Gene therapy has the potential to relieve pain by addressing the underlying causes of certain types of chronic pain. It involves the use of genes to treat or prevent diseases by modifying the genetic material of cells.
As always, I want to inform you that I am not a medical professional and what follows is not medical advice. However, I wanted to share this information to you, which is quite interesting and a bit daunting at the same time! I hope that it will be of value to you.
One approach to gene therapy for pain relief involves targeting specific genes that are involved in pain signaling. For example, researchers have been studying a specific gene that contains instructions for making a protein called Nav1.7, which plays a critical role in pain perception. Mutations in this gene can lead to either decreased or increased pain sensitivity. By modifying this gene, scientists hope to create new pain therapies that can decrease pain sensitivity or block pain signaling altogether.
Another approach to gene therapy for pain relief involves the body to make its own pain-relieving chemicals, like endorphins, instead of relying on drugs. They are using viruses to deliver specific genes that instruct the body to produce these chemicals, with the hope of strengthening the body’s natural ability to relieve pain.
However, it is worth noting that gene therapy for pain relief is still a relatively new field and much more research is needed before it can be widely used as a treatment option. While there have been some promising results in animal studies, further research is needed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of these therapies in humans.
To Your Success & Freedom,
Glenn Shimabukuro
