IMSP - Conference

How pain is pain for the people and the society?

Epidemiological aspects of pain

Why does it hurt?

Physological aspects of pain

In the beginning of the lecture about the physiological aspects of pain, Prof. Peters gave a short introduction about the advantages and disadvantages of pain. Pain cannot be seen only as an disturbing factor in daily life it must be seen as an elemental system to survive. If the pain system would not exist there would probably not be this way of life on earth today since life would have get killed for not experiencing pain and not becoming aware of danger. Pin prevents us from further damage. In comparison to the above described pain stands chronic pain which has lost its preventing mean and seems in today scientific approach useless.

Pain can be divided in two main forms: somatic and visceral pain. The somatic pain furthermore is subdivided in superficial and deep tissue pain. The superficial pain origins in receptors of the skin were as the deep tissue pain finds its origin in the connective tissue. The sensation of the superficial pain is described as pricking or burning and can be assigned to a specific region, the deep tissue pain becomes aware as cramps or aching. The visceral pain is difficult to describe and hard to assign to a specific spot.

After this introduction the lecture focused on the possibility of measuring pain. It can be done with algesimetry. The patient regulates in this test a heat source up to that degree that he feels pain. It has been discovered with this that every person has its individual threshold for pain, and that there does not exist a general one. This threshold seems to be modified and effected by former painful situations as well as from the present state of emotions. An important role of the pain reception plays as well the present situation of tissue. A region which is already infected or inflamed will react way stronger to an input as a healthy one. It has been discovered that former painful experiences up regulate the amount of receptors in an region so that the next time this region perceives painful stimuli the pain is perceived way stronger than the first time. This is explained by sleeping receptors which become activated by pain.

Aside of the peripheral perception of pain, and the direct action that the human body starts (the reflexes to move ones body out of the damaging situation) the lecture was about the signal transduction through the spinal cord to the thalamus were pain is the first time recognizes as actual pain. The thalamus can therefore be seen as the principal sensory relay station of the brain.

From the thalamus the peripheral input, no realised as something unfortunate is forwarded by central fibres into the cortex, limbic system and other regions of the brain. Here a modulation, a awareness for what is actually happening and a comparison to earlier painful traumas take place.

(Stefan Haipt, 2nd semester) :: back to top

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