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A breakthrough in treating chronic pain
Health Check
Aug 27, 2025

One in five of us suffer with chronic pain globally and the exact cause of it is often unknown making it very hard to treat. However, in what has been hailed as a remarkable breakthrough, a gene has been identified that is critical for regulating pain signals. Professor David Bennett, head of Clinical Neurology at Oxford, who led the research explains.

BBC Africa’s health correspondent Dorcas Wangira joins Claudia to delve into a decade-long research programme that found child mortality rates almost halved when poorer families in Kenya were given $1000 unconditionally.

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Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Hannah Robins Assistant producers: Katie Tomsett and Alice McKee

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26min 28sec

A breakthrough in treating chronic pain

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