Neuropathic pain can afflict people who have been hurt in car crashes, had surgery or suffer major chronic illnesses. Researchers say neuropathic pain is more common than Alzheimer's disease. In more than half of all sufferers, the disorder manifests itself as chronic lower back pain. You don't get a vacation. Research shows that cytokine protein cells, normally associated with the body's immunity, are produced in the central nervous system in large numbers as a consequence of peripheral nerve damage.
Opiates including morphine are ineffective against pain resulting from that condition.
But if cytokine activity were held in check by new treatments, doctors say, traditional painkillers could then be used to control discomfort. The new treatments can be expected within five years, possibly sooner. Bennett said three drug families already have proven effective against neuropathic pain in early human trials. Studies of neuropathic pain suggest an underlying connection between the body's immune and central nervous systems, which up to now have been thought to operate independently. Researchers have been able to reproduce hypersensitivity to temperature and touch in rats by injuring a single nerve cell.