Hypothesizing in the Face of the Opioid Crisis Coupling Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) Testing with Electrotherapeutic Nonopioid Modalities Such as H-Wave Could Attenuate Both Pain and Hedonic Addictive Behaviors

Abstract

In the United States, amid the opioid overdose epidemic, nonaddicting/nonpharmacological proven strategies are available to treat pain and manage chronic pain effectively without opioids. Evidence supporting the long-term use of opioids for pain is lacking, as is the will to alter the drug-embracing culture in American chronic pain management. Some pain clinicians seem to prefer classical analgesic agents that promote unwanted tolerance to analgesics and subsequent biological induction of the “addictive brain”. Reward genes play a vital part in modulation of nociception and adaptations in the dopaminergic circuitry. They may affect various sensory and affective components of the chronic pain syndromes. The Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) test coupled with the H-Wave at entry in pain clinics could attenuate pain and help prevent addiction. The GARS test results identify high-risk for both drug and alcohol, and H-Wave can be initiated to treat pain instead of opioids. The utilization of H-Wave to aid in pain reduction and mitigation of hedonic addictive behaviors is recommended, notwithstanding required randomized control studies. This frontline approach would reduce the possibility of long-term neurobiological deficits and fatalities associated with potent opioid analgesics.

Positive Clinical Outcomes for Severe Reported Pain Using Robust Non-Addictive Home Electrotherapy—A Case-Series

“…Although there is a moderate-to-strong effect of the HWDS in offering pain relief, reduction in pain medication usage, and improved function as reported in this study, additional studies are warranted. The best result was noted for improved function, indicating that the HWDS can lead to a speedier return to work and other associated daily activities [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 42 ].…”

“…Most relevant to these important caveats to relieve pain is to embrace electrotherapy such as H-Wave ® device stimulation (HWDS), whereby there is significant evidence that its prescribed utilization could be a very useful tool instead of powerful opioids [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

Offering a putative neurobiological “dopamine homeostatic” solution to overcome the perils of the reward deficiency syndrome pandemic: emergence of “precision behavioral management”

“…Our "out of the box" novel approach requires the coupling of genetic risk polymorphic testing with the safe and wellstudied complex KB220 or KB220Z customized to match the presence of resultant alleles and, as such, provides a precision nutraceutical known to have pro-dopamine regulatory pharmacological properties, including H-Wave therapy (19). There is a plethora of high-tier publications providing unequivocal evidence to establish a common overlap neuro-mechanism between substance and nonsubstance addiction (alcohol, opioids, food, etc.)…”

Should Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) Be Considered an Umbrella Disorder for Mental Illness and Associated Genetic and Epigenetic Induced Dysregulation of Brain Reward Circuitry?

“…In fact, in terms of major depression, transcriptome-wide association research analyses of major depression indicated significant correlations with the expression of DRD2 in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and NEGR1 in the hypothalamus, among others. However, our laboratory has adopted an alternative approach involving finite pathways as candidates instead [ 19 ].…”