Case Study- Nervous System and Opioid Dependency A Comparison and Contrast of Efferent and Afferent Nerve Pathways.

Case Study- Nervous System and Opioid Dependency

A Comparison and Contrast of Efferent and Afferent Nerve Pathways.

Afferent and efferent neurons are part of the signal transduction pathway in the nervous system that coordinates functions in the human body. Both neurons are part of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) (Yam et al., 2018). Efferent neurons are motor, while afferent neurons are sensory. The main difference between these two neurons is that afferent neurons transmit sensory signals from sensory organs such as the nose and eye toward the brain. In contrast, efferent neurons transmit motor signals from the brain to the PNS (Yam et al., 2018).

Nociception

Nociception is the perception of the nervous system towards potential or actual noxious stimuli (Yam et al., 2018). Nociceptors are sensory nerve fibers activated by harmful stimuli. They are involved in the first step of pain perception. Type Aδ- and C-fibers are the primary nerve fibers that respond to harmful stimuli (Yam et al., 2018). The harmful stimuli can be thermal, mechanical, or chemical.

Somatogenic Pain

Somatogenic pain is also known as organic pain. This type of pain arises from organic lesions due to infection, trauma, or other external aspects (Yam et al., 2018). There are two main categories of somatogenic pain. They include neuropathic pain and nociceptive pain.

Hyperalgesia

This is a natural phenomenon. It is the lowered threshold to pain related to mechanical or thermal stimulation (Yam et al., 2018). There are two types of hyperalgesia: primary and secondary hyperalgesia. The primary symptom is an increased perception of pain at the injury site (Yam et al., 2018). In addition, hyperalgesia has a major peripheral component.

The Naloxone Mechanism

Naloxone is a non-selective competitive opioid receptor antagonist. Its mechanism of action is to block the opioid receptor sites (Jordan & Morrisonponce, 2021). This helps to reverse opioid overdose effects. Naloxone reverses the CNS and respiratory system depression caused by opioids (Jordan & Morrisonponce, 2021).

References

Jordan, M. R., & Morrisonponce, D. (2021, July 13). Naloxone – StatPearls – NCBI bookshelf. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441910/

Yam, M., Loh, Y., Tan, C., Khadijah Adam, S., Abdul Manan, N., & Basir, R. (2018). General pathways of pain sensation and the major neurotransmitters involved in pain regulation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(8), 2164. https://doi.org/10.3390/