Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 2/2011
Pathophysiology of pain and depression
Patients with chronic pain suffer more than just from the pain. Immobilization, isolation, lost of social contacts, depression and catastrophic thinking considerably changes their quality of life. Frequent co-morbidity of chronic pain and depression arise a question of overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms. This review discusses different mechanisms of pain and clinical pain representation in the human brain. The treatment of chronic pain with adjuvant analgesics is briefly mentioned.
Keywords: chronic pain, peripheral and central mechanisms of pain, depression, pharmacological treatment.
