Shuster S
Department of Dermatology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Lancet. 1995 Jan 21;345(8943):160-1. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)90169-8.
From self-experimentation, I propose that the pain which occurs after application of capsaicin is causalgia and that this "capsaicin causalgia" is due to actual or functional depletion of neuropeptides such as substance P. This idea could provide an objective definition of the causalgic syndromes and improve the means of diagnosis. The analogy with capsaicin causalgia could also be extended to the pain of epidermal necrolysis, solar and thermal burns, and leprosy. The concept could lead to a better treatment of these causalgic syndromes by modulation of neuropeptide concentration or responsivity, or by mitigation of the consequences of its depletion.
