Giant new organ discovered inside…the human body

You possess a giant web just beneath your skin, woven from fine, hair-like fibers – scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have just announced. It's a completely unknown organ found in the human body and many animals, tentatively called the "pain glial complex," because it's thanks to this complex that we feel pain.

The new organ in the human body takes the form of a giant, thin mesh hidden beneath the skin - illustration from INDEPENDENT

However, these cells are also connected to the skin by long, extended tails that surround the heads of pain-sensing nerve cells in the skin, thus creating a tight mechanism for pain.

In experiments on mice, when this network of "pain glial complexes" was blocked, their perception of pain decreased significantly.

"Our research shows that pain sensitivity occurs not only in the nerve fibers of the skin, but also in a newly discovered pain-sensitive organ," said Professor Patrik Ernfors, the lead author of the study.

According to him, this discovery changes our understanding of the cellular mechanisms of physical pain sensation. This could pave the way for more targeted research aimed at preventing and mitigating chronic pain conditions, which afflict countless patients worldwide. Recent US research shows that over 20% of adults in the country suffer from chronic pain, defined as pain lasting three months or more.