It almost sounds too good to be true: painkillers that could be more effective in relieving pain and less likely to result in dependence and addiction. But that’s what researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Colorado are on their way to developing following a study on the potential of a drug called (+)-naloxone.

“It’s a total game changer,” said Linda Watkins, the lead author of the study, which was published last month in the Journal of Neuroscience. (+)-naloxone is a mirror image of the drug naloxone, used to treat opiate overdoses. Watkins and her team found that (+)-naloxone can alleviate pain more strongly when paired with opioids than the drugs would otherwise alone, while blocking some of the elements that lead to addiction.  Read More…