Conotoxin is toxin made by cone snails, which are fish eating snails that inhabit tropical coral reefs. Each of the 500 species of cone snail produces roughly 50 to 100 distinct conotoxins which they use to immobilize prey. Researchers believe that this sea snail venom could be used to create a pain medication to replace morphine.

Conotoxin has not yet been tested on humans but when tested on animals conotoxin could produce pain relief without the nasty side effects. The researchers believe that with more studies and testing on humans that conotoxin has the potential to completely revolutionize pain treatment for cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers.

Morphine can have a range of side effects including nausea, drowsiness and movement defects. If the research proves successful they hope the treatment will allow sufferer's to lead a normal life-- pain free.

For chronic pain sufferers, this might be the earliest beginning of the ultimate end for unrelenting pain. Columbia University researchers have been studying how pain works at the molecular and cellular level and discovered a key enzyme that cause nerve cells to send pain messages through the central nervous system even when there is no physical pain being experienced. So although you might not actually be in physical pain any longer, if your brain is being told there is still pain, you will experience the reality of pain.

Because of this find, researchers are hoping a drug can be developed that will shut down the messengers and the message.

Researcher Richard Ambron is quoted as saying that pain is not necessary. I could not agree more and have been an advocate for quality of life issues for long-term cancer survivors who must endure chronic pain without effective relief.

Just like Ambron, I do not think it is necessary that people put up with or suffer silently in pain either, and because the current methods of treatment can lead to additional health problems, this type of research is most welcome -- and long past due.

The aftermath of devastation and unimaginable horror when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans is still making headline news. The images and reporting coming out of New Orleans in the first days after the hurricane disaster by mainstream and citizen media were disturbing. The government, state and local authorities failing to provide safety for the people of New Orleans are more than one. But the purpose of this post is not about political failings but medical ethics and the possibility that a doctor and two nurses committed the most unthinkable act of choosing to euthanize patients as they waited to be rescued from the flooding after the storm hit.

Memorial Medical Center had been cut off by flooding after the hurricane. Power was out in the 317-bed hospital and the temperatures inside rose over 100 degrees. As it is told, the medical staff did the best they could under extreme circumstances to care for patients as they waited day after day -- four days total -- to be evacuated from the flooded conditions. As they waited, patients died.

Stories started to surface that some of the deaths were decided on by a small group of medical staff. An investigation that followed as to whether there was any truth to the rumors that patients in pain had been euthanized. One doctor and two nurses have now been arrested on charges of second-degree murder. The arrest warrants state the three intentionally killed four patients at Memorial Medical Center.

"We're not calling this euthanasia. We're not calling this mercy killings. This is second-degree murder," said Kris Wartelle, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Charles C. Foti.

Arrests are not convictions, and it is my belief that we should hold judgment. I cannot help but be saddened that human beings were put into such dire straits as the people of New Orleans were during the flooding after the hurricane, or that stories like this could even be true. It appears the Attorney General's office feels they have enough evidence to prove the truth to what were once rumors -- and if proven true in a court of law -- there is no justifiable reason to do what these three are accused of doing. Doctors and nurses have to be trusted to do everything humanly possible to save lives. What are your thoughts about this story?

A Mayo Clinic College of Medicine study finds more than 20 percent of cancer patients in chronic pain do not ask for pain medicine or help with pain management. The researchers, who refer to these patients as "silent sufferers," admit they do not report pain to their physician. Researchers of this study say that the reasons for not seeking pain relief are unclear, but speculate some of the reasons may be poor previous experiences with pain care, perceived lack of effective treatments, and barriers to health care from a lack of medical insurance. 

As a cancer survivor with long-term chronic pain issues, I can share a perspective and experience not clearly stated in this study, that other cancer patients with chronic pain know all too well, when seeking pain relief from physicians. There are no easy answers when it comes to pain management. The most effective pain management relief comes from the prescription of narcotic medication. Regular use of narcotic medication to relieve pain may lead to drug dependence. Narcotic pain medication is heavily monitored by the DEA, and many physicians are reluctant to draw attention to their practice by prescribing narcotic pain medication. My guess is that the 20 percent of cancer patients with chronic pain gave up, somewhere in the process, after being put in a position of being made to feel like a drug addict, or having to fight for effective medical care for a real medical condition. The pain becomes easier to deal with, than the ordeal of trying to get help for pain relief.