How Do Pain Relievers Work? - George Zaidan

Translator: Ido Dekkers Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo

Prevoditelj: Ivan Stamenković Recezent: Senzos Osijek

Say you're at the beach, and you get sand in your eyes.

Recimo da ste na plaži, i upadne vam pijesak u oči.

How do you know the sand is there?

Kako znate da ondje ima pjeska?

You obviously can't see it, but if you are a normal, healthy human,

Očito ga ne možete vidjeti, ali ako ste normalno, zdravo ljudsko biće,

you can feel it,

osjetite ga,

that sensation of extreme discomfort, also known as pain.

taj osjećaj ekstremne neugode, poznat i kao bol.

Now, pain makes you do something,

Sad, bol vas može potaknuti na nešto,

in this case, rinse your eyes until the sand is gone.

u ovom slučaju, da isperete oči dok pijeska ne bude.

And how do you know the sand is gone?

I kako znate da pijeska nema?

Exactly. Because there's no more pain.

Točno tako. Jer nema boli.

There are people who don't feel pain.

Postoje ljudi koji ne osjećaju bol.

Now, that might sound cool, but it's not.

Sad, to možda zvuči super, ali nije.

If you can't feel pain, you could get hurt, or even hurt yourself

Ako ne osjetite bol, možete se ozlijediti, ili ozlijediti sebe

and never know it.

a da ne shvatite to.

Pain is your body's early warning system.

Bol je rani sustav upozorenja vašeg tijela.

It protects you from the world around you, and from yourself.

Štiti vas od svijeta oko vas, i vas samih.

As we grow, we install pain detectors in most areas of our body.

Kako rastemo, stvaramo detektore za bol u čitavom tijelu.

These detectors are specialized nerve cells

Ovi detektori specijalizirane su moždane stanice

called nociceptors

nazvane nociceptori

that stretch from your spinal cord to your skin, your muscles, your joints,

koji se protežu od vaše kralježnice do kože, mišića i zglobova,

your teeth and some of your internal organs.

zuba i nekih nutarnjih organa.

Just like all nerve cells, they conduct electrical signals,

Baš kao i sve živčane stanice, one provode električne signale,

sending information from wherever they're located back to your brain.

šaljući informacije sa svoje lokacije natrag do mozga.

But, unlike other nerve cells,

Ali, za razliku od drugih živčanih stanica,

nociceptors only fire if something happens that could cause

nociceptori prorade ukoliko se događa nešto što

or is causing damage.

što čini štetu.

So, gently touch the tip of a needle.

Dakle, nježno dotaknete vrh igle.

You'll feel the metal, and those are your regular nerve cells.

Osjetit će te metal, i to su vaše regularne moždane stanice.

But you won't feel any pain.

Ali nećete osjećati nikakvu bol.

Now, the harder you push against the needle,

Sad, što jače oslanjate prst na iglu,

the closer you get to the nociceptor threshold.

to ste bliži pragu nociceptora.

Push hard enough, and you'll cross that threshold

Pritisnite dovoljno jako, i preći ćete taj prag

and the nociceptors fire,

i nociceptori se okidaju,

telling your body to stop doing whatever you're doing.

govoreći vašem tijelu da prestane raditi to što radite.

But the pain threshold isn't set in stone.

Ali taj prag nije čvrsto postavljen.

Certain chemicals can tune nociceptors, lowering their threshold for pain.

Određene kemikalije prilagođuju nociceptore, smanjujući vaš prag na bol.

When cells are damaged, they and other nearby cells

Kada su stanice oštećene, one i druge obližnje stanice

start producing these tuning chemicals like crazy,

počinju proizvoditi te kemikalije kao lude,

lowering the nociceptors' threshold to the point

smanjujući prag nociceptora do točke

where just touch can cause pain.

gdje samo dodir može uzrokovati bol.

And this is where over-the-counter painkillers come in.

I ovdje dolaze lijekovi protiv bolova bez recepta.

Aspirin and ibuprofen

Aspirin i ibuprofen

block production of one class of these tuning chemicals,

blokiraju proizvodnju jedne vrste ovih kemikalija za prilagodbu,

called prostaglandins.

imena prostaglandini.

Let's take a look at how they do that.

Pogledajmo kako to čine.

When cells are damaged, they release a chemical called arachidonic acid.

Kada su stanice oštećene, one otpuštaju arahidonsku kiselinu.

And two enzymes called COX-1 and COX-2

I dva enzima COX-1 and COX-2

convert this arachidonic acid into prostaglandin H2,

pretvaraju tu kiselinu u prostaglandin H2,

which is then converted into a bunch of other chemicals

koji se potom pretvara u hrpu drugih kemikalija

that do a bunch of things,

koje rade hrpu stvari,

including raise your body temperature, cause inflammation

uključujući podizanje temperature, stvaranje upale

and lower the pain threshold.

i smanjivanje praga za bol.

Now, all enzymes have an active site.

Sad, svi enzimi imaju područje djelovanja.

That's the place in the enzyme where the reaction happens.

To je mjesto gdje se u enzimu događa reakcija.

The active sites of COX-1 and COX-2

Područje djelovanja COX-1 i COX-"

fit arachidonic acid very cozily.

pristaju arahidoničkoj kiselini vrlo dobro.

As you can see, there is no room to spare.

Kao što vidite, nema mjesta.

Now, it's in this active site that aspirin and ibuprofen do their work.

Sad, na tom području aspirin i ibuprofen rade.

So, they work differently.

Rade različito.

Aspirin acts like a spine from a porcupine.

Aspirin je kao hrpt dikobraza.

It enters the active site and then breaks off,

Ulazi u područje djelovanja i odvaja se,

leaving half of itself in there,

ostavljajući pola sebe ondje,

totally blocking that channel and making it impossible

blokirajući taj prolaz i onemogučujući

for the arachidonic acid to fit.

da se arahidonička kiselina smjesti.

This permanently deactivates COX-1 and COX-2.

Ovo trajno deaktivira COX-1 i 2.

Ibuprofen, on the other hand,

Ibuprofen pak

enters the active site,

ulazi na područje djelovanja,

but doesn't break apart or change the enzyme.

ali se ne raspada ili mijenja enzim.

COX-1 and COX-2 are free to spit it out again,

COX-1 i 2 slobodni su ispljunuti ga van,

but for the time that that ibuprofen is in there,

ali za vrijeme dok je ibuprofen tamo,

the enzyme can't bind arachidonic acid, and can't do its normal chemistry.

enzim ne može na sebe vezati arahidonsku kiselinu i ne može imati normalne reakcije.

But how do aspirin and ibuprofen know where the pain is?

Ali kako aspirin i ibuprofen znaju gdje je bol?

Well, they don't.

Pa, ne znaju.

Once the drugs are in your bloodstream,

Kada su u vašem krvotoku,

they are carried throughout your body,

pronose se kroz tijelo,

and they go to painful areas just the same as normal ones.

i idu na bolna područja kao i na normalna.

So that's how aspirin and ibuprofen work.

Tako rade ibuprofen i aspirin.

But there are other dimensions to pain.

Ali postoje druge dimenzije boli.

Neuropathic pain, for example,

Neuropatska, na primjer,

is pain caused by damage to our nervous system itself;

je bol koju stvara oštećenje živčanog sustava,

there doesn't need to be any sort of outside stimulus.

nema potrebe za vanjskom stimulacijom.

And scientists are discovering that the brain controls

I znanstvenici su otkrili da mozak kontrolira

how we respond to pain signals.

kako reagiramo na signale boli.

For example, how much pain you feel can depend on

Na primjer, koliko boli možete osjećati ovisi o

whether you're paying attention to the pain, or even your mood.

tome da li ste obratili pozornost na nju, ili čak vaše raspoloženje.

Pain is an area of active research.

Bol je područje aktivnog istraživanja.

If we can understand it better, maybe we can help people manage it better.

Ako ju bolje razumijemo, možda ćemo ju moći bolje kontrolirati.