There are two broad categories of painkillers right now. There's the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs,. things like aspirin and ibuprofen. And then the second category of pain medication are the opioids. What these do is to increase the signals coming back the other way from the brain. So what we have works but not without drawbacks, but also that alternatives are hard to come by.
Our correspondent reports from
eastern Congo, where a three-decade-long conflict has killed thousands, and forced more than five million people from their homes--with no end in sight. Researchers are searching for better
analgesics: ones that reduce pain without the risk of addiction or corollary physiological damage. And a contest in southern Alaska to select the internet’s favourite
fat bear.