La storia di un’epidemia: dall’immaginario sfuggente, all’incertezza del domani

A distant pain that suddenly involves us. Covid 19 seemed to be a matter that concerned only China, instead we soon found ourselves counting our dead and dealing with “suspended mourning”, that is, facing death without being able to access the usual system of rituals and symbols that accompany the event. A pandemic, as La Spagnola had been in other periods, puts us in a position of uncertainty, but perhaps it stimulates us to find meekness and be more hospitable. The possibility of being able to become better is the message of hope, as are the flowers that continue to bloom demonstrating the victory of beauty in a time of despair.

Evidence of localized and widespread pressure pain hypersensitivity in patients with tension-type headache: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective This meta-analysis evaluates pressure pain sensitivity values in symptomatic and distant pain-free areas comparing individuals with tension-type headache to controls. Databases and data treatment Electronic databases were searched for cross-sectional or prospective case-control studies comparing pressure pain thresholds in patients with tension-type headache to headache-free controls. Data were extracted by three reviewers. The methodological quality was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Meta-analyses of trigeminal, extra-trigeminal (neck) and distant pain-free areas in tension-type headache were compared to headache-free controls. Frequency of tension-type headache and gender were taken into account. Results Twenty studies were included. Patients with tension-type headache exhibited lower pressure pain thresholds than headache-free controls: Trigeminal (MD −49.11 kPa, 95% CI −66.05 to −32.17), cervical spine (MD −88.17 kPa, 95% CI −108.43 to −67.92) and distant pain-free areas (MD −98.43 kPa, 95% CI −136.78 to −60.09). Differences were significant for chronic, episodic, and mixed episodic and chronic tension-type headache within the trigeminal and neck (symptomatic areas), but only significant for chronic tension-type headache (MD −102.86, 95% CI −139.47 to −66.25 kPa) for distant pain-free areas. In general, women had lower pressure pain thresholds than men. The methodological quality ranged from fair (45%) to good (40%). The results showed a high heterogeneity and publication bias. Conclusion This first meta-analysis addressing pressure pain thresholds differences in symptomatic and distant pain-free areas between patients with tension-type headache and controls found low to moderate evidence supporting the presence of pressure pain hypersensitivity in the trigeminal and neck areas in tension-type headache in comparison with headache-free controls. Sensitivity to pressure pain was widespread only in chronic, not episodic, tension-type headache (moderate evidence). Registration number: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/R29HY

Beyond the Present

This chapter argues that subjects can be in touch with things outside their immediate environment, and applies this conclusion to compassion. Three cases of being in touch with spatial properties are considered, in which subjects “see in their mind’s eye,” episodically remember, and vividly anticipate properties of objects. Though none of these states are perceptions in the familiar sense, it is argued that they share some of perception’s irreplaceable epistemic goodness. Differences in being in touch are then found to coincide with intuitive moral distinctions in cases in which agents are or are not pained by spatially distant, past, and future pains. Finally, a potential objection is addressed about agents becoming ineffective through getting caught up in some thought of distant pain.