Nerve Damage

Clippers forward Craig Smith , who hasn't played since Dec. 18, should get a good read on his progress when he visits the doctor Wednesday. Smith suffered a herniated disk in his lower back and nerve damage in his right leg, which required an epidural. If all is deemed to be going well, Smith won't require more drastic measures. "The way I'm feeling, I feel close," he said Monday before the Clippers played Milwaukee at Staples Center. "Hopefully, no surgery. I don't wish that on anybody.

Among other things, marijuana is known to relieve pain. Scientists believe the cannibinoids deserve the credit, though they're not exactly sure how they work their magic. Unfortunately, the cannibinoids also get into the brain, where they can cause a variety of problems. So researchers at UC Irvine and their colleagues set out to design a molecule that relieves pain like cannibinoids, but doesn't cause any mischief in the brain. They started with a compound called URB597 , which is a known analgesic.

Despite modern medicine's pharmacy, chock-full of pain medicines, popping pills fails to stop many kinds of pain. Thus, for certain kinds of debilitating pain, many doctors and patients turn to technology instead of pharmacology — electronic devices that confuse the pain signal before you even feel it. Tiny wires implanted in the spinal cord can deliver electronic pulses that eliminate pain in two-thirds to three-quarters of patients deemed...

The Kings got a little healthier Saturday, as forwards Pavol Demitra and Eric Belanger returned to the lineup. Demitra sat out 10 games because of nerve damage in his right leg. Belanger sat out 13 games because of a partially torn groin. Their return was tempered when defenseman Tim Gleason did not play because of a left knee injury that the Kings said was a bruise. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky sat out much of the first period after an injury to his right knee.

Impotence drugs such as Viagra and Cialis can increase the risk of eye damage in men who have a history of heart disease or high blood pressure, researchers reported Tuesday in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. In a small study, scientists at the University of Alabama in Birmingham found that men who had suffered a heart attack were 10 times more likely to have a form of optic nerve damage called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy if they had been taking anti-impotence pills.

One of the more serious complications of diabetes is a disabling condition called diabetic neuropathy. Because people with diabetes have excessive levels of blood sugar, nerves can become damaged, causing sharp pain that disturbs sleep, numbness in the hands or feet, digestive problems, ulcerations that can lead to foot amputations, and even sudden death if the nerves to the heart are affected.

Los Angeles County agreed Tuesday to pay $200,000 to an unarmed woman shot 10 times by sheriff's deputies who fired 65 rounds, a case under investigation as possible "contagious fire." Michael Gennaco, head of the department's Office of Independent Review, cited similarities between the shooting of Simona Wilfred and last week's incident in Compton, where deputies fired 120 rounds in a residential neighborhood. He said his staff was still investigating the Nov.

Researchers have found a whole new level of damage in babies born to mothers who drank heavily during pregnancy -- this time to the nerves in their arms and legs. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, is the first to look beyond the well-known damage to the brain and spinal cord in babies of mothers who drink and to find damage outside the central nervous system.

A Florida surgeon accused Rampart Division police officers Tuesday of pulling him over on the Santa Monica Freeway last month because he is black and handcuffing him so tightly that he suffered nerve damage in his wrists. Dr. Angelo E. Gousse, a urology specialist who also teaches at the University of Miami medical school, filed a claim Tuesday against the Los Angeles Police Department, accusing officers of racial profiling and excessive force.

Some call the harp the instrument of the angels. It must be so, says Rita Linck, for it certainly wasn't designed for those made of flesh and blood. Consider that its 100-pound weight must be balanced precariously on one shoulder as it is played. Consider its steel strings, which bring constant calluses and biting blisters to the fingers of those who strive to pluck them to perfection.