In this discussion, I will be looking at the different forms of pain and how this pain is caused within the body. The number of different types of drugs used to treat pain is forever expanding but I will examine the main types of painkiller, how they were discovered and how they work to relieve the symptoms of pain.
There are many different types of pain which can be categorised depending on how the pain is caused and how long the pain lasts. If pain results from tissue damage then it is called nociceptive pain and this includes pain from pressure applied outside of the body, like a cut or a burn, or from pressure inside the body such as a tumour. Another type of pain is neuropathic pain which is pain experienced when there is damage to the actual nerves or central nervous system within the body. It can be caused by conditions such as HIV, cancer and Multiple sclerosis1,2.
Acute pain is mainly to provide a warning signal that something is wrong, for example if you put your hand too near a hot object, pain is experienced which causes you to move your hand away before permanent damage is done. The pain experienced is immediate, usually of short duration and can usually be diagnosed and treated. Chronic pain is continuous pain that persists for a longer period of time and can last up to a lifetime. This type of pain causes the patient permanent discomfort and can severely affect the everyday lifestyle of the sufferer. Arthritis and back pain are common types of chronic pain1,2.
The feeling of pain is caused when damaged tissue stimulates the release of messenger chemicals called neurotransmitters which in turn stimulate the nerve endings and electrical impulses are sent to the brain12.
The body has its own mechanisms for relievin...
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The most common and well described pain transmission is “gate control theory of pain”. This theory was first proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 whereby they used the analogy of gate to explain the inhibition of pain which exists within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. For instance, when tissue damage occurs, substances such as prostaglandin, serotonin, histamine and bradykinin are released from the injured cell. Individual usually consume or apply pain medications such as NSAIDs whereby these medications will cause electrical nerve impulse at the end of the sensory nerve fiber via nociceptor. Nociceptor is a pain receptor that is commonly found in the skin, cornea of eye and organ of motion such as muscles and ligaments. These nerve impulses
Chronic pain is a long term condition, which means it cannot be cured, but the symptoms may be controlled by therapies and medications (Saxon and Lillyman, 2011). When pain is considered chronic, it lasts longer than the expected healing period and there may not be a clear cause (Kraaimaat and Evers, 2003).
What exactly is pain? According to Webster's dictionary, pain is "physical suffering typically from injury or illness; a distressing sensation in a part of the body; severe mental or emotional distress". Most everyone reading this paper has experienced some form of physical pain at some point during their lives; most everyone has even experienced the common daily pains such as stubbing our toe as we walk through the living room, accidentally biting our tongue as we chew, and having the afternoon headache after a long day of work. No matter the fact that it is unpleasant, pain has a very important role in telling the body that something is not right and leading to behavior that will remove the body from a source of potential injury. Imagine if we could not experience pain. We would not be able to change our behavior in any way when touching the burning hot dish in the oven, resulting in potentially serious burns. We could not recognize that perhaps we twisted an ankle when walking down the stairs, thus continued walking on that foot would exacerbate the injury to the point of not being able to walk at all. Indeed, pain is not pleasant, but in many cases it is an important way for our nervous system to learn from and react to the environment.
Heroin, the drug that has been around for centuries has been making a come into American street. It popularity is growing to the size coke and crack had in the eighties. This time how ever its happening in the rural parts of America. Instead of the the cities like most drug out breaks.
Morphine is a highly addictive opiate psychoactive painkiller. It is often used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain. Morphine acts by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors, which are found in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. The drug was originally derived from the poppy seed plant before it was chemically enhanced and manufactured. Starting off, the drug was used to cure alcoholism and certain types of addictions. This didn’t last very long considering morphine was found to be much more addictive than alcohol. In the early 1900s, morphine was identified as a controlled substance under the Harrison Act. The Harrison Act was put in place to control morphine by making it only legal for those with a prescription for the drug to carry and use it. It is now considered a Schedule I&II drug, which basically defines the levels of enforcement against the drugs. At the time, morphine was the most commonly abused drug, because of its mind-numbing, and reality shattering capabilities.
Aim. The purpose of this paper is to clarify and analyze the meaning of the concept of pain. The paper will clarify the defining attributes of pain and identify the antecedents that influence the perception of pain and list the consequences of pain. It will also state the empirical referents in reference to pain.
This type of pain is classified as nociceptive pain or the normal pain process. It involves four processes that occur continuously: transduction, transmission, perception, and modulation. Neuropathic pain is not as easily understood because it involves damage and dysfunction of nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and/or the central nervous system (CNS) (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016). Most patients describe neuropathic type pain as burning, stabbing, shooting, and/or a feeling pins and needles (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016). This type of pain is hard to treat because of the subjective nature of pain and not all the causes of neuropathic pain are understood. This paper is a review of pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of neuropathic pain management. Three articles were found on this subject and summarized to inform its readers on recent research conducted within the last five years. The first article reviewed was a research study to determine strategies patient’s implemented in order to cope with
There are different types of pain which may be suffered by an individual with cancer, with some patients suffering only one type of pain, but others experiencing a range of all three types. Identifying the type of pain suffered is the first major step in ensuring effective treatment, as not all respond to different treatments in the same way (De Conno & Caraceni, 1996, p.9).
This chemistry book report is focus on a book called “Napoleon's buttons: How 17 molecules changed history” by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson. The publisher of this book is Tarcher Putnam, the book was published in Canada on 2003 with 17 chapters (hey the number match the title of the book!) and a total of 378 pages. The genre of this book is nonfiction. “Napoleon's Buttons” contain a fascinating story of seventeen groups of molecules that have greatly changed the course of history and continuing affect the world we live in today. It also reveal the astonishing chemical connection among some unrelated events, for example: Chemistry caused New Amsterdamers to be renamed New Yorkers and one little accident of detonating cotton apron in a minor housekeeping mishap lead to the development of modern explosives and the founding of the movie industry.
Preview statement: In order to understand why opioids are so addictive, we need to know what they are, how they react in our body, their history and why they are prescribed.
Chronic Pain is described as a long lasting pain that people experience beyond a normal healing time (Hasenbring, Rusu & Turk, 2012). This time is usually up to three or six months prior to an incident (Hasenbring, Rusu & Turk, 2012). Chronic back pain can include common diagnosis of muscle spasms, back strain, or myofasical syndrome (Weiner & Nordin, 2010). There are three different types of chronic back pain; simple musculoskeletal back pain, spinal nerve root pain and serious spinal pathology (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). (Hasenbring, 2012)
Molinder H. K. M. (1994) The development of cimetidine: 1964 – 1976, J Clin Gastroenterol, 19 (3), pp 248 – 254.
"An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away." Although this saying can be true, it is not only aspirin that can cure the pains of life, but also several other types of analgesics. There are a wide variety of analgesics. More commonly known as painkillers. The narcotic analgesics act on the central nervous system and change the user's perception; they are more often used for severe pain and can make the user develop an addiction. The nonnarcotic analgesics, known as over the counter or OTC, work at the site of the pain. These do not create tolerance or dependence and do not vary the user's perception. OTC's are more commonly used everyday to treat mild pain.
Pain, a word that is always associated with getting hurt. The real question now is how it hurt. In life people experience many types of pain. There are two different kinds of pain; physical and mental. The physical part of pain is like falling from something, cutting your arm, or stubbing your toe. The mental part of pain is like hurting someone’s feeling from saying something harsh or doing something to them emotionally, which hurts inside. The causes and effects of physical and mental pain are very different but can be both equally devastating and even more dramatic with emotionally disturbed people.