The rise of the machines

2 in 5 of us have have aches, pain and discomfort every day, 1 in 5  have chronic pain,  9 in  10  will suffer with back pain at some point. It’s not only the pain that impairs us, living in constant pain causes anxiety, depression, de-conditioning, social isolation, low self-esteem and relationship breakdowns.  The total cost of pain is incalculable.  

Many are finding that pain killing drugs aren’t the answer,  Britain is in the grip of an opioid epidemic, experts have warned, after an investigation by The Sunday Times this week exposed a huge rise in prescriptions of powerful painkillers and soaring addiction rates, overdoses and deaths. Escalating numbers of Britons are being given the highly addictive drugs for chronic pain, despite evidence that they are ineffective after more than a few days.

Senior doctors, drug specialists and MPs have warned that the UK is hurtling towards a US-style crisis. There, super-strength painkillers have killed more than 91,000 people in the past two years. According to Dr Andrew Green, of the British Medical Association, “There is no doubt that we have an epidemic of opioid use.” A fresh study  published in the British Medical Journal suggests there may be a link between taking high doses of common anti-inflammatory painkillers - such as ibuprofen - and heart attacks. In the USA, many practitioners are now reducing opioid medications, not only from a clinical perspective, but more from a legal and regulatory perspective for fear of investigation.

People are urgently looking to find new effective natural alternatives to NSAIDs, analgesics and opiates. Nowhere has this shift been more evident than at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, ( VA), which has sharply reduced the use of opioids to treat chronic pain in favour of once-unlikely alternatives. Pain is rampant among veterans. Nearly 60 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are affected by chronic pain, as are more than 50 percent of older veterans. From 2001 to 2013, the VA dispensed opioids as the default pain remedy and prescriptions went up 270 percent while the number of patients rose less than 40 percent. That’s no longer the case as they seek out and make available healthier options.

Bioelectronic medicine is in now the vanguard of the movement for alternative pain treatment at a time of dramatic shift in attitudes to opioids.  Harnessing the body’s own bioelectrical system to provide an answer, putting the power of medical evidenced biotechnology directly into the hands of medical professionals and everyday people alike.

"The electroceutical industry is predicted to be worth USD 25.20 Billion by 2021 from USD 17.20 Billion in 2016” markets and markets.com

From fish to this…. that’s absurd?

Bioelectronics are a proven alternative to pharmaceuticals for managing pain. Ever since ancient Egyptians discovered the shocking effects of electric fish on the body, successive generations have used low level electrotherapy to manage pain by stimulating nerves, tissues and muscles.

We’re all powered by electricity, devices that harness electrical impulses have been used for decades to improve health and save lives—the most common being pacemakers and defibrillators. Until recently, the field had seen little commercial activity due to its small market size, but now, new developments that bring together the most modern knowledge of neurophysiology and molecular mechanisms are guiding the design of personal devices that work in natural harmony with the body’s peripheral nervous system.  

Increasing amounts of pharmacological research into electrocuticals (as they have become known) and recent medical evidence is proving how central a role the peripheral nervous system and muscular skeletal system plays in organ function and immune responses, as well as the body's inflammatory, respiratory, cardiovascular and urinary systems - something which just 10 years ago, people would have thought absurd.

What's got entrepreneurs excited is the potential to treat a wide range of diseases that are currently underserved by oral or injected drugs. Instead of circulating throughout the body and causing side effects as drugs do, they can send a message straight to—and only to—the target - targeting the same mechanisms as those targeted by blockbuster commercial drugs.

What was in the twilight, is now becoming global as bioelectronics ventures are being set up with billions in funding to develop miniaturised electronic devices and stimulation therapies.

Nimble touches the nerve

When programmed into small easy to use ultrawearables, these biolectrical technologies combine frequency treatment formulations with advanced waveforms and physical therapy medical technology that are already widely used by doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors and trainers to assist in rehabilitation and recovery of disease and injuries. Enhancing and harnessing over 50 years of medical research they are scientifically developed and are almost completely without side effects.  

Simple to use, new generation devices can not only help manage and moderate pain, help recovery and improve circulation, they can now mimic the body’s natural microcurrent, holding out the real prospect of cellular regeneration after injury or disease.

The vision is to put the knowledge and power of these advanced biotechnologies firmly in  everyone’s hands. By designing them to be easy to understand, empowering and evidence based, they offer people of all ages, and at all stages, effective, body natural control over their pain. Swapping drugs for devices offers proven means to reduce painkiller dependency and, ultimately, save lives.

About NuroKor:

Founded in 2018, NuroKor is a company committed to the development of bioelectronic technologies. NuroKor develops and formulates programmable bioelectronic software for clinical and therapeutic applications, in a range of easy to use, wearable devices. It provides the highest-quality products, delivering personalised pain relief and recovery support and rehabilitation to patients.

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