Congenital Insensitivity to Pain

Life without pain, sounds like heaven doesn’t it? It’s called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain. Could you imagine being burnt or badly cut and not feel any pain? I’m sure you’re thinking yep that’s what I want how can I make that happen for me? Well just remember the old saying “If it sound’s too good to be true, it probably is” In this case that saying is very true. Pain is our body’s way of letting us know something is wrong. If you could touch a hot stove burner and not feel pain then you may just let your hand continue to rest there. Now just imagine all the damage that would be done to your hand. When you get Appendicitis your stomach hurts and that’s how you know to go to see the doctor and they are able to tell you have it and fix it for you. If you didn’t have pain your Appendix would burst and you would die.

This may also cause problems for parents of children with this condition. Without the ability to feel pain, parents may have problems disciplining bad behavior, or in extreme cases, the child may threaten self-inflicted harm, knowing that he/she will not feel the pain. It is through pain that most of us learn the range of emotions that allow developing into functional adults

This is a very rare disease only 35 people in the United States are known to have Congenital Insensitivity to Pain. In Japan there are 200 known cases. It is believed it is more prevalent in Japan because it is a Homogeneous Society that is, the people share a common ethnic and cultural background. Japan is a homogeneous society. The people speak the same language and share the same culture. Unlike most nations around the world, Japan has almost no ethnic minorities.

Congenital Insensitivity to Pain is a rare inherited disease characterized by a lack of pain sensation and thermoregulation. Although lacking pain sensation, some patients do have tactile hyperesthesia. Thus, anesthetics are a necessity during operations.

Congenital Insensitivity to Pain is caused by a genetic mutation that obstructs development of the nerves that transmit sensations of pain, heat, and cold to the brain.

Symptoms of Congenital Insensitivity to Pain are Indifference to pain, Self-mutilation, Abnormal temperature perception, Mental retardation, and Fever during hot weather. As of now scientists have been unable to determine the actual cause of Congenital Insensitivity to Pain they are not certain whether the disorder should be traced back genetically or developmentally.

Because Congenital Insensitivity to Pain is so rare not a lot is known but Scientists are studying everyday to find out any information they can. As parents we all want are children to not have any pain. Any pain they experience is painful to all parents. But parents with children who have this disease have one wish a wish that if someone didn’t know why, they would think they were horrible parents. That one wish is that there child could feel pain.