The Neuroscience of Pain, Anesthetics, and Analgesics

The Neuroscience of Pain, Anesthetics and Analgesics examines the syndromes of pain and how they interlink with anesthesia and analgesics. The book covers assessments, screening and resources, and provides applications to related areas of medicine. It explores how the perception of pain results from a multifaceted interaction between illness beliefs, age, gender, time of onset, stress, socioeconomic status, and other factors. In addition, it scrutinizes how the neuroscience of pain in one condition may be relevant to understanding pain observed in other conditions. Sections address the onset of pain, the cause of pain, and the administration of analgesia or anesthesia.

The book works to clarify all of the subjects pertinent to anesthesia and the brain. Featuring chapters on neurotransmitters, pharmacology and brain imaging, this volume discusses the mechanisms of pain and experimental studies undertaken to better understand the pathways involved.

• Includes content on the features and assessments of pain, anesthesia and analgesia
• Provides a mini-dictionary of terms and summary points that succinctly encapsulate each chapter
• Covers a broad range of topics related to the neuroscience of analgesics and anesthetics
• Helps readers navigate key areas for research and further clinical recommendations
• Features chapters on molecular pathways, imaging and a deep look at behavior associated with the experience of pain

Dr Rajkumar Rajendram is a clinician scientist with a focus on internal medicine, anaesthesia, intensive care and peri-operative medicine. He graduated with distinctions from Guy’s, King’s and St. Thomas Medical School, King’s College London in 2001. As an undergraduate he was awarded several prizes, merits and distinctions in pre-clinical and clinical subjects.

Dr Rajendram began his post-graduate medical training in general medicine and intensive care in Oxford. He attained membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 2004 and completed specialist training in acute and general medicine in Oxford in 2010. Dr Rajendram subsequently practiced as a Consultant in Acute General Medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Dr Rajendram also trained in anaesthesia and intensive care in London and was awarded a fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) in 2009. He completed advanced training in regional anaesthesia and intensive care. He was awarded a fellowship of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FFICM) in 2013 and obtained the European diploma of intensive care medicine (EDIC) in 2014. He then moved to the Royal Free London Hospitals as a Consultant in Intensive Care, Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Medicine. He has been a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP Edin) and the Royal College of Physicians of London (FRCP Lond) since 2017 and 2019 respectively. He is currently a Consultant in Internal Medicine at King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Heath Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dr Rajendram’s focus on improving outcomes from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has involved research on point of care ultrasound and phenotypes of COVID-19. Dr Rajendram also recognises that nutritional support is a fundamental aspect of medical care. This is particularly important for patients with COVID-19. As a clinician scientist he has therefore devoted significant time and effort into nutritional science research and education. He is an affiliated member of the Nutritional Sciences Research Division of King’s College London and has published over 400 textbook chapters, review articles, peer-reviewed papers and abstracts.

Vinood B. Patel, BSc, PhD, FRSC, is currently Professor in Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Westminster. In 2014 Dr Patel was elected as a Fellow to The Royal Society of Chemistry. Dr Patel graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a degree in Pharmacology and completed his PhD in protein metabolism from King’s College London in 1997. His postdoctoral work was carried out at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical School, NC, USA studying structural-functional alterations to mitochondrial ribosomes, where he developed novel techniques to characterize their biophysical properties. Research is being undertaken to study the role of nutrients, antioxidants, phytochemicals, iron, alcohol and fatty acids in the pathophysiology of liver disease. Other areas of interest are identifying new biomarkers that can be used for the diagnosis and prognosis of disease and understanding mitochondrial oxidative stress in neurological disorders and iron dysregulation in diabetes. Dr Patel is a nationally and internationally recognized researcher and has several edited biomedical books related to the use or investigation of active agents or components. These books include The Handbook of Nutrition, Diet, and Epigenetics, Branched Chain Amino Acids in Clinical Nutrition, Cancer: Oxidative Stress and Dietary Antioxidants, Toxicology: Oxidative Stress and Dietary Antioxidants, Molecular Nutrition: Vitamins, The Neuroscience of Pain, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. He is Editor of the ten-volume series Biomarkers in Disease: Methods, Discoveries and Applications.

Victor R. Preedy BSc, PhD, DSc, FRSB, FRSPH, FRSC, FRCPath graduated with an Honours Degree in Biology and Physiology with Pharmacology. After gaining his University of London PhD, he received his Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists. He was later awarded his second doctorate (DSc), for his contribution to protein metabolism in health and disease. He is Professor of Clinical Biochemistry (Hon) at King’s College Hospital and Emeritus Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at King’s College London. He has Honorary Professorships at the University of Hull, and the University of Suffolk. Professor Preedy was the Founding Director and then long-term Director of the Genomics Centre at King’s College London from 2006 to 2020. Professor Preedy has been awarded fellowships of the Royal Society of Biology, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the Royal Institute of Public Health, the Royal Society for Public Health, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Medicine. He carried out research when attached to the National Heart Hospital (part of Imperial College London), The School of Pharmacy (now part of University College London) and the MRC Centre at Northwick Park Hospital. He has collaborated with international research groups in Finland, Japan, Australia, USA, and Germany. To his credit, Professor Preedy has published over 750 articles, which includes peer-reviewed manuscripts based on original research, abstracts and symposium presentations, reviews and edited books.