美国国家公共电台 NPR Brain Scientists Look Beyond Opioids To Conquer Pain

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This question of how to find that balance when you have patients in pain and doctors who are fearing addiction¹ is coming up this week as the Society for Neuroscience holds its meetings here in Washington, D.C. And NPR's Jon Hamilton has been attending. And he's with us in the studio. Hi, Jon.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE²: Hi.

GREENE: So is this the future we're looking at, people who are in chronic³ pain - like we just heard - having to struggle to get treatment because of these legitimate⁴ fears about addiction?

HAMILTON: It's the future that doctors and scientists are trying to avoid. But here's the problem - in the U.S. right now you've got, like, 2 million people who are abusing opioids. At the same time, you've got more than 50 million people - some estimates say 100 million - who are in chronic pain. So how do you balance trying to curb⁵ drug addiction while you're still looking out for people who are in pain?

And I should say, doctors have faced this dilemma⁶ before. Back in the 1980s, there was the war on drugs, there was the Nancy Reagan Just Say No campaign, and back then, the concern was largely illicit⁷ drugs. But it had an effect on doctors, and many of them became really reluctant to prescribe addictive⁸ drugs. And there were cases where cancer patients could not get drugs to relieve their pain.

GREENE: So a lot of neuroscientists here in Washington, D.C., this week - who you'll be spending time with - are you learning anything from them?

HAMILTON: Yes, I already have learned a few things from them. Later today, of course, there's going to be a panel of scientists who are talking about precisely⁹ this topic - addiction and opioids and pain. And one of the things researchers have learned is how many different brain circuits there are involved in both addiction and pain.

You know, for example, there's now a whole lot of research showing how the brain actually creates what they would call our perception of pain. So for instance, when you stub your toe, there's a signal that goes up into your brain. But that signal - the strength of that signal - is affected¹⁰ by all these things - attention, emotion, your mood. And so if, like, you're at the dentist and you're expecting to feel pain, you will feel more pain. If you're depressed¹¹, you are likely to feel more pain. If you're distracted, you may feel less pain.

GREENE: So many factors.

HAMILTON: So many factors.

GREENE: Well, is there a way to use that knowledge and this reality that there are so many factors to come up with better medication for pain that maybe avoids the addiction we see in opioids?

HAMILTON: That is the hope. I was talking to a scientist named Ed Bilsky. He's from Pacific Northwest University. He's the guy who's going to be moderating the panel later today on opioids and pain. And he told me the problem with opioids is that they are this really blunt instrument for treating pain. So at the same time they're hitting these circuits that are involved in pain, they're also hitting these circuits that are involved in reward and pleasure and all the things that are related to addiction. So the idea is to come up with drugs that are much more specific.

And there are a few candidates out there, actually. One of the most interesting ones I've been hearing about is made from the venom¹² of a type of snail¹³.

GREENE: Huh.

HAMILTON: And what's great about it is it targets totally different receptors in the body than opioids do, and yet it appears to be much more powerful as a pain reliever. So there is reason for hope.

GREENE: NPR's Jon Hamilton. Thanks, Jon.

HAMILTON: You're welcome.

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

4 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

7 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

8 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

9 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

12 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

13 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。