405-271-2226, ext. 56245
Pain affects more than 50 million Americans and is a frequent cause for people to visit a clinic. Approximately 45% of the population seeks medical help for pain at some point in their lives. Pain interferes with quality of life, sleep and productivity, and increases utilization of health care resources. Of the pain experiences, visceral pain often associated with visceral dysfunction is a prominent symptom in the clinical setting and one of the main reasons that patients seek medical care. Treatment of visceral pain resulting from visceral dysfunction is particularly challenging because it is seen by physicians in various specialties and little research has been done to address mechanisms. Furthermore, visceral pain does not often originate from a disease of a single internal organ but often results from concurrent algogenic conditions of more than one visceral source. The purpose of our research program is to study the neuro-humoral mechanisms of visceral dysfunction/pain and determine how neuromodulation can improve visceral function and reduce pain.
Education:
- B.A., Biology ; 1969; Central University of Iowa; Pella, Iowa 50219
- Ph.D., Physiology; 1973; Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Maywood, IL 60153
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neurophysiology; 1973-1975; University of Texas Medical Branch, Marine Biomedical Institute; Galveston, TX 77550
Clinical/Research Interests:
We are interested in determining how neuromodulation improves visceral dysfunction and reduces pain.
Funding:
- Advanced Neuromodulation Systems (St. Jude Medical)
- NIH (Co-Investigator)