Der Schmerz
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Over the years the effect of the neuropeptide oxytocin and its possible utilization for pain management has been increasingly more investigated and discussed. Initial results emphasized the effects of oxytocin with respect to labor and breastfeeding. Diverse animals studies were also able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the peptide in attachment behavior and pain perception; however, it is still unclear how oxytocin affects pain perception in humans. The potential therapeutic effectiveness of oxytocin could be particularly important for primary and secondary treatment of pain patients because chronification of pain can occur more frequently in this area. ⋯ This review article gives a summary of the current state of research on oxytocin and its direct and indirect association with human pain perception and emphasizes its relevance for the multimodal management of pain.
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This article focuses on the philosophical perspective of what pain actually is, how pain is defined and what functions pain has. It is unclear, for example, whether pain generally correlates with physical harm, if it is categorically unpleasant, if it can be objectified and how observable neuronal processes correlate with different experiences of pain. ⋯ The different functions of pain are presented, especially regarding the extent to which pain represents an experience that constitutes both the body and the identity. Some functions of pain discussed here are: defense and indicator, immediate bodily sensation, perceptibility of the body, self-reassurance of existence, congregating and materializing, psychological regulatory mechanism and communication.
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Medical Devices Law is a relatively new legal system, which has replaced the Medical Devices Regulations still well-known in Germany. German Medical Devices Law is based on European directives, which are, in turn, incorporated into national law by the Medical Devices Act. ⋯ Medical Devices Law is a very complex legal system, which needs to be permanently observed due to constant updating and adjustment. In the current article, the design and the structure of the system will be described, but special emphasis will be laid on important problem areas that need to be considered when applying and operating medical products, in this case by pain therapists in particular.
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Patients from different cultures, particularly from family-oriented societies, such as the Near and Middle East, southern Italy and Greece, have a different perception of pain and other healing expectations, even in contact with doctors, than for example patients in western societies. This aspect is not sufficiently taken into consideration by modern multimodal therapy approaches. ⋯ For therapy and the therapist-patient relationship, it is essential to understand the significance of the pain experienced in the construction and experience of interpersonal relationships. The diseased body is an expression of the social, collective, economic, migrational history, mental and cultural state of mind of the patient; therefore, in the treatment of patients from traditional cultures a multimodal, interdisciplinary and culturally sensitive approach is necessary for effective pain treatment.
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Methodological reflections on pain research and pain therapy focussing on addiction risks are addressed in this article. Starting from the incompleteness of objectification of the purely subjectively fully understandable phenomena of pain and addiction, the relevance of a comprehensive general psychology is underlined. It is shown that that reduction of pain and addiction to a mainly focally arguing neurobiology is only possible if both disciplines have a systemic concept of pain and addiction. With this aim, parallelized conceptual network models are presented.