Chronic pain should be looked after by experts, says specialist

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Henry.jpg” caption=”James Henry”]People with chronic pain should have it attended to by a pain specialist, not just by the physician overseeing their disease or condition, says the scientific director of the new Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care.

James Henry, 60, says chronic pain should be treated aggressively as early as possible, to stop the body from getting set in its ways, that is, allowing the development of neuroplastic processes which may mean the pain condition lasts longer than the underlying condition or disease which brought it on.

“Often pain is thought of as just a symptom to be treated along with the disease or condition, but best practice needs to see the pain as a separate condition that should be treated on its own,” says Henry. “If the pain lasts longer than just a few days and if the pain is not being managed adequately, the physician looking after the primary condition should be prepared to refer such patients to specialists who can deal with it directly.”

Chronic pain would include low back pain, neuropathic pain, the pain of osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, and phantom pain after an amputation as well as others.

Henry is a neurophysiologist who is renowned for his important advancements in the basic science of pain, as well as training young investigators, and leadership in pain research networks. At McGill University from 1977 to 2002, he founded the Canadian Consortium on Pain Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Management, a multidisciplinary, all-Canadian think-tank to promote pain research, to improve pain management and to disseminate information on pain to patients, practitioners and policymakers. He was at the University of Western Ontario between 2002 and 2004.

Besides becoming the scientific director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care on Jan. 1, 2005, Henry has been appointed a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, and Anesthesia of McMaster University. He also holds a new endowed chair in central pain.

The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care was established this year as part of the landmark $105 million donation to McMaster University by philanthropist Michael G. DeGroote. Encompassing an array of disciplines and technologies, the institute will explore the causes of a number of different types of pain, develop new strategies for prevention, diagnosis and management of pain and develop innovative approaches to care for people suffering chronic, debilitating pain. A key focus will be ensuring a collaborative approach in national and international research in pain.

Akbar Panju, a professor of medicine for the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster and chief of medicine for Hamilton Health Sciences hospitals, has been named medical director of the new institute.

John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences and dean of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, said the institute is beginning its work with the recruitment of one of the world's foremost leaders in pain research and care.

“This announcement of our scientific director for the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care is highly timely, almost exactly one year after the landmark gift of Michael DeGroote to McMaster,” he says. “At the time we initiated a global search to recruit the best, and we have been delighted to find this individual so close.

“Pain plays a pivotal role is medical care  it is a complaint of 80 per cent of patients  but it is also a unique area of mystery to us that deserves a spotlight. The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care has the resources and focus to become the premier, international institute looking at all types of pain, including the uncommon chronic thalamic pain some people suffer after a stroke.”