Pain-Calcium-NeuronalNetwork

Saturday, January 27, 2007 -- A friend of mine and I have been discussing the
pain that we experience and how something that doesn't seem very painful while
we are doing it, can have extremely painful effects later, effects that may last
from hours to weeks or months.

I'm not good at organizing because of my brain damage, but I will try to put
things here in a way that is clear and easy to grasp.

First, of primary importance is the saying, "no pain no gain." It may be a good
idea in relation to muscle, but it is BAD in relation to nerves.

If you have a nerve disease (I am still recovering from tetanus) then you need to
know that rest and sleep will make it possible for your nerves to heal.

But, while you are resting your muscles will get out of shape and so will you.
This is a horrifying reality. And, so far I don't know how to avoid it.

The best that I have been able to do is to begin with a paltry one minute of
exercise a day, and work up by seconds from there.

Hard to believe, isn't it?

One minute.

But yes, for instance, while I had tetanus, while the disease was actually active
as a central nervous system disease, I couldn't lift my Brita Water Filter Pitcher
if it had an inch of water in it. I couldn't be up long enough to make a cup of
coffee. Each morning I would have my longest period of time that I could be up,
maybe four minutes. Then as the day wore on I could not be up that long again.
I could be up three quarters of that time if I rested an hour and a half first, and
so on during the day till I was bent over and hardly able to take ten steps.

But, if I rested and had B12 shots, if I did not push it, then each day I could be
up maybe 15 seconds longer first thing in the morning. Then if I didn't push it
and thereby set myself back, I could be up a minute longer each day.

Yes, I am saying that at best I could add 7 minutes a week. And I am also
saying that when I didn't think that was enough and tried to do more, the pain
was quickly prohibitive and did not go away in a day or two.

So, maybe it's time to try to get a picture of what's going on here.

In Strong Feelings - Latest Findings on Pain Sensitivity it says, "In the case of
persistent pain impulses, it brings about permanent changes in the neurons
responsible for transmitting the pain signals. This leads to an increase in pain
sensitivity and the sensation of pain can even persist long after the actual pain
signals has faded out." (Full article)

Prof. Sandkühler said: "We were able to show in a controlled laboratory system
that the amplification arises even when the pain is quite weak. We actually used
electrical impulses that were 50 times weaker than those previously employed to
induce this response."

Prof. Sandkühler's group was able to identify and locate the cells responsible for
this previously unknown phenomenon. They are in the lamina I of the spinal
dorsal horn, and ensure that signals from peripheral pain fibres are transmitted to
spinal nerve tracts leading to the brain...

As part of this large-scale project, Sandkühler and his team loaded cells with
dyes which emit light when exposed to sufficient concentrations of calcium ions.
This made it possible to show that the concentration of calcium ions in these
lamina I cells also increases dramatically in response to weak pain impulses...
The calcium ions activate enzymes which amplify the pain impulses.

These new findings are of fundamental importance for pain therapy. As
Sandkühler put it: "Treating patients with pain killers for a short period of time
after an operation, for example, is not an effective means of avoiding pain
enhancement. Pain therapy must be continued without interruption until the pain
has largely subsided."

"The connections in our brain are formed by
neurons that extend to each other and to muscles
long wires called axons. Just as an electrical wire
needs insulation, our axons require an insulating
sheath (myelin) that helps to propagate the
electrical signal and maximize the efficiency and
velocity of these signals in our brain and body.

It is this property (myelination) that facilitates the
long-distance communication in our nervous
system across junctions called synapses, such that
a thought can result in the movement of a finger or
a toe. Diseases and injury that compromise the

integrity of myelin ... have dramatic consequences like ... neuropathic pain."
Major breakthrough in the mechanism of myelin formation, by Cayouette, Chan,
Innovations Report, 06.11.2006.

"The study showed that a protein called Par-3 is at the base of the myelination
process. This protein becomes localized to one side of the myelin-forming cells
called Schwann cell, upon contact with the axon that is to be myelinated. Par-3
acts as a sort of molecular scaffold to set-up an "organizing centre", which brings
together key proteins essential for myelination, in particular a receptor for a
molecule secreted by the neurons. The scientists found that when they disrupted
this organizing centre, cells could not form myelin normally." Ibid.