Chronic pain affects millions of people, who not only suffer but also risk becoming addicted to the medications used to treat it. A new report for six members of an Italian family of three generations who do not feel burns, bone fractures, and even extracts of chili peppers placed on pierced skin.
So members of the Marsili family feel almost no physical pain.
According to Letizia Marsili, she began to notice that she did not feel much pain since childhood, and even later colleagues called her a 'supergroup'. There were some times in their family when someone broke a bone and didn’t even realize it. This even happened to the elderly mother.
Letizia herself once sprained her ankle during a winter break and walked without any problems with a swollen foot for the remaining 2 weeks of the trip. Her son Bernardo once fell off a bicycle and broke his arm, but did not even notice it. Letizia's sister, Maria, has burned herself with hot drinks several times and has not even noticed. "" We actually feel pain, but it only lasts a few seconds, "says one of them.
Scientists became interested in this phenomenon. During their search, they discovered a mutation in the ZFHX2 gene. Dr. James Cox from University College London says that the nervous system of members of this family reacts in a way that does not resemble those of all other people.
"If we find out why there is no pain, then maybe this will help us create a new generation of pain medication," says Cox.
This rare mutation is also present in the new generation of the Marsili family.
