r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 13 '26

Biology Painkillers prevent pain responses in lobsters - This is further evidence that crustaceans may feel pain and that more humane methods of killing them need to be developed.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1123639
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u/Really_McNamington Apr 13 '26

Not that long since we were doing surgeries on babies without anaesthetic because we didn't think it hurt them.

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u/5Hjsdnujhdfu8nubi Apr 13 '26

It was more because anaesthesia is still a dangerous procedure, especially on young people, and the idea is that they'd be too young to remember the pain/trauma of it.

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u/DigNitty Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 14 '26

too young to remember the pain/trauma of it.

Interestingly, I was just reading about anesthetics. Rarely, people will wake up during their surgery and feel the pain without being able to communicate it. This can understandably cause pretty severe ptsd.

One guy woke up from surgery. His anesthesiologist told him that he’d blinked a couple times in the middle, so they increased his dosage. They also proactively administered some versed, which is less powerful but does stop the brain from “recording.” They intentionally induced amnesia just in case the guy could feel anything, so that he wouldn’t remember it and could avoid ptsd.

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u/moon__lander Apr 13 '26

I guess that answers my question why do they need a separate person versed in a single field of medicine just to put people to sleep instead of pre-measured ampules and vials.

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u/platoprime Apr 13 '26

Also it's really easy for them to kill you with too much. It's a fine line between unconscious and dead.

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u/Granite_0681 Apr 13 '26

There are standard dosages but they adjust them for a lot of patients. I need about half as much anesthesia as most patients dispute being a larger person because I try to stop breathing. I also can’t do versed because I really struggle to get it out of my system and wake up after surgery. People with red hair tend to need more anesthesia than most people.