Ceskoslovenská fysiologie / Ústrední ústav biologický
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Much progress has taken place in knowledge of actions and use of opioids in pain in the last quarter century. There would be much less unnecessary pain and suffering if this knowledge would be applied properly in clinical practice. Why is it not? The major reasons appear to be ignorance, false prejudices (myths) and exaggerated limitations in availability of opioids for medical treatment of pain. ⋯ Exaggerated opiophobia is a major myth causing much unnecessary pain and suffering in patients. Undue fear of drug abuse and/or political considerations have resulted in laws and regulations, that make it unnecessarily difficult to obtain opioids for medical use. An example of this might be a recent re-scheduling of buprenorphine in the Czech Republic and Slovakia among drugs with a very high abuse potential (e.g. morphine, fentanyl, amphetamine).
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Biography Historical Article
[Nobel Prize winning laureates in physiology or medicine for the year 2000--a few comments on discoveries related to signal transduction].
The Nobel Assembly awarded The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2000 jointly to Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric Kandel for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. On the examples of their predecessors we attempted to demonstrate how results of basic research serve as building blocks for new discoveries and for the application of research results into the praxis. ⋯ These discoveries concerned not only the storage and metabolism of transmitters, formulation of the concept of cyclic AMP as a second messenger of hormonal action, the role of G-proteins in transduction processes in receptor-effector complexes, processes of phosphorylation of proteins as regulators of cell functions, but we also mentioned the discovery of other second messengers and substances functioning as local hormones (prostaglandins and related compounds). Most of the described discoveries have not only the value as stones that can help to fill still incomplete mosaic of our present knowledge, but they also represent the immediate basis for the development and use of very important remedies, such as are antiparkinsonics, antidepressive drugs, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, etc.