Vitamin D for the treatment of chronic painful conditions in adults

Cochrane: Chronic pain is pain of moderate or severe intensity lasting three months or more. It can have a variety of causes, but most comes from musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis, or pain in muscles. Chronic pain usually affects older people more than younger people. Chronic pain is disabling, and has a large negative impact on quality of life. Vitamin D has a variety of roles in the body. It is made in the skin through the action of sunlight and can also be obtained from food. A lack of vitamin D has been implicated in a number of conditions, including chronic pain.

Coral Snake Venom's toxins will be a powerful tool for studying epilepsy, schizophrenia and chronic pain

Johns Hopkins. US: The reason for the lethality of venom from the rare, reclusive Costa Rican coral snake has been a mystery. An international 12-year project revealed that the two main toxins in the venom target certain receptors on nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord of mammals. The toxins may help reveal how flaws in these receptors cause epilepsy, schizophrenia and chronic pain.

100 million Americans live with chronic pain

NIH. US: Chronic pain is often treated with prescription opioids, but the panel noted widespread concern with this practice. Although some patients benefit from such treatment, there are no long-term studies on the effectiveness of opioids related to pain, function, or quality of life. There is not enough research on the long-term safety of opioid use. However, there are well-documented potential adverse outcomes, including substantial side effects (e.g., nausea, mental clouding, respiratory depression), physical dependence, and overdose—with approximately 17,000 opioid-related overdose deaths reported in 2011.