She studies the differences in pain tolerance depending on the individual
Israeli Prof. Dorit Pud from the Department of Nursing, received the Landau Arts and Sciences Lottery Award for 2022 – which was awarded for the first time in the field of nursing research. Professor Pud founded and directs the Experimental Pain Research Laboratory at the University of Haifa where she studies various factors that may affect our subjective perception of pain. Notably the fact that some people will feel the pain caused by the same stimulus in a different way and with a different intensity.
His research focuses on the biological, genetic, psychological and social factors that influence the perception of pain and the response to analgesics. In this way, she hopes that it will be possible to draw a portrait of the people who are more sensitive to pain, and those who are less so, and to find upstream ways of relieving it effectively. In his laboratory, Prof. Pud uses various methods to produce experimental pain (such as ice water stimulation, transfer of thermal stimuli, etc.) to healthy people without pain in order to characterize their pain system. .
Thanks to collaborations in Israel and around the world, over the years, researchers in the laboratory have been able to demonstrate that there really are people who are more resistant to pain than others. Some of the factors that influence pain perception include anxiety, gender (women are more sensitive to pain), and personal ability to manage pain. In studies that looked at the response of patients with chronic nerve pain to painkillers from the opiate group (morphine), the lab team found that there are people for whom opioids actually make their pain worse instead of to reduce it. Finally, Professor Pud is also studying the effect of medical cannabis on patients suffering from various chronic pain conditions.
