.
Finding the cell types that drive chronic pain
Patrik Ernfors is a Professor of Tissue Biology, and is trying to determine the full cellular and molecular complexity of pain and unravel the critical cell types driving pain in particular types of pain disorders.
Chronic pain in muscles and joints
Chronic pain affects large groups of patients and is very costly in terms of human suffering and medical resources. Eva Kosek studies the causes of chronic pain in the hope that her work will one day lead to new, more efficacious treatments.
Studies pain and placebo
Karin Jensen is ineterested in placebo responses and brain mechanisms involved in pain control. Her research group use various neuroimaging techniques to study the neural correlates of chronic pain and treatment mechanisms.
Aiming at more effective analgesic
Per-Johan Jakobsson wants to gain a better understanding of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatism. His research may lead to more efficacious drugs for pain and fever in the long term.