Chasing Men on Fire

Guest: Stephen G. Waxman, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Director of the Neuroscience & Regeneration Research Center, Yale Medical School. "Author of Chasing Men on Fire: The Story of the Search for a Pain Gene" Chronic pain is more common than cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined. It affects 100 million adults in the US. But the existing medications to treat it are not effective in a lot of cases – and worse, they can be highly-addictive, as evidenced by the opioid overdose epidemic. So, there’s a pressing need to understand how pain works at a fundamental level. Why does tolerance for pain vary so widely? Why do some medications work for some people and not others?