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Scientists Explore The Complexities Of Chronic Pain

Published January 2, 2020 at 12:20 PM CST
Zoltan Takacs, a biomedical scientist and National Geographic explorer, finds a venomous scorpion in Vietnam, which glows blue in ultraviolet light. Collecting venom from around the world, Takacs hopes to identify novel pain medications because there are currently few good alternatives to opioids. Venom has already led to one notable success. (David Guttenfelder/National Geographic)
Zoltan Takacs, a biomedical scientist and National Geographic explorer, finds a venomous scorpion in Vietnam, which glows blue in ultraviolet light. Collecting venom from around the world, Takacs hopes to identify novel pain medications because there are currently few good alternatives to opioids. Venom has already led to one notable success. (David Guttenfelder/National Geographic)

Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. live with chronic pain, which can be defined as anything that lasts longer than three months.

National Geographic contributing writer Yudhijit Bhattacharjee ( @yudhijit) joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to discuss his reporting on the latest in pain research.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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