Scientists at Manchester University have discovered that utilizing chemistry in the brain can alter how people feel pain, possibly changing how doctors deal with and treat pain in the near future, according to the Daily Mail.
These researchers discovered that the body reacts to pain differently if facing severe and constant pain. Those with arthritis, for example, developed additional receptors in the brain, increasing their pain threshold.
"There is generally a rather negative and fatalistic view of chronic pain," said Manchester Pain Consortium Director Anthony Jones. "This study shows that although the group as a whole are more physiologically vulnerable, the whole pain system is very flexible and that individuals can adaptively increase their resilience to pain."
In Manchester's study, scientist heated the skin of the research participants, some of which were healthy and some plagued with arthritis, according to UPI. The results showed that those who had more opiates in the brain withstood more pain.
"Although the mechanisms of these adaptive changes are unknown, if we can understand how we can enhance them, we may find ways of naturally increasing resilience to pain without the side effects associated with many painkilling drugs," said researcher Christopher Brown.
The study was published in the journal Pain.
