Neuroimmune Interactions in Pain (eBook)

As lifespans increase, more people around the world find themselves victims of chronic pain. In spite of this, treatment options continue to be severely limited.  Anti-inflammatory drugs can only do so much, while painkillers like opioids have led to crippling addictions and fatal overdoses. The subject of the book is the role of immune cells, including glial cells, and neuroimmune interactions in chronic pain.  The book begins by examining the preclinical and clinical evidence supporting the involvement of non-neuronal cells in chronic pain. It discusses the interactions between non-neuronal cells and neurons in the regulation of chronic pain. It then presents the implications of these findings, including promising and emerging treatments such as specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs, such as resolvins and protectins), immune cell therapy, and complementary and alternative medicine, as well as neuromodulation and regenerative medicine, which may prove to be the turning point for hundreds of millions of patients world-wide who struggle to escape from the shadow of chronic pain. The book presents ground-breaking research that will alter current perspectives on chronic pain.

Dr. Ru-Rong Ji, is a Professor of Anesthesiology, and the Director of the Center for Translational Pain Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, USA.

Dr. Jianguo Cheng is Professor of Anesthesiology and the Director of Cleveland Clinic Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine Fellowship Program. He works in the departments of Pain Management and Neurosciences at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is Past President of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

Jasmine Ji is a Neuroscience student at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA.