Scientists Find Genetic Mutation That Makes Women Feel No Pain (theguardian.com) 106
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Doctors have identified a new mutation in a woman who is barely able to feel pain or stress after a surgeon who was baffled by her recovery from an operation referred her for genetic testing. Jo Cameron, 71, has a mutation in a previously unknown gene which scientists believe must play a major role in pain signaling, mood and memory. The discovery has boosted hopes of new treatments for chronic pain which affects millions of people globally.
In a case report published on Thursday in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the UCL team describe how they delved into Cameron's DNA to see what makes her so unusual. They found two notable mutations. Together, they suppress pain and anxiety, while boosting happiness and, apparently, forgetfulness and wound healing. The first mutation the scientists spotted is common in the general population. It dampens down the activity of a gene called FAAH. The gene makes an enzyme that breaks down anandamide, a chemical in the body that is central to pain sensation, mood and memory. Anandamide works in a similar way to the active ingredients of cannabis. The less it is broken down, the more its analgesic and other effects are felt.
The second mutation was a missing chunk of DNA that mystified scientists at first. Further analysis showed that the "deletion" chopped the front off a nearby, previously unknown gene the scientists named FAAH-OUT. The researchers think this new gene works like a volume control on the FAAH gene. Disable it with a mutation like Cameron has and FAAH falls silent. The upshot is that anandamide, a natural cannabinoid, builds up in the system. Cameron has twice as much anandamide as those in the general population.
In a case report published on Thursday in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the UCL team describe how they delved into Cameron's DNA to see what makes her so unusual. They found two notable mutations. Together, they suppress pain and anxiety, while boosting happiness and, apparently, forgetfulness and wound healing. The first mutation the scientists spotted is common in the general population. It dampens down the activity of a gene called FAAH. The gene makes an enzyme that breaks down anandamide, a chemical in the body that is central to pain sensation, mood and memory. Anandamide works in a similar way to the active ingredients of cannabis. The less it is broken down, the more its analgesic and other effects are felt.
The second mutation was a missing chunk of DNA that mystified scientists at first. Further analysis showed that the "deletion" chopped the front off a nearby, previously unknown gene the scientists named FAAH-OUT. The researchers think this new gene works like a volume control on the FAAH gene. Disable it with a mutation like Cameron has and FAAH falls silent. The upshot is that anandamide, a natural cannabinoid, builds up in the system. Cameron has twice as much anandamide as those in the general population.
And just like that (Score:2)
He's back in the game [inews.co.uk]!
So... cannabinoid, good? (Score:2, Interesting)
What I take away from this is yet again, scientific proof that cannabinoid's are good for us. These helpful substances however are banned from our consumption. Thanks, government racist morons!
Re:So... cannabinoid, good? (Score:5, Funny)
What I take away from this is yet again, scientific proof that cannabinoid's are good for us. These helpful substances however are banned from our consumption. Thanks, government racist morons!
That's FAAH-OUT, man.
Re: So... cannabinoid, good? (Score:1)
Signaling substances are good, but messing with their balance may not be.
Your argument is as scientific as that of people who poison themselves with vitamins.
Re:So... cannabinoid, good? (Score:4, Informative)
If that is what you get out of the study, your agenda is stronger than your interest in science.
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What I take away from this is yet again, scientific proof that cannabinoid's are good for us. These helpful substances however are banned from our consumption. Thanks, government racist morons!
Well, we can always move to Colorado.
I wonder though, with the legalization of the devil's lettuce, has the paranoia aspect gone away? My stoner friends from high school alternated between bliss and paranoia - they did have a reason given the times.
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> I find it amplifies your mood
So, kind of like alcohol. :-)
* If you are feeling sad, you feel REALLY miserable, lonely, and depressed.
* If you are feeling glad, you feel REALLY happy.
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It really depends on a lot of things. Your brain, your current mood, your environment, your experience, the strain of weed, whether it's sativa or indica dominant, how it's been grown, all kinds of factors.
If the paranoia comes up, it's more a matter of how you handle it. It's like when you drink. Sometimes you might get the urge to fuck and fight, even if it's not appropriate, so you figure out how to handle your shit.
Well, when sober, I'm sorta intense and annoying. Get a few beers in me and I'm mellow. Dunno what I'm lke if drunk, last time must have been when I was in high school.
So maybe Devil's lettuce might thrun me into an even nicer guy.
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These helpful substances however are banned from our consumption.
No, they're banned for your consumption. For my consumption, it is legal.
Maybe we voted differently?
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Or maybe we happen for other reasons to live next to neighbors who outvoted us differently.
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The upshot is that anandamide, a natural cannabinoid, builds up in the system
I knew a guy who had lots of natural cannabinoids in his system most of the time. He was pretty FAAH-OUT too.
Super Soldiers (Score:1, Insightful)
Since obviously we cannot have nice things we will instead be oppressed by super soldiers incapable of feeling pain or even remorse. Humanity is only good at one thing, and that is turning anything and everything into a weapon.
Re:Super Soldiers (Score:4, Funny)
Humanity is only good at one thing
Yeah, I got you bro!
and that is turning anything and everything into a weapon.
Oh, I thought you were going to say porn. <ahem>
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Humanity is only good at one thing, and that is turning anything and everything into a weapon.
Right, but, while there are more reasons for humanity's being "good" at making weapons, the major reason for things staying that way in the 21st century is that the operating system humanity is continuing to live by is based on another thing humanity is good at, too: working for the profits of a few, instead of people's needs.
the few many (Score:1)
Re: Super Soldiers (Score:2)
This is too tempting to not be immediately weaponized. :(
The Eugenics Wars is coming
Re: Super Soldiers (Score:1)
Humanity is only good at one thing, and that is turning anything and everything into a weapon.
Nah We are ok at that, but we are WAY better at making up conspiracy theories and ridiculous gloom-and-doom predictions.
Interesting (Score:2)
I didn't realize whiskey was a genetic mutation...
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I didn't realize whiskey was a genetic mutation...
I'm partial to a nice bourbon myself.
I do understand now why a lot of the older guys in my familiy liked their tuner-uppers. Work for years in the mines, and you need a little pain killer every day.
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It's the being able to metabolize it part that is the genetic mutation.
Girl with the Dragon tattoo (Score:2)
Isn't this part of the plot of the "Girl with the dragon tattoo" books? Only it's a man, not a woman with the immunity from pain.
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Isn't this part of the plot of the "Girl with the dragon tattoo" books? Only it's a man, not a woman with the immunity from pain.
More likely, The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo [amazon.com]. I hear Lizbreath Salamander is one tough dragon.
[ Louise Belcher (Bob's Burgers) had some fun [urbandictionary.com] with this for Halloween. ]
It's called (Score:2)
...staying single
Re: Not a mutation... (Score:1)
How bad can it really be if they keep going back for more?
"Feel No Pain" (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yes, this woman has said she only noticed when she burned herself by smelling smoke, and he let an arthritic hip get to a very bad state because she hadn't noticed the pain.
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A friend of mine was deeply depressed and tried to commit suicide.
They found her and put her a hospital, actually a psychiatric one, but stupid as they are they did not fixate her.
So when she woke up, she took the plastic knife from the neighbour bed and tried to cut her wrist. She damaged her wrist so much (sinew and nerves) that the hand got useless. She however got healed and is happy again (that happened over 20 years ago).
After a few weeks out of hospital, she was cooking ... when one pot was finished
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This particular case of genetics is not a matter of not feeling anything or being numb. Tons of people lose sensation and can't feel pain because of nerve damage. This woman does feel things, she just doesn't experience the pain aspect of it. She doesn't even get depressed. This is an unusual phenomena.
It's like the difference between someone who's deaf and doesn't feel the pain from listening to Justin Bieber on a loop, and a person who listens to that and thinks it's a lovely sound.
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Saw her interviewed on the TV news about two weeks ago (way to go, msmanisH1B) . Said she burnt herself and was only alerted by the cooking smell.
Seems like a nice, if slightly dotty, old dear.
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Yes, she burns herself quite often while cooking and doesn't notice until the smell of searing flesh reaches her nostrils. In fact she only found out about it when she went for an x-ray and they found she had severe hip problems but hadn't noticed due to lack of pain.
Quite how they didn't realize when she apparently experienced no pain during childbirth is a bit of a mystery.
Re:"Feel No Pain" (Score:4, Interesting)
Quite how they didn't realize when she apparently experienced no pain during childbirth is a bit of a mystery.
She's 71. The medical establishment especially back then didn't have a reputation for paying the blindest bit of attention to well just about anything to do with women.
Re: "Feel No Pain" (Score:2)
Or, you know, they almost certainly DID notice, and this is just the usual crappy reporting.
It's not as if her condition is unique; there are plenty of other documented cases of people who couldn't feel pain. She's just the first one to have her DNA sequenced in an attempt to figure out why.
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It's not a binary. Pain and anxiety are both good in a way, but balance is critical. Too much pain and stress, and you become unable to function even in simple low-stress/low-pain situations. Not enough pain and stress, and you become unable to function in risky or critical situations. Most people fall within the functional spectrum, but quite a few (especially these days when work is becoming more and more stressful) get serious problems. If you've seen a high-strung girl in school that gets ulcers at the
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>"Isn't pain necessary?"
Absolutely. In fact, it is amazing anyone with such a disorder even survives long. I suspect most that have it don't.
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"Isn't pain necessary?"
No? What they describe in the article doesn't seem particularly unusual to me.
I have a picture [catladies.net] (minor blood, no real gore) from when I was ran over by a car (my car, parking brake failure). It slammed me through a glass door, opened me up a bit. I couldn't stop smiling.
I was back at work the day after a major shoulder surgery, and wisdom teeth extraction, both times without pain medicine.
Other people seemed to think that was weird, and after reading the article, I guess it might be.
Mutation (Score:5, Informative)
The sources say that a specific woman has been identified as having a genetic mutation that affects her pain response and (from the Guardian):
"Cameron’s mother felt pain normally, as does her daughter. But her son, who carries the second and more important mutation, has a dulled sense of pain. He never takes painkillers and frequently scalds his mouth with hot drinks and food. Scientists suspect that Cameron’s father may have passed the mutation on to her."
Slashdot mutates that in its headline about something that specifically makes women (plural) feel no pain.
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This is an exciting line of research. If they can find a way to dull pain permanently it could help a lot of people with chronic pain. It's hard to describe to people who don't have it just had debilitating it can be. Even relatively low levels of pain have a huge effect if they are constant.
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>"This is an exciting line of research. If they can find a way to dull pain permanently it could help a lot of people with chronic pain. It's hard to describe to people who don't have it just had debilitating it can be. Even relatively low levels of pain have a huge effect if they are constant."
Agreed. I remember a period of my life where, for years, I was in constant, dull pain. It changes a person in a way that is hard to describe. Near the end of that period, I had a day where there was suddenly no
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Thanks for sharing. I've had a similar experience with the odd good day. I have to be careful not to go nuts on those days because it will make it all worse later.
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This is an exciting line of research. If they can find a way to dull pain permanently it could help a lot of people with chronic pain. It's hard to describe to people who don't have it just had debilitating it can be. Even relatively low levels of pain have a huge effect if they are constant.
I wonder if these researchers will be forced to quit thanks to harassment by undiagnosed lunatics among the affected population, like their colleagues were? [slashdot.org]
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This is an exciting line of research. If they can find a way to dull pain permanently it could help a lot of people with chronic pain. It's hard to describe to people who don't have it just had debilitating it can be. Even relatively low levels of pain have a huge effect if they are constant.
Yup. Although pain can be a sign to the person that they need to rest the affected part, the chronic stuff gets a life of it's own. And opioids surely aren't the solution other than in the very short term.
TENS machines can help, but it would sure be a lot easier if we can get it in pill form.
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I tried TENS but it didn't really help. At this point ibuprofen is the only way I can sleep.
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Slashdot mutates that in its headline about something that specifically makes women (plural) feel no pain.
And that son, is how we turn a story into clickbait.
I know I know (Score:2)
Not New (Score:2)
I've heard years ago of a disorder that causes people to be unable to feel pain. Often times they end up at a hospital due to chewing their tongues off while eating steak, or burning themselves on a hot surface as a child. Don't recall the name/cause of the disorder, perhaps this simply identified the cause of it.
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Congenital insensitivity to pain. It's pretty rare.
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>"Congenital insensitivity to pain. It's pretty rare."
I suspect mostly because such people die young due to severe complications from injuries.
Women? (Score:2, Insightful)
Is there anything in the article to suggest that it's sex-linked? Or is just the usual competence & thoroughness we've come to expect from DohH1B?
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I was about to blame the grauniad, but it's actually a bad case of TFS. The article is titled "Scientists find genetic mutation that makes woman feel no pain". Woman, singular.
Very intersting, but (Score:2)
Common = mutation? (Score:2)
If it "is common in the general population" then why is it considered a mutation? Mutation infers abnormality or uniqueness. At some point it has to stop being a mutation and simply be normal.
Re: Common = mutation? (Score:1)
Cancers are also a common mutation. Doesn't make them normal.
One woman, not all women (Score:3)
IOW (Score:2)
"The upshot is that anandamide, a natural cannabinoid, builds up in the system. Cameron has twice as much anandamide as those in the general population."
IOW the bitch has been high as a kite all her life.
I guess for a teacher that helps.
Who gets the patent rights? (Score:2)
from an email I got yesterday: "Henrietta Lacks, a poor--and consequently poorly educated--black woman who had pieces of her cervical cancer tumor taken without her consent. Those cells lived on, and on, and on, spawning a multi-billion dollar industry. . ."
Ms Lacks got nothing from this research; wasn't even informed of it. Others built reputations and fortunes.
Now we have "Jo Cameron, 71, has a mutation in a previously unknown gene. . ." Her DNA happens to be interesting to scientists. Research will be f
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She's 71. How much longer would she live, assuming it takes 10 years to turn this discovery into a legal drug?
All she did to have this mutation was to be born. She didn't discover the mutation, nor identify it, nor is it likely she'll be doing much of anything to develop new products to relieve pain based on the mutation. She's not working to accomplish anything. Just how much does she deserve?
Nervously checks date... (Score:2)
Further analysis showed that the "deletion" chopped the front off a nearby, previously unknown gene the scientists named FAAH-OUT.
Hmm, is it April 1st where this was posted from or what?
This gene pairs well with the lesser known GRO-VY.
It's been prophecized (Score:2)
Are we finally on the path to Soma? No more pain, no more stress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
the next level of doping (Score:2)
soon to be found in all kinds of sports as the next level of doping.
imagine being able to do some sports without feeling any pain or feeling tired.
it's very dangerous, yes! but the amount of danger never stopped them before.