从古希腊和古中国的治疗方法得到的灵感而产生的一种新治疗方法可以减轻数百万关节炎患者和神经损伤患者的痛苦，这是一项由爱丁堡大学最新研究报道的成果。
古希腊学者希波克拉底（Hippocrates）利用冷冻皮肤的方法治疗扭伤、关节疼痛和关节炎；而中医疗法则利用薄荷油来治疗这些疾病。而现在科学家们发现了与薄荷油具有相同性质的致冷化学物具有戏剧性的止痛效果，并且使用时仅需要在皮肤上应用较少的剂量。与传统的止痛药不一样，因为这些化合物为皮肤外用型，所以具有较小的毒副作用。这对于慢性疼痛病人来说无疑是一种理想的药物，因为传统的止痛药对他们来说根本不起作用。
该爱丁堡大学的研究开始时精确地分析薄荷油里的成分是怎样工作的。他们在最近在人类皮肤中的少量神经细胞发现的受体（一种能与薄荷油成分结合的蛋白）上展开研究。科学家们发现这种叫做TRPM8的受体被致冷的化学物质或者冷温激活，抑制“疼痛信息”从痛处传送到大脑中去，该新研究就是利用了这种身体自身的机制来止痛。
假如希波克拉底还在世的话，该发现无疑会引起的兴趣，在写于公元前5世纪的他的一本经典格言书里，他说道：“关节肿痛、痛风和扭伤可以用冷水来减轻痛苦和消肿；起到中等程度麻痹的作用去除疼痛。”
Susan Fleetwood-Walker教授和Rory Mitchell领导了该研究项目，她说：“这个关于薄荷油和相关成分具有止痛作用的发现对许多慢性疼痛患者来说具有潜在的治疗意义，其中包括关节炎患者、神经损伤患者和意外事故中的脊骨损伤患者等。传统的止痛药如吗啡对于慢性疼痛来说通常不起作用。”
“我们的发现意味着病人只需在皮肤上使用小剂量的这些化学物就能减轻痛苦，并且没有副作用。我们希望在年内能进行这些化学物的临床实验。”
英文原文：
'Mint' pain killer takes leaf out of ancient medical texts
A new synthetic treatment inspired by ancient Greek and Chinese remedies could offer pain relief to millions of patients with arthritis and nerve damage, a new University of Edinburgh study suggests.
The Greek scholar Hippocrates treated sprains, joint pains and inflammation by cooling the skin, and traditional Chinese remedies used mint oil to the same end. Now scientists have discovered that cooling chemicals which have the same properties as mint oil have a dramatic pain-killing effect when applied in small doses to the skin. Unlike conventional pain killers, these compounds are likely to have minimal toxic side-effects, especially because they are applied externally to the skin. This should mean they are ideal for chronic pain patients for whom conventional pain killers often do not work.
The Edinburgh study sets out exactly how the 'mint oil' compounds (and related more powerful chemicals) work. They act through a recently discovered receptor (a protein which is capable of binding with these chemicals) which is found in a small percentage of nerve cells in the human skin. The scientists have found that when this receptor, called TRPM8, is activated by the cooling chemicals or cool temperatures, it inhibits the 'pain messages' being sent from the locality of the pain to the brain. Thus, the new treatment makes good use of the body's own mechanisms for killing pain.
The findings would doubtless have been of interest to Hippocrates, the founding father of modern medicine. Writing in the fifth century BC, in chapter 5 of his classic text, Aphorisms, he stated: "Swellings and pains in the joints, ulceration, those of a gouty nature, and sprains, are generally improved by a copious affusion of cold water, which reduces the swelling, and removes the pain; for a moderate degree of numbness removes pain."
Professor Susan Fleetwood-Walker, who jointly led the study with Dr Rory Mitchell, says:
"This discovery of the pain-relieving properties of mint oil and related compounds has great potential for alleviating the suffering of millions of chronic pain patients, including those with arthritis or those who have had nerve damage or spinal injury following major accidents. Conventional painkillers such as morphine are often ineffective in cases of chronic pain, and simply lowering the temperature of the skin is too inexact."
"Our discovery means that patients can be given low doses of a powerful pain killer, delivered through the skin, without side effects. We hope clinical trials on the compounds will begin within the year."
