A woman who doesn't feel pain • Hacker News Board

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#51

Post by elbrian » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 8:13 PM UTC

fbnlsr wrote: post #28

Not feeling pain can have some really disabiliting effect on one's life. A rather famous player in the Counter-Strike community suffers from a rare genetic disease that make him feel much less pain than normal. He started to scratch his nose out of habit when he was a kid, and eventually it came off over the course of years of scratching. His name is lo0p__ : https://www.twitch.tv/lo0p__ Edit: You can see him explain…

Here's an AMA he did, if anyone is interested in reading more about him specifically:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4xmbu9/iama_16_year_o...

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#52

Post by brm » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 8:22 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #30

chrisdone wrote: post #14

I read in New Scientist that they've discovered a way in mice to turn off the connection between pain receptors and the emotional response to pain in the brain. So the mouse feels the pain in the sense of recognising it, but doesn't have a negative feeling associated with it. That's like a half-way point; you wouldn't injure yourself accidentally (as the woman), but you also wouldn't suffer if enduring chronic pain.…

Experienced meditators are supposed to achieve this. I have read that they can have surgery without anesthetics (Gandhi supposedly did it too). They feel the pain but they do not suffer from it.

source please.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#53

Post by nessus42 » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 8:28 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #30

chrisdone wrote: post #14

I read in New Scientist that they've discovered a way in mice to turn off the connection between pain receptors and the emotional response to pain in the brain. So the mouse feels the pain in the sense of recognising it, but doesn't have a negative feeling associated with it. That's like a half-way point; you wouldn't injure yourself accidentally (as the woman), but you also wouldn't suffer if enduring chronic pain.…

Experienced meditators are supposed to achieve this. I have read that they can have surgery without anesthetics (Gandhi supposedly did it too). They feel the pain but they do not suffer from it.

You don't need to meditate to achieve this. You just need nitrous oxide.

This is great for going to the dentist, but I suppose it's not so great for managing chronic pain, however.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#54

Post by mirimir » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 8:35 PM UTC

fma wrote: post #40

iforgotpassword wrote: post #34

I'm baffled by the fact she only realized it when she was 65. I understand that when you were born like that it might just be normal, and maybe you don't put too much thought into it, but it's just... Didn't she ever wonder why other people scream like crazy when they touch a hot pan, hit their head, and she doesn't? Didn't other people realize in those 65 years that she doesn't have any reaction when it happens to h…

I read the same story from NY Times, which had a more detailed write up. She likely inherited the genes from her dad. "Likely" because they can't test her dad's genes since he's deceased. Her dad didn't really feel pain either, so growing up it was not that abnormal. Her son has a similar mutation but daughter doesn't. NY Times Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/health/woman-pain-anxiety...

Right. You're normal, and everyone else are just whingers.

Reminds me of Ferro, in Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. She felt no pain. But she was not at all happy. More like always angry.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#55

Post by mirimir » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 8:49 PM UTC

ChrisSD wrote: post #17

What's also interesting is the other consequences of her condition. She doesn't get fear or adrenaline response and might be able to heal faster than most people.

Right, I noticed that too. Also the "happy gene" thing.

I recall from Hofstadter the idea that feedback loops in consciousness rely on some of the same components that mediate the senses. So anger and fear are rather like mental pain.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#56

Post by popotamonga » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 9:16 PM UTC

Can some one like this pickup a sport like running and run to death?

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#57

Post by scarcely » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 9:20 PM UTC

popotamonga wrote: post #56

Can some one like this pickup a sport like running and run to death?

You can probably get paralyzed just by sitting since you are no longer shifting your legs around in response to mild discomfort

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#58

Post by HillaryBriss » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 9:21 PM UTC

Pain free I believe, but I call bullshit on this part of the story: "When he found I hadn't had any, he checked my medical history and found I had never asked for painkillers."

Ha!! Like you can just "check someone's medical history." Yeah right! As if that history were in a single, easily queried database or something! Everyone knows real human medical histories are spread out over thousands of dog-eared pages hanging out of faded, worn-out folders located in dozens of doctors offices and hospitals across this great country of ours! What planet does that woman live on?!!

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#59

Post by darepublic » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 9:29 PM UTC

nessus42 wrote: post #53

maxxxxx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Experienced meditators are supposed to achieve this. I have read that they can have surgery without anesthetics (Gandhi supposedly did it too). They feel the pain but they do not suffer from it.

You don't need to meditate to achieve this. You just need nitrous oxide. This is great for going to the dentist, but I suppose it's not so great for managing chronic pain, however.

Wouldn't it be more natural to say, you don't need nitrous oxide to achieve this, you can practice to manage chronic pain.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#60

Post by tjoff » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 9:32 PM UTC

iforgotpassword wrote: post #34

I'm baffled by the fact she only realized it when she was 65. I understand that when you were born like that it might just be normal, and maybe you don't put too much thought into it, but it's just... Didn't she ever wonder why other people scream like crazy when they touch a hot pan, hit their head, and she doesn't? Didn't other people realize in those 65 years that she doesn't have any reaction when it happens to h…

> Didn't she ever wonder why other people scream like crazy when they touch a hot pan...

Kids learn to do this regardless of pain. And even adults do feel pain when they believe that they should feel pain (but really don't). So I don't think it needs to be super obvious.