False ideas may be attacked, no matter the occupation of the person advancing them. Theology and science both have had their weirdness in relation to pain. We do not like the murkiness of pain blessedness, nor do we care much for the condescending unscientific scientist who pontificates on “attitude” and sees pain as imaginary in us, real in them.
Monthly Archives: December 2005
Fighting NMDA in pain
Researchers continue to search for the mother lode of pain, the sustaining force which drives central pain.
Agmatine
Agmatine is decarboxylated argenine. Argenine, a common amino acid, and agmatine are both found naturally in the body. Agmatine is found in small vesicles near the opposing surface of a nerve synapse. It is one of the new neuromodulators being studied.
GABA forms : not equivalent
Gamma Aminio Butyric Acid is at the center of pain inhibition, but which form of GABA?
Evolutionary Development and Pain
As most people know by now, computers are binary. Classic joke: There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who can speak binary and those who cannot. The transistors which make up computers are nothing but toggle switches. This is nothing to be ashamed of, since mankind itself is largely produced and maintained by the toggling genes, and the “noncoding” DNA which turns on “real” genes nearby, ie genes which make (code for) proteins.
Blockbuster Article on Central Pain
How smart ARE these guys? We already have been blessed with an article just for painonline.com by Jeffrey Coull on chloride- ions. Now, Coull et al have completely blown away the pain world with a new finding published in Dec 15, 2005 Nature. The Canadians are already staffing the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery department. How far ahead have these people gotten?
Thalamic Imbalances Surprising
This article is hard to understand, given existing theory on the thalamus. Wallenberg sydrome is pain and other symptoms due to a stroke in the medulla.
Central Pain Update: latest version
Alan Hess, who has endured central pain for many years, has a gift for straightforwardness that is truly remarkable. There is simply no embellishment and so we feel what he is saying in a way that is both shocking and moving. One of the commentors said he had read nothing like it beside Primo Levi, a great compliment, since Levi is considered the finest writer on suffering who has ever lived. Alan types with difficulty, but the message has gotten out. Our readership has read this particular article more than any other at painonline. We are proud to know Alan, and pay tribute to his mother as well, for her tireless care.
Welcome to the U.K., Canada, and Australia
Ever wonder who visits painonline?
Does Inflammation Precede the Changes which lead to Central Pain?
The implications of Hohmann et al in Dec 2005 J Pain are almost staggering.