Benedict Alter News Today

A variety of pain-relieving drugs are available both over the counter and by prescription. SelectStock/Vetta via Getty ImagesWithout the ability to feel pain, life is more dangerous. To avoid injury, pain tells us to use a hammer more gently, wait for the soup to cool or put on gloves in a snowball fight. Those with rare inherited disorders that leave them without the ability to feel pain are unable to protect themselves from environmental threats, leading to broken bones, damaged skin, infectio

A layperson's overview of pain channels and how painkillers interefere with them.

Pain distribution as reported on a body map, on its own, can be used to assign patients to distinct subgroups that are associated with differences in pain intensity, pain quality, pain impact and clinically-relevant three-month outcomes, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Benedict Alter of University of Pittsburgh, US, and colleagues.