Pain Management And Genetics

Yesterday your grandparents suffered from back pain. Today, you suffer from fibromyalgia. Did you ever stop to think you might have inherited your pain? Science has now explained why some of us are susceptible to developing painful conditions while others are not. This is a fascinating look into our genetic underpinnings that may help explain the widespread pain that we as a society are suffering... We are living in a phenomenal era. In the past, our realization of genetics consisted of only genetic knowledge of a relative handful of conditions, such as sickle cell anemia, Down's syndrome and other devastating diseases.
However, in 1989, research evolved. The National Human Genome Research Institute began as the National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR). It was established in 1989 to carry out the role of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the International Human Genome Project (HGP). Together with the US Department of Energy (DOE), this project was born with the mission in 1990 to map the human genome, our basic DNA structure as humans... In 1997 the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) renamed NCHGR the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), officially elevating it to the status of a research institute - one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The whole human genome series was noted by April 2003. Scientists around the world now had access to a database that would speed up the pace of biomedical research. This human genome project could be the most important health research project to date. So much is now known about the human genome that the field of genetics is rapidly emerging as the foundation of much of modern medicine. You may be wondering what genetics have to do with pain. Some valid questions, which we will further investigate are, "Do my genes change over time?" and "Isn't my genetic make-up a permanent feature?"

The role of genetics in pain is complex. The human genome project has given us more information today than we had in the past. With this knowledge, we know why some people are predisposed to developing excessive or chronic pain. Currently we have knowledge that tells us that inflammation is involved in some situations where pain is produced. We can, therefore, search for certain genetic predispositions towards inflammation and thus, chronic or excessive pain.

In 1866, a monk named Gregor Mendel discovered inherited "factors" that seemed to play a role in the selection of certain traits in common peas. This discovery led to many other investigations. Ultimately, James Watson and Francis Crick made the well-known discovery that resulted in a Nobel Prize for their delineation of the double helix as the primal genetic material of life. This amazing discovery assisted us in understanding many of the perplexing inherited diseases such as sickle cell anemia, Down's syndrome, cystic fibrosis and even some cancers such as breast cancer. These diseases are a result of gross abnormalities of the chromosomes, large collections of DNA found in paired sequences within each of our individual cells.

The human genome project allowed the scientific world to peer deeper into each paired chromosome and analyze each strand of DNA, building block by building block. These building blocks are composed of four purine bases - adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. They are arranged in an overwhelming amount of sequences to give the human body its complex series of codes. These codes produce enzymes, proteins, hormones and much more, creating the master plan for your own one of a kind system.

Found deeply within the genetic code scientists have found minor under-sized variations that happen regularly for some of us, determining how our bodies function in a variety of "less than normal" ways.

These minor variations are called gene SNPs (pronounced snips) or single nucleotide polymorphisms. These SNPs are important to understand for many reasons. Because SNPs produce a wide variation of physiological responses in the body, they are intimately involved in the reason we see many variations in how individuals respond to trauma, injury and common causes of illnesses. Of more significance, these gene SNPs affect the ways your system absorbs and utilizes nutrition, vitamins, minerals and even synthetic compounds such as pharmaceutical drugs.

There are several gene SNPs associated with chronic pain. Since inflammation is one component of chronic or excessive pain, then any genetic control of inflammation will have an affect on your tendency to develop chronic or excessive pain. Indeed, there are several genetic variants of common genes known to predispose an individual to producing inordinate inflammation. In addition, there are known genes that control your body's ability to neutralize oxidative stress, another source of inflammation. Finally, there are genes that manage your system's ability to detox, render toxins harmless and eliminate them. Variants of these particular genes can reduce your system's power to eliminate toxins, increasing the tendency of these toxins to cause damage to DNA, proteins and tissues of your body and produce inflammation in the process. Notice I said "tendency".

An amazing concept has stood traditional science on its head. The expression of some genes, in fact, can be turned on and off by many factors, including the foods you consume, the supplements you take and the lifestyle you lead. This is a radical discovery. For years, it was believed that genetics resulted in specific and consistent types of responses in the body. In fact, you may believe you have a genetic destiny based on the genes you have inherited. With new research, we know this is not the case.

While some genetic conditions may in fact be our physiological destiny, especially when large variations in chromosomes occur such as Down's syndrome, many more genetic conditions can be balanced with how we choose to live our lives. This means you are in control of your health simply by educating yourself on what conditions your genetic constitution predisposes you to develop; you can then create a lifestyle to avoid, modulate or moderate its effect. In particular, with chronic pain, knowing your genetic tendencies around inflammation, antioxidant systems of your body and your ability to detox can help explain your particular response to pain as well as give you the nutritional blueprint for improving your pain. n