lˈdʒiBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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analgesia or analgia (ˌænəlˈdʒiːzɪə, -sɪə, ænˈældʒɪə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | inability to feel pain |
| 2. | the relief of pain |
| [C18: via New Latin from Greek: insensibility, from | |
| analgia or analgia | |
| —n | |
| [C18: via New Latin from Greek: insensibility, from | |
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| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
analgesia
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analgesia an·al·ge·si·a (ān'əl-jē'zē-ə, -zhə)
n.
A deadening or absence of the sense of pain without loss of consciousness.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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analgesia
loss of sensation of pain that results from an interruption in the nervous system pathway between sense organ and brain. Different forms of sensation (e.g., touch, temperature, and pain) stimulating an area of skin travel to the spinal cord by different nerve fibres in the same nerve bundle. Therefore, any injury or disease affecting the nerve would abolish all forms of sensation in the area supplied by it. When sensory nerves reach the spinal cord, however, their fibres separate and follow different courses to the brain. Thus, it is possible for certain forms of sensation to be lost, while others are preserved, in diseases that affect only certain areas of the spinal cord. Because pain and temperature sensations often travel the same path, both may be lost together. Diseases of the spinal cord that may cause analgesia without loss of the sensation of touch are tabes dorsalis, syringomyelia, and tumours of the cord. The term is also used for pain relief induced by the action of such medications as aspirin, codeine, and morphine.
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