Congenital Analgesia

History

Gibson had sustained several injuries over his lifetime, including a blow to the face from a pickaxe and a bullet through the finger-all with an indifference to pain

• After Dearborn's study, several terms were used to describe these individuals:
• Congenital universal insensitiveness to pain (1938)
• Congenital universal indifference to pain (1949)
• Congenital absence of pain (1962)

History

• From 1950-1970, two terms were used to describe Congenital Analgesia interchangeably:
• congenital insensitivity to pain
• congenital indifference to pain

Congenital

Analgesia

• First described in a case study as a "Case of Congenital Pure Analgesia"
• Recorded in 1932 by Dr. Dearborn
• Dearborn analyzed the injuries sustained by the Edward H. Gibson, who was referred to as the human pincushion

By Taylor, Nicole, Cristal and Nicholas

Epidemiology

• Most individuals with Congenital Analgesia do not live past 25 years old
• 20% of patients with Congenital Analgesia whom also have anhidrosis may have episodes of Hypothermia and die within the first three years

Epidemiology

• Congenital Analgesia is caused by a mutation or genetic error in the NTRK1 gene
• Can cause an individual to inherit an autosomal recessive gene in a cell which can be mutated in both parents, but not show signs of this condition unlike some cases in their child
• Inheritance of each sin of an affected individual has a 25% change of being affected, a 50% chance of being an asymptomatic carrier, and a 25% chance of being unaffected and not a carrier
• The chances of being born with such disease is 1 in 125 million

Congenital

Analgesia

Response and Treatment

• A documentary called A Life Without Pain (2005) was filmed about Gabby Gingras, who was born with Congenital Analgesia
• The documentary investigated Gabby's response to the disease and her parent's struggle to find a treatment

Response and Treatment

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Response and Treatment

Since there are no formal signs or symptoms of this disease, there is no permanent treatment for Congenital Analgesia

History

History

• The two terms now have two distinct meanings:
• congenital insensitivity to pain- those who are unable to perceive sensations of pain at all
• congenital indifference to pain- those who can sense painful stimuli but are unable to react to the pain
• in 1983, the presence of nerve damage is used to determine an indifference to pain

• From 1950-1970, two terms were used to describe Congenital Analgesia interchangeably:
• congenital insensitivity to pain
• congenital indifference to pain

• Several alternative and temporary treatments are available:
• An oral antibiotic is available to help the body treat any infections caused daily since the body cannot feel pain
• Doctors suggest extracting baby teeth from the patient, to prevent the child from biting through their tongue, lips or finger tips
• It is believed that once they're an adult, they will be able to understand the condition and know not to chew through their own body parts
• Occupational therapy has also been suggested to help teach the patient what is the proper way of daily activity
• The child will learn what is appropriate behavior and what is not

Response and Treatment

• Testing for Congenital Analgesia on patients was rather explicit
• On children, lighters were used and held under the foot to the point of blistering
• Needles were run up and down to see if a response was triggered by the spinal cord

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Etiology and Pathology

• Congenital-meaning to exist since birth
• Analgesia-meaning "absence of pain"

• Congenital Analgesia is a complete insensitivity to pain
• Genetic defect caused during DNA replication and coding