An article today in the MIT Technology Review talks about a study from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and published in the journal Current Biology on the The Mystery of BenGay or more precisely the mystery of how cooling remedies like mint oil and menthol that have been used for thousands of years - help to alleviate pain.
Pretty interesting stuff. The researchers use menthol and a synthetic compound called Icilin, a super-cooling substance, in tests on rats and find that the brain is not only responding to the perception of cooling, but also regulating the flow of pain neurons transmitted to the brain in response to the application of menthol or icilin. A feedback loop.
The goal is to find another pain relieving substance for treating chronic nerve pain that does not respond to medicines currently available.
