Emotions reflect the state of the soul. Pain is a condition of the body. Pain and emotions are interconnected. Bitter emotions lead to pain, and pain always manifests in emotions. We just discussed how nature has provided us with regulators of emotions. Could it be that, while embedding the formation of pain sensations in our bodies, nature did not create “controllers” to regulate the intensity of their expression? It turns out, it did. Recent discoveries by neurophysiologists have shown that two groups of peptides—substance P and endorphins—are directly related to pain sensations.
Substance P has been known for quite some time. It was discovered in 1931 by American scientists W. Euler and J. Gaddum. Its name (which does not reflect any biological properties of this peptide) comes from the English word “powder.” Endorphins, on the other hand, were named for their function—endogenous morphines.
If substance P acts as a mediator and modulator of pain, then endorphins—those natural opioids within us—dull the pain. The more substance P there is, the stronger the pain; the more endorphins, the weaker the pain.
The credit for the discovery of endorphins goes to American researcher Eric J. Simon from New York University and Scottish scientist J. Costall from Aberdeen. Simon demonstrated that certain nerve cells in the brain have specific receptors that bind with morphine, while Costall, upon learning of Simon’s discovery, posed the question: “It can’t be a coincidence. Clearly, these receptors must be designed to perceive our own morphine secreted by the body, and we need to find it.” The work of Costall’s group was successful: they discovered endorphins. Later, it was established that there are substances similar to endorphins but with a lower molecular weight, which were named enkephalins (from “encephalon,” meaning brain).
In the medical field, a genuine buzz has arisen around endorphins. Their pain-relieving effectiveness surpasses that of morphine. Unlike morphine, which can have side effects and lead to addiction, endorphins, synthesized in the body, do not produce such issues. The medical problem of pain relief has transformed into a social issue. There is now a real possibility that by learning to manage endorphin levels, we can eliminate the need for morphine and other narcotics in medicine, halt their production, and thereby effectively combat drug addiction, which has become the number one problem in capitalist countries.
Pharmacologists and representatives from other fields of biology and medicine have focused their efforts in this direction. Significant progress has already been made: the sites of endorphin synthesis have been studied in detail (it turns out that, in addition to nerve cells, certain cells of the APUD system in the stomach, pancreas, and other organs are involved), their functional properties have been explored, and substances capable of regulating their secretion have been synthesized. This last point is considered particularly important and is already finding clinical applications. Reports have emerged in the literature about successful minor surgeries where pain relief was achieved not through conventional anesthetics but by using drugs that enhance the synthesis of endorphins in the human body.
The search continues… “The discovery of endorphins,” write I. Barrer and F. Giron in the Parisian magazine “Poin,” “undoubtedly signifies the opening of a new path toward the coveted goal—ideal pain relief.”