Relief of Pain and Suffering: From Antiquity to Modern Times

Abstract

"We must all die. But that I can save him from days of torture that is what I feel as my great and ever new privilege. Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind that even death itself.'" Thus did Albert Schwietzer, the great humanitarian, physician and Nobel Laureate; elegantly describe the nature of pain and the obligation and privilege of physicians to relieve it - in 1931 after two decades of medical practice in the African jungles. Today, as then, proper management of pain remains one of the most important and pressing issues of society in general and health professionals in particular. This lecture attempts to trace how this has been achieved over the centuries, illustrate the history of pain research and highlight some of the advances in pain management that have come about in the last half century.