´óÏó´«Ã½

Explore the ´óÏó´«Ã½
This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving.


Accessibility help
Text only
´óÏó´«Ã½ Homepage
´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio
´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 - 92 to 94 FM and 198 Long WaveListen to Digital Radio, Digital TV and OnlineListen on Digital Radio, Digital TV and Online

PROGRAMME FINDER:
Programmes
Podcasts
Presenters
PROGRAMME GENRES:
News
Drama
Comedy
Science
Religion|Ethics
History
Factual
Messageboards
Radio 4 Tickets
RadioÌý4 Help

Contact Us

Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

Ìý

Science
CASE NOTES
MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page
PROGRAMME INFO
Tuesday 21:00-21:30
Repeat Wednesday 16:30
Dr Mark Porter gives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tackles a particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
Contact Case Notes
LISTEN AGAINListenÌý30 min
Listen to 29 July
PRESENTER
DR MARK PORTER
Dr Mark Porter
PROGRAMME DETAILS
TuesdayÌý29 JulyÌý2008
A baby crying

Full programme transcript >>

Pain

In the first in the new series of Case Notes, Dr Mark Porter will be looking at the latest advances in the understanding of pain management.

One of the areas they're looking at is how much our state of mind affects our perception of pain – and whether techniques like distraction and relaxation can help as well as conventional pain relief.

Non-invasive scanning, that can detect tiny changes in electrical activity or blood flow within the brain without disturbing anything, makes it possible to see our brains at work.

Watching the response to painful stimuli helps Professor Irene Tracey, who's the Director of the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain, to see that it's a process which is far more complex that we first thought.

Pain in babies

What is the best way of telling if a newborn baby is in pain? And do premature babies experience the same sort of discomfort older children and adults do when doctors stick needles and tubes in them?

Neuroscientist Dr Rebeccah Slater and her team at University College London are trying to answer those questions.

At the moment medical teams assess whether babies are in pain from their expression - a screwed up face or bulging forehead, along with physiological signs like the heart rate.

Dr Slater used a portable machine to assess whether these signs matched up with blood flow in the brain - a sign that specific "pain centres" have been triggered.

Palliative care

Palliative care – tending to the needs of people with serious illnesses from which they will not recover – is area that has benefitted immensely from recent advances in our understanding of pain, and how to treat it.

It is a burgeoning speciality with state of the art pain management at it’s very heart.

Barbara Myers visits Martlett’s Hospice in Brighton to meet Dr Rose Turner – a Consultant in Palliative Care.

She also talks to one of the patients about how effective strong painkillers like morphine are for relievingÌýhis pain, following an operation for cancer of the oesophagus.

Dr Turner is reassuing about the use of such powerful drugs, which are not addictive when administered properly, for patients who need them.

Chronic Pain

While acute pain exists to protect us from harm by alerting us to take action against something which is harming, chronic pain caused by conditions like arthritis and sciatica may serve little useful purpose.

In fact, as Professor Tracey explains, new evidence suggests that it may actually take on a life of its own and permanently alter the nervous system.

These changes - known as 'plasticity' - are often viewed in medicine as a positive force - eg when a patient has had a stroke and areas of the brain may take over certain functions no longer carried out by other damaged areas.

But in chronic pain plasticity is viewed as a bad sign, where the pain signals remain 'switched on' and the 'volume' permanently turned up to high. Scanning such patients may provide useful information about how to treat them effectively.

Next week: health problems associated with gardening
Listen Live
Audio Help
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
DON'T MISS
Leading Edge
PREVIOUS PROGRAMMES
Emergency Services
Ovary
Heart Attacks
Appendix
Insects
CotÌýDeath
Antibiotics and Probiotics
Taste
Abortion
HPVÌý
Hair
Poisons
Urology
Aneurysms
Bariatric Surgery
Gardening
Pain
Backs - Slipped Discs
Prostate Cancer
Sun andÌýSkin
Knees
Screening
Rheumatology
Bowel Cancer
Herpes
Thyroid
Fainting
Liver
Cystic Fibrosis
Superbugs
SideÌýEffects
Metabolic Syndrome
Transplants
Down's Syndrome
The Voice
M.E./CFS
Meningitis
Childhood Burns
Statins
Alzheimer's
Headaches
Feet
Sexual Problems
IBS
Me and My Op
Lung Cancer and Smoking
CervicalÌýCancer
Hips
Caesarean Sections
The Nose
Multiple Sclerosis
Radiology
Palliative Care
Eyes
Shoulders
Leukaemia
Blood Pressure
Contraception
Parkinson's Disease
Head Injuries
Tropical Health
Ears
Arts and HealthÌý
Allergies
Nausea
Menopause and Osteoporosis
Immunisation
Intensive Care (ICU)
Manic Depression
The Bowel
Arthritis
Itching
Fractures
The Jaw
Keyhole Surgery
Prescriptions
Epilepsy
Hernias
Asthma
Hands
Out of Hours
Kidneys
Body Temperature
Stroke
Face Transplants
Backs
Heart Failure
The Royal Marsden Hospital
Vitamins
Cosmetic Surgery
Tired All TheÌýTime (TATT)
Obesity
Anaesthesia
Coronary Artery Surgery
Choice in the NHS
Back to School
Homeopathy
Hearing and Balance
First Aid
Dentists
Alder Hey Hospital - Children's Health
Thrombosis
Arrhythmias
Pregnancy
Moorfields Eye Hospital
Wound Healing
Joint Replacements
Premature Babies
Prison Medicine
Light
Respiratory Medicine
Indigestion
Urinary Incontinence
The Waiting Game
Diabetes
Contraception
Depression
Auto-immune Diseases
Prescribing Drugs
Get Fit and Get Well Food
Autism
Vaccinations
Oral Health
Blood
Heart Attacks
Genetic Screening
Fertility
A+E & Triage
Antibiotics
Screening Tests
Sexual Health
Baldness


Back to Latest Programme
Health & Wellbeing Programmes

Archived Programmes

News & Current Affairs | Arts & Drama | Comedy & Quizzes | Science | Religion & Ethics | History | Factual

Back to top


About the ´óÏó´«Ã½ | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy
Ìý