Re: Evidence that chronic pain changes brain function

Dear Wayne,

Come on man, we know each other well enough to know that who found what
article, where, or when, doesn't matter a fig, just as long as the info
gets out to those who it can help (including ourselves). When someone's doc
refuses them pain treatment, they now have more ammo, from many sources (and
these studies have been saying the same thing now for a long time) to show
the doc is failing his # 2 oath as a physician, "Do no Harm." Number 1, as
most people know, is to verify insurance.
Nobody should never feel bad about posting something. By opening the group
you're a member and have the right to post. That's not the same as liking
what's written, but that's a totally different subject, and you can usually
sniff out the ones to save for a very boring day, if you even bother to read
them by the subject. Subject: I'm going to blow my brains out! should
probably get read before Subject: Dan Quayle- Cooties or cocaine habit?
But the posts with the real meat and potato science that show the dangers of
narcotics (as the public knows them) are total bullshit, the other options
for pain relief are as dangerous as drinking jet fuel, We are not a bunch of
people who woke up one morning and decided it would be fun to have the rest
of our lives tethered to a medication bottle, and these drugs can save
lives. The lack of them takes lives, and we're sick of being thought of as
junkies because we want to live with a quality of life that is something
considerably more than 3 or 4 thoughts of suicide a day. Once a week should
be a realistic goal for the thought. A shrink would be horrified. A shrink
in chronic pain would not.
I'm curious what your shrink thinks of that statement, Wayne.

My bet is nuttier than fruitcake. I laugh in his face.--

--
Be Sure to Check Out the PAYNE HERTZ blog, for people with chronic pain, by
people with chronic pain.
join in at: http://paynehertz.blogspot.com


"Hawaiian Wayne" <birdie998@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:454821b8-3b04-4c23-8481->
Aloha All and OG!

Not that you, OG, aren't part of the "All" in my greeting, I just
wanted to make sure that you don't get upset with me about posting
ANOTHER ARTICLE about the same study, but from a different news
source.

I subscribe to "Psych Central", a newsletter all about everything and
anything that could and does affect the human brain. It's been an
excellent source of information for keeping up with the latest
"findings" regarding all the varieties of how "stuff" affects our
brains. I have it as a 'module' on my HOME page and the 5 articles
with the latest news and information changes from day to day. I have
to tell you all that when I saw this article in that module, I got
what little bit of an adrenaline "rush" I only get now (it's barely
perceptible now that I've been dealing with a fairly high level of
constant pain for over a decade-LOL!) and quickly clicked on the link.

I didn't see that you, OG, had posted an article about the same study
but from a different source, at the time. Sorry. I did notice that
there are some small/minor differences between the two, so I thought
it couldn't hurt to have them both in here. I hope that's alright with
you as I'm not trying to impugn your choices of reading material or
anything. Still friends? <nervous grin>

I am VERY, VERY happy to see that all those researchers, scientists,
doctors and/or "white-coats" now have something physical that they can
see in black and white as it seems the vast majority of them choose to
be ignorant on such subjects regarding chronic pain. In fact, I even
have some "friends and relatives" who, after telling them exactly what
this study proves, enjoy frustrating me and making me feel like a
mental case of some sort. I think we all have a couple or a few of
"them" in our lives. Correct?

OK, Here it is and if anyone wants the link to this, I'll be more than
happy to post it or email it to you because at the end of every one of
their articles, the always list around 10 other links that are
'related' to whatever one you just finished reading! This is a great
newsletter for those of us with CP, depression, anxiety or anything
that could be grounded in living with long term intense/severe pain.
Enjoy:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chronic Pain Drains the Brain
By: Rick Nauert,
Ph.D.
Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Senior News
Editor
on February 7, 2008

Thursday, Feb. 7 (Psych Central) -- The means by which persistent or
chronic pain affects an individual's ability to live a 'normal' life
has been clarified by investigators at Northwestern University's
Feinberg School of Medicine.
People with persistent pain live a life that often includes coping
with a host of symptoms beyond the non-stop sensation of throbbing
pain. They also have trouble sleeping, are often depressed, anxious
and even have difficulty making simple decisions.
In the new study, researchers identified a clue that may explain how
suffering long-term pain could trigger these other pain-related
symptoms.
Scientists found that in a healthy brain all the regions exist in a
state of equilibrium. When one region is active, the others quiet
down. But in people with chronic pain, a front region of the cortex
mostly associated with emotion "never shuts up," said Dante Chialvo,
lead author and associate research professor of physiology at the
Feinberg School.
"The areas that are affected fail to deactivate when they should."
They are stuck on full throttle, wearing out neurons and altering
their connections to each other.
This is the first demonstration of brain disturbances in chronic pain
patients not directly related to the sensation of pain. The study will
be published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Chialvo and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) to scan the brains of people with chronic low back pain and a
group of pain-free volunteers while both groups were tracking a moving
bar on a computer screen.
The study showed the pain sufferers performed the task well but "at
the expense of using their brain differently than the pain-free
group," Chialvo said.
When certain parts of the cortex were activated in the pain-free
group, some others were deactivated, maintaining a cooperative
equilibrium between the regions. This equilibrium also is known as the
resting state network of the brain. In the chronic pain group,
however, one of the nodes of this network did not quiet down as it did
in the pain-free subjects.
This constant firing of neurons in these regions of the brain could
cause permanent damage, Chialvo said. "We know when neurons fire too
much they may change their connections with other neurons and or even
die because they can't sustain high activity for so long," he
explained.
'If you are a chronic pain patient, you have pain 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, every minute of your life," Chialvo said. "That
permanent perception of pain in your brain makes these areas in your
brain continuously active. This continuous dysfunction in the
equilibrium of the brain can change the wiring forever and could hurt
the brain."
Chialvo hypothesized the subsequent changes in wiring "may make it
harder for you to make a decision or be in a good mood to get up in
the morning. It could be that pain produces depression and the other
reported abnormalities because it disturbs the balance of the brain as
a whole."
He said his findings show it is essential to study new approaches to
treat patients not just to control their pain but also to evaluate and
prevent the dysfunction that may be generated in the brain by the
chronic pain.

Source: Northwestern University

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aloha Just For Now,
Hawaiian Wayne


.

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