How Do Pain Relievers Work? - George Zaidan

Translator: Ido Dekkers Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo

Prevodilac: Jasmina Sevo Lektor: Ivana Korom

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

Recimo da ste na plaži i upadne vam pesak u oči.

How do you know the sand is there?

Kako znate da je pesak tamo?

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

Jasno je da ga ne možete videti, ali ako ste normalno, zdravo ljudsko biće,

you can feel it,

možete ga osetiti,

that sensation of extreme discomfort, also known as pain.

taj osećaj izuzetne neugode, takođe poznat i kao bol.

Now, pain makes you do something,

Sada, bol vas tera da nešto uradite,

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

u ovom slučaju, da ispirate oči dok ne uklonite pesak.

And how do you know the sand is gone?

A kako znate da peska više nema?

Exactly. Because there's no more pain.

Upravo. Zato što više nema bola.

There are people who don't feel pain.

Postoje ljudi koji ne osećaju bol.

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

E sad, to može zvučati super, ali nije.

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

Ako ne osećate bol, možete se povrediti ili čak sami sebe ozlediti,

and never know it.

a da to uopšte ne znate.

Pain is your body's early warning system.

Bol je sistem u telu za rano upozoravanje.

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

On vas štiti od sveta koji vas okružuje, kao i od vas samih.

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

Kako odrastamo, postavljamo detektore bola u većini delova našeg tela.

These detectors are specialized nerve cells

Ovi detektori su specijalizovane nervne ćelije

called nociceptors

koje se zovu nociceptori,

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

a koji se protežu od kičme do kože, mišića, zglobova,

your teeth and some of your internal organs.

zuba i nekih unutrašnjih organa.

Just like all nerve cells, they conduct electrical signals,

Baš kao i sve nervne ćelije, one sprovode električne signale,

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

šaljući informacije sa svoje lokacije nazad do mozga.

But, unlike other nerve cells,

Ali, za razlliku od drugih nervnih ćelija,

nociceptors only fire if something happens that could cause

nociceptori se aktiviraju samo ako se dogodi nešto što bi moglo izazvati

or is causing damage.

ili već čini štetu.

So, gently touch the tip of a needle.

Dakle, nežno dodirnite vrh igle.

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

Osetićete metal i to je reakcija vaših normalnih nervnih ćelija.

But you won't feel any pain.

Ali nećete osetiti nikakav bol.

Now, the harder you push against the needle,

Sada, što više pritišćete iglu odozgo,

the closer you get to the nociceptor threshold.

to ste bliže pragu nociceptora.

Push hard enough, and you'll cross that threshold

Ako pritisnete dovoljno jako, preći ćete taj prag

and the nociceptors fire,

i nociceptor će odreagovati,

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

govoreći vašem telu da prestanete da radite to što radite.

But the pain threshold isn't set in stone.

Ali, prag bola nije čvrsto postavljen.

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

Određene hemikalije podešavaju nociceptore spuštajući njihov prag bola.

When cells are damaged, they and other nearby cells

Kada su ćelije oštećene, one i ostale okolne ćelije

start producing these tuning chemicals like crazy,

počinju kao lude da proizvode ove podešavajuće hemikalije,

lowering the nociceptors' threshold to the point

spuštajući prag nociceptora do tačke

where just touch can cause pain.

na kojoj i običan dodir može prouzrokovati bol.

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

I tada nastupaju analgetici koji se kupuju bez recepta.

Aspirin and ibuprofen

Aspirin i ibuprofen

block production of one class of these tuning chemicals,

blokiraju stvaranje jedne vrste ovih podešavajućih hemikalija

called prostaglandins.

po imenu prostaglandini.

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

Hajde da vidimo kako to rade.

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

Kada su ćelije oštećene one otpuštaju hemikaliju po imenu arahidonska kiselina.

And two enzymes called COX-1 and COX-2

I dva enzima, COX-1 i COX-2,

convert this arachidonic acid into prostaglandin H2,

pretvaraju ovu arahidonsku kiselinu u prostaglandin H2,

which is then converted into a bunch of other chemicals

koji se onda pretvara u čitav niz drugih hemikalija

that do a bunch of things,

koje vrše čitav niz stvari,

including raise your body temperature, cause inflammation

kao što je podizanje telesne temperature, uzrokuju upalu

and lower the pain threshold.

i snižavaju prag bola.

Now, all enzymes have an active site.

Sad, svi enzimi imaju neko aktivno mesto.

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

To je mesto u enzimu gde se događa reakcija.

The active sites of COX-1 and COX-2

Aktivna mesta za COX-1 i COX-2

fit arachidonic acid very cozily.

sasvim se fino uklapaju sa arahidonskom kiselinom.

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

Kao što vidite, nema slobodnog mesta.

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

Ovo je to aktivno mesto gde aspirin i ibuprofen odrađuju svoj posao.

So, they work differently.

I rade na različite načine.

Aspirin acts like a spine from a porcupine.

Aspirin deluje kao bodlja bodljikavog praseta.

It enters the active site and then breaks off,

Ulazi na aktivno mesto i onda se odlomi,

leaving half of itself in there,

ostavljajući jednu polovinu tamo,

totally blocking that channel and making it impossible

potpuno blokirajući taj prolaz i onemogućujući

for the arachidonic acid to fit.

ubacivanje arahidonske kiseline.

This permanently deactivates COX-1 and COX-2.

Ovo trajno deaktivira COX-1 i COX-2.

Ibuprofen, on the other hand,

Ibuprofen, s druge strane,

enters the active site,

ulazi u aktivni prostor,

but doesn't break apart or change the enzyme.

ali se ne raspada niti menja enzim.

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

COX-1 i COX-2 ga mogu ponovo izbaciti,

but for the time that that ibuprofen is in there,

ali dok je ibuprofen prisutan,

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

enzim ne može da veže arahidonsku kiselinu niti da vrši svoju normalnu aktivnost.

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

Ali, kako aspirin i ibuprofen znaju gde je bol?

Well, they don't.

Pa, ne znaju.

Once the drugs are in your bloodstream,

Kada su lekovi u krvotoku

they are carried throughout your body,

prenose se kroz celo telo

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

i odlaze na mesta gde postoji bol kao i na mesta gde ga nema.

So that's how aspirin and ibuprofen work.

Dakle, ovako aspirin i ibuprofen deluju.

But there are other dimensions to pain.

Ali, postoje i druge dimenzije bola.

Neuropathic pain, for example,

Neuropatski bol, na primer,

is pain caused by damage to our nervous system itself;

je bol prouzrokovan oštećenjem samog nervnog sistema;

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

tu ne mora biti nikakvog vanjskog podsticaja.

And scientists are discovering that the brain controls

A nučnici otkrivaju da mozak kontroliše

how we respond to pain signals.

kako mi reagujemo na signale bola.

For example, how much pain you feel can depend on

Na primer, koliko bola osećate može zavisiti od toga

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

da li vi obraćate pažnju na bol

ili čak od vašeg raspoloženja.

Pain is an area of active research.

Bol je oblast koja se aktivno istražuje.

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

Ako ga bolje razumemo, možda uspemo pomoći ljudima da se lakše sa njim nose.