What do you think of the claim that “glia underlie chronic pain” and " there’s a distinct biology underlying … pain"?
“For in chronic pain, researchers now believe, glia drive a healthy pain network into a dysregulated state, sending false and destructive pain signals that never end.”
On the other hand “For one, scientists now at least have some idea where to seek a solution — the glia. They haven’t yet found easily detectable biomarkers that could demonstrate in a live person that glia (or other elements) are causing chronic pain. But the underlying science is robust and steadily growing more so.”
Yes, you will find lots of “leads” like this, for example studies of neuroinflammation, TRPV1 receptors (and others), etc. Of course there is underlying biology at play.
As you mention, we don’t currently have anything we can do with this information in practice. Pending that development, I don’t have many thoughts on it.
I’m a bit concerned about “In a chronic-pain support group Ms. Steinberg runs, she said that people find it a huge affirmation to learn there’s a distinct biology underlying their pain. It confirms what they’ve long known but often see doubted by doctors and friends: That their pain is as real as any other.”
The concern is people could ignore psycho-social factors and related treatments in the belief their pain is purely biological. Also, it suggests many people in pain are having to deal with those who don’t think pain is real unless there’s an identifiable biological cause.