mental mechanisms of physical pain
Hypothetical Al Rider does not hurt anything , or so I thought before running into Susan Gonzalez. After a nice coffee talk about their research around the pain, began to ache all over. But alas ... it was too late.
By Leonardo Moledo - What I think if we do the interview in the cafe across the street instead of the lab?
"Oh, I feel perfect, I love coffee. Besides, it is in the cafe where ideas emerge. "That's what I always say. Let's see, tell me about the progress of their investigation. "Well, for a time we were investigating steroid effects on central nervous system lesions, and also worked with a line of neurodegeneration. But some years I focus on the mechanisms that initiate and maintain neuropathic pain, specifically in this type of injury.
- What is Neuropathic Pain? "It's a special type of chronic pain, which is related to direct injury of the nervous system. Lesions can be central (spinal cord or brain) or peripheral well (nerves). We must distinguish between what is neuropathic pain and pain is acute. For example, when one is burned or pricked, we are talking about acute pain. That kind of pain is fully adaptive, because it keeps us away from things that hurt. Acute stress can even operate as an analgesic. But not chronic stress. Has a more controversial role and may exacerbate many of the diseases that are related to pain.
- What What is stress? "As acute response is an adaptive mechanism: the release of substances that allow the body to increase its capacity to deal with a specific situation. But chronic stress triggers a lot of reactions in the body that are no longer favorable. This has been seen with chronic pain: chronic pain is a stress. Recent studies have shown that people with chronic pain have brain regions more active than people without chronic pain.
- Why have chronic pain? "Again: if neuropathic injury associated with the nervous system. But there are other types of chronic pain not related to the nervous system, or do not know yet. For example, fibromyalgia. It is a musculoskeletal disease whose reasons still not well understood. We study precisely the mechanisms that may initiate or maintain chronic pain, a kind of system is ill-suited to the organism.
"Unless the source of chronic pain is also ... "Sure, but often in neuropathic pain that happens is that the injury was resolved and yet the nervous system was modified, so as to amplify signals. So in many patients with neuropathic pain Sometimes we often find what is called allodynia, stimuli not normally painful painful. These people can not dress, a breeze causes them pain ... The nervous system amplifies signals that should not be painful because there excitability of neurons involved in pain transmission. But not only neurons are involved. The latest research focuses on glia cells such as astrocytes and microglia. Are cells that play an important role, such as maintaining homeostasis. When an injury, these glial cells are activated and release factors too can influence these neurons to be excited more than implied.
- Why is that? -neuropathic pain is not adaptive functions. It is a syndrome, has no function in itself, such as acute pain. And does not involve only physical but also emotional. Chronic pain patients also have depression, anxiety, irritability.
-Doctor House. "Exactly.
- What is pain? "There's a definition: it is a complex experience that involves a sensitive issue and an emotional aspect.
"But what happens chemically? -proinflammatory factors are released at the terminals. The stimulus is received by the free end to the root of the spinal cord, then contact the body of the neuron, which in turn sends projections to the spinal cord. Here comes the dorsal horn, where neurons are responsible for receiving information and sending it to the brain. In the brain integrates the cognitive, discriminate what kind of pain is, what reaction will take one face that pain. The brain also modulated by descending pain pathways.
-Answer with something. "Yes. Inhibitory response is: are molecules (endorphins, serotonin). Antidepressants do not work only on an emotional or cognitive but also have an analgesic effect, because they enhance serotonin.
"I always say that a professional investigator is ignorant because if I knew everything would have to investigate. So I ask you what you do not know that you are researching? What do you want out? "I do not know is the huge number of mechanisms that are triggered as a consequence of pain, and therefore, we believe, is so difficult to modulate. Neuropathic pain is very resistant to treatment proposed. This issue of glia that comment is important, because traditionally always attacked the neural level. It allows the glia also point there as therapeutic target.
- What changes are the glia cells that cause this pain? He hypertrophy, increase in number, branch ...
- Why are activated? "Some mechanisms, in principle, tend to be repairers. What happens is that in the long run does not work.
- And how he kept evolutionarily adaptive to be so little? I do not know. The truth is I do not know.
- What about animals is that? "We studied about experimental animal models. These models reproduce the symptoms of patients with neuropathic pain.
- Is it very painful for the animals? "Well, it's a little painful. The studies most painful for the animals we do not employ them, because we focus on the processes of allodynia that commented above. The experiments that we are ethical, the animal is treated with respect. And what we are studying is whether we can modulate that pain.
- What placebos can modulate pain? "Well, there are cases in which placebo was shown to ease the pain. There is a recent publication about acupuncture ...
- Can you have something of real acupuncture treatment? "I think if it takes all the mystical (the energy centers, and flows), there can be as local stimulation to encourage the release of substances that modulate pain. The usual problem is that these alternative therapies to delay the medical approach.
- What are their research results? "Yes, we find them. But after animal studies must pass clinical trials with patients. And that's where many of the drugs are given nose.
www.leonardomoledo.blogspot.com
Imagen: Leandro Teysseire
0 comments:
Post a Comment