Jan Dyer

Older women represent 56% of all women with HIV, and in a 2009 study, they had the highest rates of HIV- and AIDS-related deaths. But few HIV prevention and education programs focus on older women, says Christopher Coleman, PhD, MPH, department chair and professor, Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing. Moreover, sexual health studies mainly concentrate on younger women and reproductive health, not risk factors for HIV among older women.

Coleman says the “confluence of lack of knowledge and absent communication about HIV risk has created a significant health crisis” for this group. He reviewed 41 articles that provide some insight.

Ageism, biological factors, and lack of education all play a part. Some research has found that older women are less likely to engage in safe sex practices because they no longer use condoms to prevent pregnancy. The National AIDS Behavior Survey found that > 85% of respondents aged ≥ 50 years reported never using condoms or using them inconsistently. However, women in the postmenopausal age group are sexually active, and because they may be divorced or widowed, may not be in committed relationships. Also, age-related physical changes, such as thinning vaginal tissue and a weakened immune system, can make them more vulnerable to infection.

The problem is compounded when an older woman is unwilling to bring up the topic with health care providers—and health care providers are unwilling to believe that she is sexually active. Women aged > 50 years may also avoid seeking HIV testing due to social factors. And they may be prevented from traveling to health care or testing by poor physical health or other age-related issues.

We need new methods of reaching them, Coleman says. Existing HIV/AIDS instructional programs may not be effective tools for women with age-related comorbidities, such as cognitive, visual, or auditory deficits. Other options should be considered: For instance, small peer groups have been more successful than large groups, providing a sense of safety and belonging that encourages disclosure.

Health care providers should include education during routine office visits, Coleman advises, using non-ageist and nonstereotyping strategies and questions. Nurses are well positioned to educate women about the risks of HIV transmission; he says: discussing sexual activity with older women requires the “art of therapeutic communication without judgment.”

Older women represent 56% of all women with HIV, and in a 2009 study, they had the highest rates of HIV- and AIDS-related deaths. But few HIV prevention and education programs focus on older women, says Christopher Coleman, PhD, MPH, department chair and professor, Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing. Moreover, sexual health studies mainly concentrate on younger women and reproductive health, not risk factors for HIV among older women.

Coleman says the “confluence of lack of knowledge and absent communication about HIV risk has created a significant health crisis” for this group. He reviewed 41 articles that provide some insight.

Ageism, biological factors, and lack of education all play a part. Some research has found that older women are less likely to engage in safe sex practices because they no longer use condoms to prevent pregnancy. The National AIDS Behavior Survey found that > 85% of respondents aged ≥ 50 years reported never using condoms or using them inconsistently. However, women in the postmenopausal age group are sexually active, and because they may be divorced or widowed, may not be in committed relationships. Also, age-related physical changes, such as thinning vaginal tissue and a weakened immune system, can make them more vulnerable to infection.

The problem is compounded when an older woman is unwilling to bring up the topic with health care providers—and health care providers are unwilling to believe that she is sexually active. Women aged > 50 years may also avoid seeking HIV testing due to social factors. And they may be prevented from traveling to health care or testing by poor physical health or other age-related issues.

We need new methods of reaching them, Coleman says. Existing HIV/AIDS instructional programs may not be effective tools for women with age-related comorbidities, such as cognitive, visual, or auditory deficits. Other options should be considered: For instance, small peer groups have been more successful than large groups, providing a sense of safety and belonging that encourages disclosure.

Health care providers should include education during routine office visits, Coleman advises, using non-ageist and nonstereotyping strategies and questions. Nurses are well positioned to educate women about the risks of HIV transmission; he says: discussing sexual activity with older women requires the “art of therapeutic communication without judgment.”

Older women represent 56% of all women with HIV, and in a 2009 study, they had the highest rates of HIV- and AIDS-related deaths. But few HIV prevention and education programs focus on older women, says Christopher Coleman, PhD, MPH, department chair and professor, Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing. Moreover, sexual health studies mainly concentrate on younger women and reproductive health, not risk factors for HIV among older women.

Coleman says the “confluence of lack of knowledge and absent communication about HIV risk has created a significant health crisis” for this group. He reviewed 41 articles that provide some insight.

Ageism, biological factors, and lack of education all play a part. Some research has found that older women are less likely to engage in safe sex practices because they no longer use condoms to prevent pregnancy. The National AIDS Behavior Survey found that > 85% of respondents aged ≥ 50 years reported never using condoms or using them inconsistently. However, women in the postmenopausal age group are sexually active, and because they may be divorced or widowed, may not be in committed relationships. Also, age-related physical changes, such as thinning vaginal tissue and a weakened immune system, can make them more vulnerable to infection.

The problem is compounded when an older woman is unwilling to bring up the topic with health care providers—and health care providers are unwilling to believe that she is sexually active. Women aged > 50 years may also avoid seeking HIV testing due to social factors. And they may be prevented from traveling to health care or testing by poor physical health or other age-related issues.

We need new methods of reaching them, Coleman says. Existing HIV/AIDS instructional programs may not be effective tools for women with age-related comorbidities, such as cognitive, visual, or auditory deficits. Other options should be considered: For instance, small peer groups have been more successful than large groups, providing a sense of safety and belonging that encourages disclosure.

Health care providers should include education during routine office visits, Coleman advises, using non-ageist and nonstereotyping strategies and questions. Nurses are well positioned to educate women about the risks of HIV transmission; he says: discussing sexual activity with older women requires the “art of therapeutic communication without judgment.”

One of the tricky parts of HIV drug therapy is determining how well the drugs have worked. The HIV DNA (provirus) in resting cells is usually too defective to replicate itself the way intact provirus can. But most current tests cannot tell the difference between the two. However, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have developed an accurate and scalable assay to easily count the cells in the HIV reservoir.

A stable, latent reservoir for HIV-1 in resting CD4+ T cells is “the principle barrier to a cure,” the researchers say. Quantitative outgrowth assays and assays for cells that produce viral RNA after T-cell activation may underestimate the reservoir size because 1 round of activation does not induce all proviruses. Many studies, the researchers say, rely on simple assays based on polymerase chain reaction to detect proviral DNA regardless of transcriptional status, but the clinical relevance of those assays is unclear since the vast majority of proviruses are defective.

In their study, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the researchers analyzed DNA sequences from > 400 HIV proviruses from 28 people with HIV. They mapped 2 types of flaws: deletions and lethal mutations. They then developed strategically placed “genetic probes” that could distinguish between deleted or highly mutated proviruses and intact ones. Finally, they developed a nanotechnology-based method to analyze 1 provirus at a time to determine how many in a sample are intact.

The researchers say their findings show that the dynamics of cells that carry intact and defective proviruses are different in vitro and in vivo. Their hope is that their method will speed HIV research by allowing scientists to easily quantify the number of proviruses in an individual, which must be eliminated to achieve a cure.

One of the tricky parts of HIV drug therapy is determining how well the drugs have worked. The HIV DNA (provirus) in resting cells is usually too defective to replicate itself the way intact provirus can. But most current tests cannot tell the difference between the two. However, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have developed an accurate and scalable assay to easily count the cells in the HIV reservoir.

A stable, latent reservoir for HIV-1 in resting CD4+ T cells is “the principle barrier to a cure,” the researchers say. Quantitative outgrowth assays and assays for cells that produce viral RNA after T-cell activation may underestimate the reservoir size because 1 round of activation does not induce all proviruses. Many studies, the researchers say, rely on simple assays based on polymerase chain reaction to detect proviral DNA regardless of transcriptional status, but the clinical relevance of those assays is unclear since the vast majority of proviruses are defective.

In their study, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the researchers analyzed DNA sequences from > 400 HIV proviruses from 28 people with HIV. They mapped 2 types of flaws: deletions and lethal mutations. They then developed strategically placed “genetic probes” that could distinguish between deleted or highly mutated proviruses and intact ones. Finally, they developed a nanotechnology-based method to analyze 1 provirus at a time to determine how many in a sample are intact.

The researchers say their findings show that the dynamics of cells that carry intact and defective proviruses are different in vitro and in vivo. Their hope is that their method will speed HIV research by allowing scientists to easily quantify the number of proviruses in an individual, which must be eliminated to achieve a cure.

One of the tricky parts of HIV drug therapy is determining how well the drugs have worked. The HIV DNA (provirus) in resting cells is usually too defective to replicate itself the way intact provirus can. But most current tests cannot tell the difference between the two. However, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have developed an accurate and scalable assay to easily count the cells in the HIV reservoir.

A stable, latent reservoir for HIV-1 in resting CD4+ T cells is “the principle barrier to a cure,” the researchers say. Quantitative outgrowth assays and assays for cells that produce viral RNA after T-cell activation may underestimate the reservoir size because 1 round of activation does not induce all proviruses. Many studies, the researchers say, rely on simple assays based on polymerase chain reaction to detect proviral DNA regardless of transcriptional status, but the clinical relevance of those assays is unclear since the vast majority of proviruses are defective.

In their study, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the researchers analyzed DNA sequences from > 400 HIV proviruses from 28 people with HIV. They mapped 2 types of flaws: deletions and lethal mutations. They then developed strategically placed “genetic probes” that could distinguish between deleted or highly mutated proviruses and intact ones. Finally, they developed a nanotechnology-based method to analyze 1 provirus at a time to determine how many in a sample are intact.

The researchers say their findings show that the dynamics of cells that carry intact and defective proviruses are different in vitro and in vivo. Their hope is that their method will speed HIV research by allowing scientists to easily quantify the number of proviruses in an individual, which must be eliminated to achieve a cure.

A current theory holds that during a traumatic event, a person may learn to associate the people, locations, and objects in the situation with the trauma, and long after the event even the “safe” stimuli can trigger fearful and defensive responses. Experts believe it is an “overlearned response” to a threatening experience. But the way in which that learning happens is not well understood, say researchers from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Their study, though, may shed new light on how people with PTSD symptoms learn and unlearn fear.

In the study, funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, the researchers examined how the mental adjustments performed during learning and the way the brain tracks these adjustments relate to symptom severity.

They gave combat veterans with varying levels of PTSD symptom severity a reversal learning task. Participants were shown 2 mildly angry human faces and mildly shocked after viewing 1 face, but not the other. Then the task was reversed, with the aim of having the participants “unlearn” their original fear conditioning and testing their ability to relearn how to respond to negative surprises in the environment.

Although all participants were able to perform the reversal learning, the researchers found “pronounced differences in the ‘learning rates.’” Highly symptomatic veterans tended to overreact when what they expected to happen and what actually happened did not match up.

The researchers say they found biomarkers that could explain the different reactions. In the highly symptomatic veterans, 2 areas of the brain—the amygdala and striatum—were less able to track changes in threat level.

“One’s inability to adequately adjust expectations for potentially aversive outcomes has potential clinical relevance,” said Ilan Harpaz-Rotem, PhD, co-leader of the study, “as this deficit may lead to avoidance and depressive behavior.”

The researchers say their findings could give a “more fine-grained understanding of how learning processes may go awry in the aftermath of combat trauma.”

A current theory holds that during a traumatic event, a person may learn to associate the people, locations, and objects in the situation with the trauma, and long after the event even the “safe” stimuli can trigger fearful and defensive responses. Experts believe it is an “overlearned response” to a threatening experience. But the way in which that learning happens is not well understood, say researchers from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Their study, though, may shed new light on how people with PTSD symptoms learn and unlearn fear.

In the study, funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, the researchers examined how the mental adjustments performed during learning and the way the brain tracks these adjustments relate to symptom severity.

They gave combat veterans with varying levels of PTSD symptom severity a reversal learning task. Participants were shown 2 mildly angry human faces and mildly shocked after viewing 1 face, but not the other. Then the task was reversed, with the aim of having the participants “unlearn” their original fear conditioning and testing their ability to relearn how to respond to negative surprises in the environment.

Although all participants were able to perform the reversal learning, the researchers found “pronounced differences in the ‘learning rates.’” Highly symptomatic veterans tended to overreact when what they expected to happen and what actually happened did not match up.

The researchers say they found biomarkers that could explain the different reactions. In the highly symptomatic veterans, 2 areas of the brain—the amygdala and striatum—were less able to track changes in threat level.

“One’s inability to adequately adjust expectations for potentially aversive outcomes has potential clinical relevance,” said Ilan Harpaz-Rotem, PhD, co-leader of the study, “as this deficit may lead to avoidance and depressive behavior.”

The researchers say their findings could give a “more fine-grained understanding of how learning processes may go awry in the aftermath of combat trauma.”

A current theory holds that during a traumatic event, a person may learn to associate the people, locations, and objects in the situation with the trauma, and long after the event even the “safe” stimuli can trigger fearful and defensive responses. Experts believe it is an “overlearned response” to a threatening experience. But the way in which that learning happens is not well understood, say researchers from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Their study, though, may shed new light on how people with PTSD symptoms learn and unlearn fear.

In the study, funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, the researchers examined how the mental adjustments performed during learning and the way the brain tracks these adjustments relate to symptom severity.

They gave combat veterans with varying levels of PTSD symptom severity a reversal learning task. Participants were shown 2 mildly angry human faces and mildly shocked after viewing 1 face, but not the other. Then the task was reversed, with the aim of having the participants “unlearn” their original fear conditioning and testing their ability to relearn how to respond to negative surprises in the environment.

Although all participants were able to perform the reversal learning, the researchers found “pronounced differences in the ‘learning rates.’” Highly symptomatic veterans tended to overreact when what they expected to happen and what actually happened did not match up.

The researchers say they found biomarkers that could explain the different reactions. In the highly symptomatic veterans, 2 areas of the brain—the amygdala and striatum—were less able to track changes in threat level.

“One’s inability to adequately adjust expectations for potentially aversive outcomes has potential clinical relevance,” said Ilan Harpaz-Rotem, PhD, co-leader of the study, “as this deficit may lead to avoidance and depressive behavior.”

The researchers say their findings could give a “more fine-grained understanding of how learning processes may go awry in the aftermath of combat trauma.”

Civil rights laws mandate that federally funded emergency response and recovery services must be accessible to all Americans. But at least 350 languages are spoken in the US, according to the US Census Bureau. And millions of people have hearing or vision problems or cannot read.

Recent devastating fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes have underscored the need for clear communication in disasters. Now the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unveiled a “plain language checklist” to help first responders make sure important information is shared.

The checklist, developed through the HHS Language Access Steering Committee, complements an emergency preparedness checklist released in 2016. It includes recommendations, action steps, and resources to help first responders provide on-the-ground language assistance. For example, a key recommendation is to not only identify languages and dialects spoken in the community, but specific types of sign language as well. The action steps include accessing state and local demographic data and identifying public spaces that serve people lacking English proficiency, such as libraries that offer language access resources.

The checklist also provides practical tips for working with interpreters, such as speaking directly in the first person to the individual (not the interpreter), avoiding idioms, acronyms, and double negatives. Red flags include interpreters who need repeated clarifications, who overuse English terms, and whose interpretations seem overly long or short compared with the statements being interpreted.

The HHS also recommends:

• Working with Centers for Independent Living and other groups who work with people with disabilities;
•  Identifying local partners, such as hospitals, faith-based organizations, and legal services; and
• Coordinating with TV, print, radio, and online media to share plain-language, culturally appropriate emergency information.

The checklist is available at https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/12/04/new-hhs-checklist-helps-first-responders-ensure-language-access-and-effective-communication-during-emergencies.html

Civil rights laws mandate that federally funded emergency response and recovery services must be accessible to all Americans. But at least 350 languages are spoken in the US, according to the US Census Bureau. And millions of people have hearing or vision problems or cannot read.

Recent devastating fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes have underscored the need for clear communication in disasters. Now the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unveiled a “plain language checklist” to help first responders make sure important information is shared.

The checklist, developed through the HHS Language Access Steering Committee, complements an emergency preparedness checklist released in 2016. It includes recommendations, action steps, and resources to help first responders provide on-the-ground language assistance. For example, a key recommendation is to not only identify languages and dialects spoken in the community, but specific types of sign language as well. The action steps include accessing state and local demographic data and identifying public spaces that serve people lacking English proficiency, such as libraries that offer language access resources.

The checklist also provides practical tips for working with interpreters, such as speaking directly in the first person to the individual (not the interpreter), avoiding idioms, acronyms, and double negatives. Red flags include interpreters who need repeated clarifications, who overuse English terms, and whose interpretations seem overly long or short compared with the statements being interpreted.

The HHS also recommends:

• Working with Centers for Independent Living and other groups who work with people with disabilities;
•  Identifying local partners, such as hospitals, faith-based organizations, and legal services; and
• Coordinating with TV, print, radio, and online media to share plain-language, culturally appropriate emergency information.

The checklist is available at https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/12/04/new-hhs-checklist-helps-first-responders-ensure-language-access-and-effective-communication-during-emergencies.html

Civil rights laws mandate that federally funded emergency response and recovery services must be accessible to all Americans. But at least 350 languages are spoken in the US, according to the US Census Bureau. And millions of people have hearing or vision problems or cannot read.

Recent devastating fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes have underscored the need for clear communication in disasters. Now the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unveiled a “plain language checklist” to help first responders make sure important information is shared.

The checklist, developed through the HHS Language Access Steering Committee, complements an emergency preparedness checklist released in 2016. It includes recommendations, action steps, and resources to help first responders provide on-the-ground language assistance. For example, a key recommendation is to not only identify languages and dialects spoken in the community, but specific types of sign language as well. The action steps include accessing state and local demographic data and identifying public spaces that serve people lacking English proficiency, such as libraries that offer language access resources.

The checklist also provides practical tips for working with interpreters, such as speaking directly in the first person to the individual (not the interpreter), avoiding idioms, acronyms, and double negatives. Red flags include interpreters who need repeated clarifications, who overuse English terms, and whose interpretations seem overly long or short compared with the statements being interpreted.

The HHS also recommends:

• Working with Centers for Independent Living and other groups who work with people with disabilities;
•  Identifying local partners, such as hospitals, faith-based organizations, and legal services; and
• Coordinating with TV, print, radio, and online media to share plain-language, culturally appropriate emergency information.

The checklist is available at https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/12/04/new-hhs-checklist-helps-first-responders-ensure-language-access-and-effective-communication-during-emergencies.html

As many as 81.5% of veterans may experience chronic pain, pain that lasts beyond the point of healing and for at least 3 months. It is also particularly prevalent among veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) , often accompanied by comorbid conditions. Nearly 90% of veterans with a history of TBI have a psychiatric diagnosis, about 75% have insomnia, and 70% have a pain diagnosis, say researchers from University of Washington and Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS).

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help reduce pain, as well as pain-related disability and distress, but no randomized controlled trials (RCT) have examined CBT’s efficacy for pain after TBI in veterans, the researchers say.

In response, the VAPSHCS researchers have designed an RCT to compare telephone-based CBT with telephone-delivered pain education for veterans with TBI and chronic pain. The single-center 2-group trial will enroll up to 160 veterans with TBI to examine the relative efficacy of the interventions on average pain intensity, pain interference, sleep, depression, and life satisfaction.

The participants will be drawn from VAPSHCS, and can be enrolled via clinician referral, electronic health record review, and self-referral.  Outcome variables will be collected pre-, mid-, and posttreatment, and 6 months following randomization.

Both interventions will consist of 8 hour-long phone sessions over approximately 8 to 12 weeks, scheduled at times convenient for the participants. Both interventions will also use a participant treatment workbook, with session-specific content to be discussed during the telephone sessions, and audio-recordings to augment material covered. Clinicians will make brief “booster” calls 2, 6, and 10 weeks after the final treatment session.

The trial is innovative, the researchers say, in that it is tailored to veterans, through relatable examples, and to those with TBI, by reducing content and providing multiple methods of engaging with information, as well as using known strategies to help with recall. If effective, the intervention could be disseminated throughout the VHA system, potentially to other personnel who have difficulty accessing specialty pain care.

The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, protocol NCT01768650.

As many as 81.5% of veterans may experience chronic pain, pain that lasts beyond the point of healing and for at least 3 months. It is also particularly prevalent among veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) , often accompanied by comorbid conditions. Nearly 90% of veterans with a history of TBI have a psychiatric diagnosis, about 75% have insomnia, and 70% have a pain diagnosis, say researchers from University of Washington and Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS).

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help reduce pain, as well as pain-related disability and distress, but no randomized controlled trials (RCT) have examined CBT’s efficacy for pain after TBI in veterans, the researchers say.

In response, the VAPSHCS researchers have designed an RCT to compare telephone-based CBT with telephone-delivered pain education for veterans with TBI and chronic pain. The single-center 2-group trial will enroll up to 160 veterans with TBI to examine the relative efficacy of the interventions on average pain intensity, pain interference, sleep, depression, and life satisfaction.

The participants will be drawn from VAPSHCS, and can be enrolled via clinician referral, electronic health record review, and self-referral.  Outcome variables will be collected pre-, mid-, and posttreatment, and 6 months following randomization.

Both interventions will consist of 8 hour-long phone sessions over approximately 8 to 12 weeks, scheduled at times convenient for the participants. Both interventions will also use a participant treatment workbook, with session-specific content to be discussed during the telephone sessions, and audio-recordings to augment material covered. Clinicians will make brief “booster” calls 2, 6, and 10 weeks after the final treatment session.

The trial is innovative, the researchers say, in that it is tailored to veterans, through relatable examples, and to those with TBI, by reducing content and providing multiple methods of engaging with information, as well as using known strategies to help with recall. If effective, the intervention could be disseminated throughout the VHA system, potentially to other personnel who have difficulty accessing specialty pain care.

The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, protocol NCT01768650.

As many as 81.5% of veterans may experience chronic pain, pain that lasts beyond the point of healing and for at least 3 months. It is also particularly prevalent among veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) , often accompanied by comorbid conditions. Nearly 90% of veterans with a history of TBI have a psychiatric diagnosis, about 75% have insomnia, and 70% have a pain diagnosis, say researchers from University of Washington and Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS).

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help reduce pain, as well as pain-related disability and distress, but no randomized controlled trials (RCT) have examined CBT’s efficacy for pain after TBI in veterans, the researchers say.

In response, the VAPSHCS researchers have designed an RCT to compare telephone-based CBT with telephone-delivered pain education for veterans with TBI and chronic pain. The single-center 2-group trial will enroll up to 160 veterans with TBI to examine the relative efficacy of the interventions on average pain intensity, pain interference, sleep, depression, and life satisfaction.

The participants will be drawn from VAPSHCS, and can be enrolled via clinician referral, electronic health record review, and self-referral.  Outcome variables will be collected pre-, mid-, and posttreatment, and 6 months following randomization.

Both interventions will consist of 8 hour-long phone sessions over approximately 8 to 12 weeks, scheduled at times convenient for the participants. Both interventions will also use a participant treatment workbook, with session-specific content to be discussed during the telephone sessions, and audio-recordings to augment material covered. Clinicians will make brief “booster” calls 2, 6, and 10 weeks after the final treatment session.

The trial is innovative, the researchers say, in that it is tailored to veterans, through relatable examples, and to those with TBI, by reducing content and providing multiple methods of engaging with information, as well as using known strategies to help with recall. If effective, the intervention could be disseminated throughout the VHA system, potentially to other personnel who have difficulty accessing specialty pain care.

The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, protocol NCT01768650.

The numbers are stunning: 1,643% increase in rates of deaths involving synthetic opioids. A 915% increase for heroin, 830% for benzodiazepines. Even more stunning: Those are the increases only in overdose death rates for women aged 30 to 64 years.

According to CDC data, between 1999 and 2010, the largest percentage change in the rates of overall drug overdose deaths was among women aged between 45 and 64 years. But that research did not account for trends in specific drugs or consider changes in age group distributions, say researchers from the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

They examined overdose death rates among women aged 30 to 64 years between 1999 and 2017. The unadjusted death rate jumped 260%, from 4,314 deaths to 18,110 deaths. Among women aged 55 to 59 years, the number of deaths involving antidepressants increased approximately 300%; among women aged 60 to 64 years, nearly 400%. The crude rate of deaths involving prescription opioids skyrocketed > 1,000%.

The drug epidemic is “evolving,” the researchers note. In 1999, overdose death rates were highest among women aged 40 to 44 years. In 2017, they were highest among women aged 50 to 54 years. And as demographics shift, prevention programs need to shift as well. As women age, the researchers say, individual experiences can change the type of substance used or misused and in the experiences of pain that might result in an opioid prescription.

The researchers note that “substantial work” has focused on informing women of childbearing age about the risks and benefits of certain drugs. The current analysis demonstrates “the remaining need” to consider middle-aged women who are at risk.

Targeted efforts are needed, and the researchers suggest interventions: Medicaid and other health insurance programs can review records of controlled substance prescribing. States and local communities can expand capacity of drug use disorder treatments and links to care, particularly adding “gender-responsive” substance use disorder treatment centers.

A “multifaceted approach involving the full spectrum of care services is likely necessary,” the researchers say. Health care practitioners who treat women for pain, depression, or anxiety can discuss treatment options that consider the unique biopsychosocial needs of women.

Health care practitioners also can consider implementing the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, which says “Opioids are not first-line or routine therapy for chronic pain.” The guideline also says before starting and periodically during opioid therapy, clinicians should discuss with patients the “known risks and realistic benefits of opioid therapy.”  In other words, listen to the women and prescribe carefully.

The numbers are stunning: 1,643% increase in rates of deaths involving synthetic opioids. A 915% increase for heroin, 830% for benzodiazepines. Even more stunning: Those are the increases only in overdose death rates for women aged 30 to 64 years.

According to CDC data, between 1999 and 2010, the largest percentage change in the rates of overall drug overdose deaths was among women aged between 45 and 64 years. But that research did not account for trends in specific drugs or consider changes in age group distributions, say researchers from the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

They examined overdose death rates among women aged 30 to 64 years between 1999 and 2017. The unadjusted death rate jumped 260%, from 4,314 deaths to 18,110 deaths. Among women aged 55 to 59 years, the number of deaths involving antidepressants increased approximately 300%; among women aged 60 to 64 years, nearly 400%. The crude rate of deaths involving prescription opioids skyrocketed > 1,000%.

The drug epidemic is “evolving,” the researchers note. In 1999, overdose death rates were highest among women aged 40 to 44 years. In 2017, they were highest among women aged 50 to 54 years. And as demographics shift, prevention programs need to shift as well. As women age, the researchers say, individual experiences can change the type of substance used or misused and in the experiences of pain that might result in an opioid prescription.

The researchers note that “substantial work” has focused on informing women of childbearing age about the risks and benefits of certain drugs. The current analysis demonstrates “the remaining need” to consider middle-aged women who are at risk.

Targeted efforts are needed, and the researchers suggest interventions: Medicaid and other health insurance programs can review records of controlled substance prescribing. States and local communities can expand capacity of drug use disorder treatments and links to care, particularly adding “gender-responsive” substance use disorder treatment centers.

A “multifaceted approach involving the full spectrum of care services is likely necessary,” the researchers say. Health care practitioners who treat women for pain, depression, or anxiety can discuss treatment options that consider the unique biopsychosocial needs of women.

Health care practitioners also can consider implementing the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, which says “Opioids are not first-line or routine therapy for chronic pain.” The guideline also says before starting and periodically during opioid therapy, clinicians should discuss with patients the “known risks and realistic benefits of opioid therapy.”  In other words, listen to the women and prescribe carefully.

The numbers are stunning: 1,643% increase in rates of deaths involving synthetic opioids. A 915% increase for heroin, 830% for benzodiazepines. Even more stunning: Those are the increases only in overdose death rates for women aged 30 to 64 years.

According to CDC data, between 1999 and 2010, the largest percentage change in the rates of overall drug overdose deaths was among women aged between 45 and 64 years. But that research did not account for trends in specific drugs or consider changes in age group distributions, say researchers from the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

They examined overdose death rates among women aged 30 to 64 years between 1999 and 2017. The unadjusted death rate jumped 260%, from 4,314 deaths to 18,110 deaths. Among women aged 55 to 59 years, the number of deaths involving antidepressants increased approximately 300%; among women aged 60 to 64 years, nearly 400%. The crude rate of deaths involving prescription opioids skyrocketed > 1,000%.

The drug epidemic is “evolving,” the researchers note. In 1999, overdose death rates were highest among women aged 40 to 44 years. In 2017, they were highest among women aged 50 to 54 years. And as demographics shift, prevention programs need to shift as well. As women age, the researchers say, individual experiences can change the type of substance used or misused and in the experiences of pain that might result in an opioid prescription.

The researchers note that “substantial work” has focused on informing women of childbearing age about the risks and benefits of certain drugs. The current analysis demonstrates “the remaining need” to consider middle-aged women who are at risk.

Targeted efforts are needed, and the researchers suggest interventions: Medicaid and other health insurance programs can review records of controlled substance prescribing. States and local communities can expand capacity of drug use disorder treatments and links to care, particularly adding “gender-responsive” substance use disorder treatment centers.

A “multifaceted approach involving the full spectrum of care services is likely necessary,” the researchers say. Health care practitioners who treat women for pain, depression, or anxiety can discuss treatment options that consider the unique biopsychosocial needs of women.

Health care practitioners also can consider implementing the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, which says “Opioids are not first-line or routine therapy for chronic pain.” The guideline also says before starting and periodically during opioid therapy, clinicians should discuss with patients the “known risks and realistic benefits of opioid therapy.”  In other words, listen to the women and prescribe carefully.

Even though peripheral artery disease (PAD) is almost 3 times more prevalent among African Americans compared with that of whites, it is understudied, say researchers from University of Mississippi. They say earlier studies did not include significant numbers of African Americans, limiting the ability to single out the effects of smoking in African Americans as distinct from, for example, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity.

This National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded study, however, provides some new information about what raises the risks of PAD in African Americans. The researchers studied participants in the Jackson Heart Study, the largest single-site cohort study investigating cardiovascular disease in African Americans.

They divided 5,258 participants into 3 groups: smokers, past smokers, never smokers. After taking other risk factors into account, they found people who smoked > 1 pack a day had a significantly higher risk than did those smoking < 19 cigarettes a day. A longer history of smoking also raised the risk of PAD.

Their findings point to the benefits of stopping smoking, the researchers say: Although never smokers had the lowest risk, past smokers also had lower odds.

The researchers caution, though, that despite strong associations between smoking and PAD, their findings do not establish a causal link.

Even though peripheral artery disease (PAD) is almost 3 times more prevalent among African Americans compared with that of whites, it is understudied, say researchers from University of Mississippi. They say earlier studies did not include significant numbers of African Americans, limiting the ability to single out the effects of smoking in African Americans as distinct from, for example, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity.

This National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded study, however, provides some new information about what raises the risks of PAD in African Americans. The researchers studied participants in the Jackson Heart Study, the largest single-site cohort study investigating cardiovascular disease in African Americans.

They divided 5,258 participants into 3 groups: smokers, past smokers, never smokers. After taking other risk factors into account, they found people who smoked > 1 pack a day had a significantly higher risk than did those smoking < 19 cigarettes a day. A longer history of smoking also raised the risk of PAD.

Their findings point to the benefits of stopping smoking, the researchers say: Although never smokers had the lowest risk, past smokers also had lower odds.

The researchers caution, though, that despite strong associations between smoking and PAD, their findings do not establish a causal link.

Even though peripheral artery disease (PAD) is almost 3 times more prevalent among African Americans compared with that of whites, it is understudied, say researchers from University of Mississippi. They say earlier studies did not include significant numbers of African Americans, limiting the ability to single out the effects of smoking in African Americans as distinct from, for example, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity.

This National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded study, however, provides some new information about what raises the risks of PAD in African Americans. The researchers studied participants in the Jackson Heart Study, the largest single-site cohort study investigating cardiovascular disease in African Americans.

They divided 5,258 participants into 3 groups: smokers, past smokers, never smokers. After taking other risk factors into account, they found people who smoked > 1 pack a day had a significantly higher risk than did those smoking < 19 cigarettes a day. A longer history of smoking also raised the risk of PAD.

Their findings point to the benefits of stopping smoking, the researchers say: Although never smokers had the lowest risk, past smokers also had lower odds.

The researchers caution, though, that despite strong associations between smoking and PAD, their findings do not establish a causal link.

The opioid emergency claims > 130 lives every day, says Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator George Sigounas, MS, PhD. By strengthening the health workforce, HRSA hopes to ensure that there are enough clinicians to cope with the growing epidemic.

That is why, in December 2018, HRSA launched a program that Sigounas says is “critical to HHS’ response to the opioid crisis.” The new National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Workforce Loan Repayment Program (LRP) will provide eligible health care clinicians with student loan repayment assistance in exchange for service in underserved communities.

A clinician may be awarded up to $75,000 for 3 years of full-time service at an NHSC-approved SUD site and $37,500 for part-time. Eligible providers use evidence-based treatment models to treat SUDs and must be trained and licensed to provide SUD treatment at NHSC-approved facilities. Qualification criteria are available at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/nhsc-sud-workforce-loan-repayment-program.html.

Clinicians also can apply to the NHSC Loan Repayment Program for primary care, dental, and behavioral health professionals. If accepted, they may receive up to $50,000 for 2 years of full-time service, $25,000 for part-time.

Military reservists also are eligible to participate in either the NHSC LRP or the NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program. (Military training or service will not satisfy the NHSC service commitment.) More information is available at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/military-reservists.html.

Clinicians can only apply for 1 program. Sigounas says, “I am grateful to the clinicians who will apply and are looking to make a positive impact on patients, caregivers, and hard-hit communities throughout the country.”

The opioid emergency claims > 130 lives every day, says Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator George Sigounas, MS, PhD. By strengthening the health workforce, HRSA hopes to ensure that there are enough clinicians to cope with the growing epidemic.

That is why, in December 2018, HRSA launched a program that Sigounas says is “critical to HHS’ response to the opioid crisis.” The new National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Workforce Loan Repayment Program (LRP) will provide eligible health care clinicians with student loan repayment assistance in exchange for service in underserved communities.

A clinician may be awarded up to $75,000 for 3 years of full-time service at an NHSC-approved SUD site and $37,500 for part-time. Eligible providers use evidence-based treatment models to treat SUDs and must be trained and licensed to provide SUD treatment at NHSC-approved facilities. Qualification criteria are available at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/nhsc-sud-workforce-loan-repayment-program.html.

Clinicians also can apply to the NHSC Loan Repayment Program for primary care, dental, and behavioral health professionals. If accepted, they may receive up to $50,000 for 2 years of full-time service, $25,000 for part-time.

Military reservists also are eligible to participate in either the NHSC LRP or the NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program. (Military training or service will not satisfy the NHSC service commitment.) More information is available at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/military-reservists.html.

Clinicians can only apply for 1 program. Sigounas says, “I am grateful to the clinicians who will apply and are looking to make a positive impact on patients, caregivers, and hard-hit communities throughout the country.”

The opioid emergency claims > 130 lives every day, says Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator George Sigounas, MS, PhD. By strengthening the health workforce, HRSA hopes to ensure that there are enough clinicians to cope with the growing epidemic.

That is why, in December 2018, HRSA launched a program that Sigounas says is “critical to HHS’ response to the opioid crisis.” The new National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Workforce Loan Repayment Program (LRP) will provide eligible health care clinicians with student loan repayment assistance in exchange for service in underserved communities.

A clinician may be awarded up to $75,000 for 3 years of full-time service at an NHSC-approved SUD site and $37,500 for part-time. Eligible providers use evidence-based treatment models to treat SUDs and must be trained and licensed to provide SUD treatment at NHSC-approved facilities. Qualification criteria are available at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/nhsc-sud-workforce-loan-repayment-program.html.

Clinicians also can apply to the NHSC Loan Repayment Program for primary care, dental, and behavioral health professionals. If accepted, they may receive up to $50,000 for 2 years of full-time service, $25,000 for part-time.

Military reservists also are eligible to participate in either the NHSC LRP or the NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program. (Military training or service will not satisfy the NHSC service commitment.) More information is available at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/military-reservists.html.

Clinicians can only apply for 1 program. Sigounas says, “I am grateful to the clinicians who will apply and are looking to make a positive impact on patients, caregivers, and hard-hit communities throughout the country.”

All across the nation, community by community, states are doing better at making sure veterans have homes. According to the latest VA tally, 3 states (Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia) and 66 communities have “effectively ended” veteran homelessness. The latest to join the list is Little Rock, Arkansas.

Since 2010, homelessness has been nearly halved; between years 2017 and 2018, it declined by 5%. The progress is due in large part to Home, Together, a program run by the VA with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other federal, state and local partners. Using HUD’s “targeted” housing vouchers and the VA’s homelessness programs (www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp), nearly 700,000 veterans and their family members have been permanently housed, rapidly rehoused, or prevented from falling into homelessness.

VA medical centers are key to helping drive down the homeless numbers, the VA says. For instance, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System collaborates with state and local government, nonprofits, corporate partners, and community members to find homes, jobs, transportation, and services for veterans. The VA health care resources form a “band of care,” the VA says, which provides a holistic support system, including for those experiencing homelessness.

 “No American veteran should be without a safe and stable place to call home,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We will continue this important work until we achieve a day when homelessness among veterans is rare and brief in every community across our country.”

All across the nation, community by community, states are doing better at making sure veterans have homes. According to the latest VA tally, 3 states (Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia) and 66 communities have “effectively ended” veteran homelessness. The latest to join the list is Little Rock, Arkansas.

Since 2010, homelessness has been nearly halved; between years 2017 and 2018, it declined by 5%. The progress is due in large part to Home, Together, a program run by the VA with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other federal, state and local partners. Using HUD’s “targeted” housing vouchers and the VA’s homelessness programs (www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp), nearly 700,000 veterans and their family members have been permanently housed, rapidly rehoused, or prevented from falling into homelessness.

VA medical centers are key to helping drive down the homeless numbers, the VA says. For instance, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System collaborates with state and local government, nonprofits, corporate partners, and community members to find homes, jobs, transportation, and services for veterans. The VA health care resources form a “band of care,” the VA says, which provides a holistic support system, including for those experiencing homelessness.

 “No American veteran should be without a safe and stable place to call home,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We will continue this important work until we achieve a day when homelessness among veterans is rare and brief in every community across our country.”

All across the nation, community by community, states are doing better at making sure veterans have homes. According to the latest VA tally, 3 states (Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia) and 66 communities have “effectively ended” veteran homelessness. The latest to join the list is Little Rock, Arkansas.

Since 2010, homelessness has been nearly halved; between years 2017 and 2018, it declined by 5%. The progress is due in large part to Home, Together, a program run by the VA with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other federal, state and local partners. Using HUD’s “targeted” housing vouchers and the VA’s homelessness programs (www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp), nearly 700,000 veterans and their family members have been permanently housed, rapidly rehoused, or prevented from falling into homelessness.

VA medical centers are key to helping drive down the homeless numbers, the VA says. For instance, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System collaborates with state and local government, nonprofits, corporate partners, and community members to find homes, jobs, transportation, and services for veterans. The VA health care resources form a “band of care,” the VA says, which provides a holistic support system, including for those experiencing homelessness.

 “No American veteran should be without a safe and stable place to call home,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We will continue this important work until we achieve a day when homelessness among veterans is rare and brief in every community across our country.”

What makes us pull a hand away from a hot stove or flinch at a pinprick? Researchers from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health say they have identified activity in the brain that governs these reactions.

Alexander Chesler, PhD, senior author of the study, says we already know a lot about local spinal cord circuits for simple reflexive responses, but “the mechanisms underlying more complex behaviors remain poorly understood.”

Using heat as the source of discomfort in their experiments, the researchers found a predictable sequence of behaviors—likened to the sequence of responding to walking cautiously on a hot beach, then hopping as the heat intensifies, then running to a water source. “This kind of ‘feed-forward’ circuitry is unique because it is an upward spiral,” says Arnab Barik, PhD, one of the study authors. “The more this pathway is activated by harmful activity, the more it reacts, leading to dramatic behavioral responses.”

The experiments showed that the parts of the brainstem involved in this circuit are the parabrachial nucleus (PBNI) and the dorsal reticular formation in the medulla (MdD). Standing on a hot surface activated a group of nerve cells in the PBNI, triggering escape responses through connections to the MdD. Interestingly, the PBNI cells express a gene that codes for substances that also contribute to multiple disease processes.

“Our data provide evidence that the PBNI produces streams of information with distinct functional significance,” says Arnab Barik, PhD, one of the study authors. “The brainstem-spinal cord pathway identified in this study selectively controls pain response and elicits appropriate behaviors based on sensory input.”

Further investigation, the researchers say, can help us understand how pain is encoded in the brain. The study findings may also offer opportunities to understand how the body becomes dysregulated during chronic pain.

What makes us pull a hand away from a hot stove or flinch at a pinprick? Researchers from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health say they have identified activity in the brain that governs these reactions.

Alexander Chesler, PhD, senior author of the study, says we already know a lot about local spinal cord circuits for simple reflexive responses, but “the mechanisms underlying more complex behaviors remain poorly understood.”

Using heat as the source of discomfort in their experiments, the researchers found a predictable sequence of behaviors—likened to the sequence of responding to walking cautiously on a hot beach, then hopping as the heat intensifies, then running to a water source. “This kind of ‘feed-forward’ circuitry is unique because it is an upward spiral,” says Arnab Barik, PhD, one of the study authors. “The more this pathway is activated by harmful activity, the more it reacts, leading to dramatic behavioral responses.”

The experiments showed that the parts of the brainstem involved in this circuit are the parabrachial nucleus (PBNI) and the dorsal reticular formation in the medulla (MdD). Standing on a hot surface activated a group of nerve cells in the PBNI, triggering escape responses through connections to the MdD. Interestingly, the PBNI cells express a gene that codes for substances that also contribute to multiple disease processes.

“Our data provide evidence that the PBNI produces streams of information with distinct functional significance,” says Arnab Barik, PhD, one of the study authors. “The brainstem-spinal cord pathway identified in this study selectively controls pain response and elicits appropriate behaviors based on sensory input.”

Further investigation, the researchers say, can help us understand how pain is encoded in the brain. The study findings may also offer opportunities to understand how the body becomes dysregulated during chronic pain.

What makes us pull a hand away from a hot stove or flinch at a pinprick? Researchers from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health say they have identified activity in the brain that governs these reactions.

Alexander Chesler, PhD, senior author of the study, says we already know a lot about local spinal cord circuits for simple reflexive responses, but “the mechanisms underlying more complex behaviors remain poorly understood.”

Using heat as the source of discomfort in their experiments, the researchers found a predictable sequence of behaviors—likened to the sequence of responding to walking cautiously on a hot beach, then hopping as the heat intensifies, then running to a water source. “This kind of ‘feed-forward’ circuitry is unique because it is an upward spiral,” says Arnab Barik, PhD, one of the study authors. “The more this pathway is activated by harmful activity, the more it reacts, leading to dramatic behavioral responses.”

The experiments showed that the parts of the brainstem involved in this circuit are the parabrachial nucleus (PBNI) and the dorsal reticular formation in the medulla (MdD). Standing on a hot surface activated a group of nerve cells in the PBNI, triggering escape responses through connections to the MdD. Interestingly, the PBNI cells express a gene that codes for substances that also contribute to multiple disease processes.

“Our data provide evidence that the PBNI produces streams of information with distinct functional significance,” says Arnab Barik, PhD, one of the study authors. “The brainstem-spinal cord pathway identified in this study selectively controls pain response and elicits appropriate behaviors based on sensory input.”

Further investigation, the researchers say, can help us understand how pain is encoded in the brain. The study findings may also offer opportunities to understand how the body becomes dysregulated during chronic pain.