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NEW DRUG DERIVED FROM HOT PEPPERS RELIEVES POST-SHINGLES PAIN
30 April 2004 - University of Wisconsin-Madison
| The thousands of people who suffer from postherpetic neuralgia, the severe burning pain that often follows the skin infection commonly known as shingles, now have new, durable relief from an unexpected source: capsaicin, the alkaloid that makes hot peppers hot. |
The thousands of people who suffer from postherpetic neuralgia, the severe burning pain that often follows the skin infection commonly known as shingles, now have new, durable relief from an unexpected source: capsaicin, the alkaloid that makes hot peppers hot. According to the results of a multi-center study headed by Miroslav Backonja, a neurologist with UW Hospital and Clinics, high-concentration applications of trans-capsaicin work to activate, then deactivate the skin receptors that produce the painful, post-shingles burning. Backonja presented the results of his study to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Francisco on April 29. Over the course of several weeks, patients were given one-hour applications of a patch containing high concentrations of capsaicin, and then asked to assign a numerical score to their pain. Following each treatment, patients reported a more than 30 percent progressive reduction in pain; in certain cases, patients who received only a single treatment of capsaicin were able to experience a full year free of pain.
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About: University of Wisconsin-Madison
In achievement and prestige, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has long been recognized as one of America’s great universities. A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a complete spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs and student activities. Many of its programs are hailed as world leaders in instruction, research and public service.The university traces its roots to a clause in the Wisconsin Constitution, which decreed that the state should have a prominent public university. In 1848, Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, signed the act that formally created the university, and its first class, with 17 students, met in a Madison school building on February 5, 1849. From those humble beginnings, the university has grown into a large, diverse community, with about 40,000 students enrolled each year. These students represent every state in the nation, as well as countries from around the globe, making for a truly international population. UW-Madison is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Wisconsin System, a statewide network of 13 comprehensive universities, 13 freshman-sophomore transfer colleges and an extension service. One of two doctorate-granting universities in the system, UW-Madison’s specific mission is to provide "a learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help insure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all." The university achieves these ends through innovative programs of research, teaching and public service. Throughout its history, UW-Madison has sought to bring the power of learning into the daily lives of its students through innovations such as residential learning communities and service-learning opportunities. Students also participate freely in research, which has led to life-improving inventions from more fuel-efficient engines to cutting-edge genetic therapies. Students, faculty and staff are motivated by a tradition known as the "Wisconsin Idea," described by UW President Charles Van Hise in 1904 as the compelling need to carry "the beneficent influence of the university ... to every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students and the state’s industries and government. |
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