From Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, Talking About the Pain Basic Research

<i>Background:</i> The two winners of Nobel Prize, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian in physiology and medicine studied the temperature and tactile transient receptor potential, revealing the inner mystery of temperature and tactile receptors, thus laying the general direction of pain clinic and basic research. This makes me Think about how our pain doctors in China can deeply study the pathogenesis of painful diseases based on their pain research results, and fundamentally cure many painful diseases. <i>Objective</i> The purpose of this article is to explore how to further study the pathogenesis of painful diseases, and to call on pain doctors to be dedicated spirit, believing that winning the Nobel Prize is possible in the future. <i>Methods:</i> Based on the development status of pain research in China, this paper analyzes the achievements and shortcomings of Chinese basic and clinical research of pain in recent years, so as to point out the direction of future research. <i>Results: </i>Since the establishment of pain departments in almost all hospitals in China in 2007 and the renaming of many pain departments to Painology in 2015, China's scientific research in pain studies has achieved significant progress. Numerous clinical studies have led globally, particularly in the treatment of clinical diseases such as trigeminal neuralgia and herpes zoster-related pain, and in terms of treatment methods, both radiofrequency thermocoagulation and trigeminal nerve root balloon compression have all gained extensive experiences. However, the disadvantage is the lack of basic research and the failure to study the pathogenesis in depth, so that many diseases cannot be cured radically. Many research papers are for the purpose of degree and promotion, and after publication, they are shelved and rarely translated into clinical treatment. <i>Conclusion:</i> The authors call on clinicians to go to the laboratory, to start with clinical phenomena, and to engage in pathogenesis research in the laboratory with dedicative spirit, so as to cure pain diseases. It is possible for clinicians to win the Nobel Prize.