Researchers finds hidden sensory system in the skin

[n2doc]

December 8, 2009
Researchers report that the human body has an entirely unique and separate sensory system aside from the nerves that give most of us the ability to touch and feel. Surprisingly, this sensory network is located throughout our blood vessels and sweat glands, and is for most people, largely imperceptible. This discovery may shed light on the causes of unexplained chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia.

The human sensory experience is far more complex and nuanced than previously thought, according to a groundbreaking new study published in the December 15 issue of the journal Pain. In the article, researchers at Albany Medical College, the University of Liverpool and Cambridge University report that the human body has an entirely unique and separate sensory system aside from the nerves that give most of us the ability to touch and feel. Surprisingly, this sensory network is located throughout our blood vessels and sweat glands, and is for most people, largely imperceptible.

"It's almost like hearing the subtle sound of a single instrument in the midst of a symphony," said senior author Frank Rice, PhD, a Neuroscience Professor at Albany Medical College (AMC), who is a leading authority on the nerve supply to the skin. "It is only when we shift focus away from the nerve endings associated with normal skin sensation that we can appreciate the sensation hidden in the background."

The research team discovered this hidden sensory system by studying two unique patients who were diagnosed with a previously unknown abnormality by lead author David Bowsher, M.D., Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool's Pain Research Institute. These patients had an extremely rare condition called congenital insensitivity to pain, meaning that they were born with very little ability to feel pain. Other rare individuals with this condition have excessively dry skin, often mutilate themselves accidentally and usually have severe mental handicaps. "Although they had a few accidents over their lifetimes, what made these two patients unique was that they led normal lives. Excessive sweating brought them to the clinic, where we discovered their severe lack of pain sensation," said Dr. Bowsher. "Curiously, our conventional tests with sensitive instruments revealed that all their skin sensation was severely impaired, including their response to different temperatures and mechanical contact. But, for all intents and purposes, they had adequate sensation for daily living and could tell what is warm and cold, what is touching them, and what is rough and smooth."

http://www.physorg.com/news179482563.html

[clear eye]

1. Sounds related to menopausal hot flashes, too

But very few researchers are women old enough to know what that feels like, so it's not surprising they didn't make the connection.

[HuckleB]

2. K & R.

[ThomCat]

3. Well, what do you know...

That sounds like a very hopeful direction for research to me. I have chronic pain and nearly daily migraine headaches. Both are conditions they say in this article may be associated with issues involving these nerves.

I hope this will soon offer hope for more and better treatment options.

[Hekate]

4. KnR. Very interesting! nt

[hootinholler]

5. They should have asked someone in the BDSM world

There are things that are felt at other levels.

-Hoot

[silverweb]

6. Fascinating!

The more we learn, the more we discover we have so much more to learn.