The Universal Disorder

You know it at once. It may be the fiery sensation of a burn moments after your finger touches the stove. Or it's a dull ache above your brow after a day of stress and tension. Or you may recognize it as a sharp pierce in your back after you lift something heavy.

It is pain. In its most benign form, it warns us that something isn't quite right, that we should take medicine or see a doctor. At its worst, however, pain robs us of our productivity, our well-being, and, for many of us suffering from extended illness, our very lives. Pain is a complex perception that differs enormously among individual patients, even those who appear to have identical injuries or illnesses.

In 1931, the French medical missionary Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote, "Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself." Today, pain has become the universal disorder, a serious and costly public health issue, and a challenge for family, friends, and health care providers who must give support to the individual suffering from the physical as well as the emotional consequences of pain.

For more information, visit ninds.nih.gov

New Pain Therapeutics Summit 2007 Announced

Arrowhead Conferences, a wing of Arrowhead Publishers, has announced their upcoming Pain Therapeutics Summit 2007, to take place in Jersey City, New Jersey on October 25th and 26th, 2007.

About one and a half billion people suffer from moderate to severe chronic pain worldwide and approximately 50 million Americans suffer with pain. The value of the pharmaceutical market for pain relief reflects this seeming worldwide epidemic of pain, with the overall value estimated at over $25 billion. There is thus great unmet need in the pharmacological treatment of pain around the world.

Arrowhead Conferences' Pain Therapeutics Summit 2007 brings together leaders from the pharmaceutical community to discuss new avenues of research in the field of pain therapeutics and the latest advances in the field.

At this conference, hear from experts in the field regarding new targets for pain relief in the areas of neuropathic pain, nociceptive pain, migraine pain, cancer pain, chronic pain and inflammatory conditions. Moreover, special consideration will be given to the roles that drug delivery and devices will play in the future management of pain.

Key themes of this conference will include: New drug discovery and targets in the area of pain management, Focus on clinical trials and regulatory issues facing developers of new pain medications, Specialty Pharma drug development activities in pain management, Licensing and investment issues revolving around the pain therapeutics market, Developments in the race to market abuse-resistant opioids, and Drug delivery technologies and their application to the field of pain management.

Therapeutic areas covered at this conference will include: neuropathic pain, migraine relief, chronic pain, nociceptive pain (eg. osteoarthritis, cancer pain).

Drug classes covered in this conference will include cannabinoids, triptans, anticonvulsants, opioids and analgesics.

For more information, visit arrowheadpublishers.com