Analgesics

Question 1

What are the causes of pain (2)?

Answer 1

Inflammation - tissue damage

Neuropathy - nerve damage

Question 2

What parts of the brain are involved in pain?

Answer 2

Limbic system - affective aspects of pain - fear, anxiety, stress
Descending controls - allow top-down processes to alter pain - mood, sleep and pain are linked
Spinal cord - integrates, modifies and amplifies pain messages - output to brain
Incoming peripheral nerves - convey touch, temperature and painful stimuli
Cortex - location and intensity of pain

Question 3

What are some co-moridities associated with pain?

Answer 3

difficulty sleeping, lack of energy, drowsiness, concentration difficulties, depression, anxiety, poor appetite

Question 4

What is allodynia?

Answer 4

Innoculous stimuli (e.g. touch/cooling - stimuli that wouldn’t usually cause an effect) become painful, usually causing ongoing pain

Question 5

What are the main afferent fibres carrying noxious sensory information?

Answer 5

C and A-delta fibres (A-beta fibres do also exist)

Question 6

What is inflammatory pain?

Answer 6

Healing, trauma, surgery (short term), arthritis, cancer

Question 7

What are some examples of neuropathy?

Answer 7

Nerve damage: trauma, diabetes, HIV, alcohol, chronic pain post-surgery, cancer

Question 8

How are sodium channels involved in pain?

Answer 8

Na channels cluster around areas of nerve damage. This is an ectopic activity that can spread to the spinal cord - increase in sensitivity and pain.

Question 9

What drugs (also used as anti-epileptic drugs) are used for analgesia wrt Na-channels?

Answer 9

Carbamazepine - Na-channel blocker

Gabapentin