Can you explain what it is and point us to any evidence that leads you to suggest it might be useful?
I use PEA Soothe Support capsules and find them helpful for pain. PEA is Palmitoylethanolamide. I take it in the evening because I find it too relaxing to take during the day. It's also available in a transdermal, but it didn't help me in that form. https://www.neurobiologix.com/PEA-Soothe-Support-Supplement-p/035.htm
It's meant to be a mast cell stabiliser and useful for Neuropathic pain. I could not tolerate it (not unusual).
It supposedly reduces chronic pain by acting on mast and glia cells and reducing neuroinflammation. It was listed as one of the first line treatments for neuropathic pain on an Italian website. Most studies seem to be of low quality. One study showed objective evidence of nerve healing. I wasn't able to muster the energy to properly assess the evidence base myself.
Glia and microglia in particular elaborate pro-inflammatory molecules that play key roles in central nervous system (CNS) disorders from neuropathic pain and epilepsy to neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia respond also to pro-inflammatory signals released from other non-neuronal cells, mainly those of immune origin such as mast cells. The latter are found in most tissues, are CNS resident, and traverse the blood–spinal cord and blood–brain barriers when barrier compromise results from CNS pathology. Growing evidence of mast cell–glia communication opens new perspectives for the development of therapies targeting neuroinflammation by differentially modulating activation of non-neuronal cells that normally control neuronal sensitization – both peripherally and centrally. Mast cells and glia possess endogenous homeostatic mechanisms/molecules that can be up-regulated as a result of tissue damage or stimulation of inflammatory responses. Such molecules include the N-acylethanolamine family. One such member, N-palmitoylethanolamine is proposed to have a key role in maintenance of cellular homeostasis in the face of external stressors provoking, for example, inflammation. N-Palmitoylethanolamine has proven efficacious in mast-cell-mediated experimental models of acute and neurogenic inflammation. This review will provide an overview of recent progress relating to the pathobiology of neuroinflammation, the role of microglia, neuroimmune interactions involving mast cells and the possibility that mast cell–microglia cross-talk contributes to the exacerbation of acute symptoms of chronic neurodegenerative disease and accelerates disease progression, as well as promoting pain transmission pathways. We will conclude by considering the therapeutic potential of treating systemic inflammation or blockade of signalling pathways from the periphery to the brain in such settings. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3930370/
I tried PEA again yesterday afternoon & got good relief from severe myalgia. Nothing else was helping. No relief from Paracetamol, Hydrocortisol, Hemp Oil, Curcumin, Magnesium orotate. Cannot tolerate NSAIDs (get gastric ulceration). Was considering going to a pain clinic.
This was mentioned in a talk by Jesper Mehlsen at the IIMEC 2024 conference. (Starts around 7:29) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAl67o9i-OM
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is generally considered safe and can be classified as a feed material. However, there is not enough information to know if it is safe to use for long periods of time. It seems that this is something that can be sold without license or proof of efficacy because it is a 'food'. The Mehlsen presentation indicates that there are no useful data on benefit which almost certainly means it does not work other than as a placebo. If it did someone would have done some trials and patented a dosing regimen. In other words there isn't a dose, because it doesn't have any dose-response.
