For people suffering from the burning, tingling and shooting pain of neuropathy, current treatments are limited and often fail to bring lasting relief.
But help may be on the horizon.
Northeastern University researcher Ganesh Thakur says his lab has developed new classes of drug compounds that harness the body’s own pain control systems to reduce the nerve pain, inflammation and swelling associated with neuropathy.
Instead of masking symptoms, his lab’s discoveries leverage the body’s own signaling systems to offer relief without the sedation, cognitive fog, or risk of addiction associated with opioid analgesics—which have less than a 20% efficacy rate in treating neuropathic pain, says Thakur, a professor of pharmaceutical science.
“Nerve pain remains one of the most difficult and persistent forms of pain to treat, but new drugs from Northeastern are giving hope for gentler, more effective relief,” Thakur says
“This research could help millions reclaim their lives from pain.”
