The bodies of mammals, including humans, respond to injury by releasing endogenous opioids — compounds that mitigate acute pain. A team of researchers, led by those at the University of Kentucky, has uncovered groundbreaking new information about how the body responds to traumatic injury with the development of a surprisingly long-lasting opioid mechanism of natural chronic pain control.
Remarkably, the body develops both physical and physiological dependence on this opioid system, just as it does on opiate narcotic drugs.
