"Physical pain is not a simple affair of an impulse, travelling at a fixed rate along a nerve. It is the resultant of a conflict between a stimulus and the whole individual", a quote from the French professor René Leriche, born October 12, 1879, in Roanne at the Loire; he died December 28, 1955. 

In 1938 dr Leriche moved to Paris after he was called on the chair of experimental medicine at the Collège de France, the first surgeon to be named to this the prestigious chair in France. However, he did not operate at those facilities, Leriche operated at the American Hospital at Neuilly. As professor of experimental medicine he was required to gve lectures each year and 'La chirurgie de la Douleur', The Surgery of Pain, published in 1939 was the first publication based on these lectures.

Welcome to our Institute for neuropathy and neuropathic pain, and our Website. We gathered here for you many articles in the field of neuropathy and neuropathic pain. In our centre we are specialised in treating patients suffering from neuropathic pain and neuropathy following an Integrated Medicine concept. Part of our activities are within the field of consultation. We assist pharmaceutical companies in R&D strategies related to finding new drugs to treat neuropathic pain and neuropathy. 

The institute of neuropathic pain closely cooperates with the Ukrainian Association for the Study of Pain, in order to exchange scientific insights and new treatment modalities in the field of neuropathic pain.

In 2010 we welcomed two colleagues from the Ukraine and since 2010

Prof. Igor Romanenko MD, PhD, neurologist, President Ukrainian Association for the Study of Pain, and

Dr Volodymyr Romanenko MD, neurologist, Ukrainian Association for the Study of Pain, Secretary are our honorary external consultants.

2012-2013 will be the Global Year Against Visceral Pain campaign

This will be launched on Monday, October 15, 2012.

This IASP initiative will focus global attention on pain that originates in or near the internal organs of the body. Visceral pain is the most frequent form of pain, felt by most people at one time or another, the number one reason for patients to seek medical attention, and yet it is insufficiently treated as it is considered just a symptom of an underlying disease: if we treat the disease the pain will go away - an approach that ignores that many forms of visceral pain are diseases in their own right and require focused and specific therapies.

Our institute developed a Youtube channel, titel: Neuropathyinfo4u's Channel. We will collect a variety of Youtube movies within the field of neuropathy, neuropathic pain and its treatment. We provide you with all kinds of information on neuropathy. Hence the title.

The adres: http://www.youtube.com/user/Neuropathyinfo4u?feature=mhw4

LinkedIn 4 neuropathic pain!

For all colleagues wanting to discuss on an international level how to treat neuropathic pain optimally and how to find better treatments, we have opened this brand new LinkedIn Group under the header: neuropathy and neuropathic pain. Please Join!!! 

More then 300 specialists in this group! 

The first international specialists, among which anesthesiologists, and neurologists, as well as prominent professors in these fields, have already joined directly after we opened this group. Within three week nearly 60 professionals. Within 3 months more then 300! From the USA, France, Spain, UK, Greece and the Netherlands. We gladly welcome these esteemed colleagues in our network.

Pfizer completed recently a Phase II clinical trial analysing the safety of the FAAH inhibitor PF-04457845 examining pain relief in patients with OA of the knee. Reason for some reflections. FAAH inhibition results in higher intracellular levels of endocannabinoids, such as anandamide and palmitoylethanolamide. The availability of palmitoylethanolamide as dietfood for medical purposes seems to make the inhibition approach somewhat debatable. This the more so, as there are a number of warning signals around that FAAH inhibition might also trigger opposite results as what we aim for. The structure of the FAAH enzyme, residing in membranes here above, developed by Scripps.

Glia cells comprise 90% of the cells in the nervous system. The other 10% of cells consists of neurons. In the artist impression we see the high number of glia cells for each separate neuron.

The word 'Glia' is derived from the Greek word for "glue" giving the impression that the main function of these cells is to keep the brain from running out of our ears. (Bear M.F. Neuroscience, exploring the Brain 2007 3rd ed.)

Glia cells are thought to insulate, contribute and nourish neighbouring cells. Recently, more and more knowledge has been gained in the role of glia in neuropathic pain. Glia seems to play a much more important role than anticipated, hence the term 'gliopathic pain'. Glial activation is required and sufficient for chronic pain sensitization, the root cause of neuropathic pain.

If we talk with patients, metaphors are very often used. To descibe actions of a drug, or to describe qualities of pain.

Let us build together on Linkedin:

The Virtual Network for

Specialists in Neuropathic Pain

In our clinic we see patients suffering from neuropathy only. Inability to have an erection is a common finding, for instance in diabetes. Inability to experience an orgasm, while semen flows however, is rare.

Recently in my clinics I saw two male patients suffering from neuropathy, one due to diabetes and onther due to chemotherapy, both have the same issue: they ejaculate, but without any orgasmic feeling. They describe it like a candle going out instead of fireworks. This prompted me to write this entry on penile neuropathy.

At the third international congres on neuropathic pain in Athens (NeuPSIG, may 2010) professor Anthony Dickenson gave a nice and crisp talk on central sensitization. 

The 3rd International Congress on Neuropathic Pain (NeuPSIG) took place in Athens, Greece, May 27-30, 2010. 1777 international pain specialists visited a warm and cozy Athens. On the 3rd International Congress on Neuropathic Pain basic scientists, clinical scientists and practicing clinicians with an interest in discovering exciting new developments in the understanding and care of patients with neuropathic pain met.The Special Interest Group on Neuropathic Pain (NeuPSIG) of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP®) designed an advanced scientific program, presented by global experts, featuring plenary sessions, topical workshops and poster presentations. The congress was designed to further the Group's goal ─ to promote the understanding of mechanisms, assessment, prevention and treatment of neuropathic pain.

Diabetes and neuropathy: a simple explanation by Jan M. Keppel Hesselink, MD, PhD, president Foundation IOCOB and founder of the clinic for treatment of neuropathy in Soest, the Netherlands and professor of pharmacology.

On the international congress of neuropathic pain (NeuPsig) 2010 in Athens professor A. Moore from the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Oxford, UK, put a cold and fishy eye on what is really known about the efficacy of drugs in neuropathic pain. In his talk he pointed out: “The great thing about being right is that you don’t have to change your mind so often” And Moore cited in the beginning of his talk Ioannides: “The trouble with evidence based medicine I that most of it is wrong.” (Ioannides PLOS medicine 2005 “Most published research findings are false.”)

In neuropathy and neuropathic pain patients can be suffering much from burning feet. Whatever the try, the burning and stinging sensations do not waver. The bruning sensations, the sensations of hot and painful feet  is due to damage to the nerves, in this case the long nerves from your spinal cord to your feet. In some cases, the burning feet may be so painful that you cannot sleep anymore.

Painful legs and moving toes syndrome, it really exist. And it is how it sounds. The legs start burning and aching, and the toes start moving on themselves. It is very uncommon, but it can be found. Neurologists found 14 cases of painful legs and moving toes (PLMT) syndrome out of 4,780 patients with movement disorders diagnosed at Mayo Clinic. So all these patients already suffered from one issue, a movement disorder, like Parkinson's disease or dystonia.

Pregabalin is widely used as a analgesic compound for the treatment of neuropathic pain. In this study using a animal model researchers studied pregabalin's antipain mechanisms and assessed the effectiveness of pregabalin in a model using mechanical and cold hypersensitivity.  In general the idea about its mechanism of action is, that both gabapentin and pregabalin inhibit Ca(2+) currents via high-voltage-activated channels containing the alpha2delta1 subunit, thus reducing neurotransmitter release and attenuating the postsynaptic excitability.