New doctor makes life easier for patients with nerve pain
Páll Karlsson from the Department of Clinical Medicine and the Danish Pain Research Center has recently gained his higher doctoral degree. His specific area of research is polyneuropathy, which is a condition in which many of the body's nerves are bad at sending signals and do not function as they should.
Polyneuropathy and peripheral nerve damage affect 2-3% of the population and can result in very painful conditions. New diagnostic tools and effective treatments can therefore improve the quality of life for a large group of patients.
Páll Karlsson's research revolves around understanding the small nerve fibres in the body that are affected by polyneuropathy. In particular, he focuses on the damage and pain caused by diabetes. Using advanced techniques such as skin biopsies and a special type of microscopy, he examines how these nerve fibres function and why they sometimes become damaged.
"The goal of our research is to provide important knowledge that we hope can lead to more targeted and effective treatments of polyneuropathy and the pain conditions that accompany it. In our work, we identify specific markers that can provide insight into the molecular and cellular processes involved in the development of the disorder," explains Páll Karlsson.
Contact
Associate Professor, PhD and doctor Páll Karlsson
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine, Danish Pain Research Center and
Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus and
Center for Molecular Morphology, Section for Stereology and Microscopy
Telephone: (+45) 61 66 99 80
Email: pall@clin.au.dk