Pain Medicine featured a recent pain report that identified the prevalence of pain conditions among older adults. The authors found that pain prevalence estimates peaked among early age older adults (age 50-65) and plateaued with advancing age. The authors observed variations in pain prevalence among older adults that were influenced by the site of pain and the age of the individual in which the prevalence of headaches, abdominal pain, and chest pain decreased among adults aged 85 and older, but peaked among adults age 50-65. Comparatively, the incidence and prevalence of pain associated with degenerative joint diseases increased exponentially with advancing age.  

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A New Intervention Designed To Self Manage Chronic Back Pain

A recent study published in Contemporary Clinical Trials addressed the growing need for interventions capable of reducing stress and pain among older adults. The study employed a randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate two separate interventions, the Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) and an adapted form of the 10 Keys to Healthy Aging program. The authors sought to evaluate the effectiveness of mind-body therapy in reducing stress and relieving pain among older adults through the use of various forms of meditation. MBSR was chosen in particular because, "it addressed the multidimensional nature of pain and its consequences and at the same time is a safe and gentle method that can be taught regardless of age."

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Anti-depressants For Osteoarthritis Pain Relief

Anti-depressants such as duloxetine are increasingly used to treat pain symptoms among older adults in the clinical setting. The International Journal of Clinical Practice recently published a review that sought to determine the effect of duloxetine (Cymbalta) on reducing pain symptoms among older adults with osteoarthritis.  From the review the authors learned that duloxetine was often used in conjunction with NSAIDs to treat pain, and that limited duloxetine monotherapy trials were performed. The authors later concluded, "all studies suggest that about 1 in 6 people with arthritis would benefit from taking duloxetine whether alone or in combination with other medication," suggesting that future research in the area of anti-depressants use for pain treatment should be considered.

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NSAIDs And Exercise Combination To Improve Osteoarthritis

Older adults with persistent pain symptoms often report difficulty exercising as a result of their pain. In a recent study published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers sought to evaluate the use of NSAIDs in conjunction with an adapted strength and conditioning program to effectively reduce pain among exercising older adults with osteoarthritis. The study employed a 12 week randomized controlled trial that divided the study cohort into three groups, with each group cohort taking only one of the following: Ibuprofen, Glucosamine, or Placebo. Each group participated in the same 12-week strength and conditioning program consisting of three 45 minute supervised sessions per week. The authors found that NSAID use in conjunction with exercise was able to significantly reduce exercise-induced pain among older adults.

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How Technological Advances Can Help Older Adults

A recent article in the New York Times discussed the future implications of technology and how technological advancement can be benefit older adults. The authors discussed the use of mobile technology and how older adults may use such devices to increase font sizes when reading online, and how voice activation will help them avoid using key pads that otherwise may be too difficult for their fingers to use.

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Mechanistic Studies of Pain and Alcohol Dependence (R01)
"Program Announcement (PA) Number: PA-11-267
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages applications that propose to conduct mechanistic studies on the relationship between alcohol drinking, alcohol dependence and pain. An association between chronic pain conditions and alcohol dependence has been revealed in numerous studies with episodes of alcohol abuse antedating chronic pain in some people and alcohol dependence emerging after the onset of chronic pain in others. Pain transmission and alcohol's reinforcing effects share overlapping neural substrates giving rise to the possibility that chronic pain states significantly affect alcohol use patterns and promote the development of dependence and addiction. In addition, long term alcohol intoxication and alcohol dependence induce pain symptoms and may exacerbate chronic pain arising from other sources. The objective of this FOA is to understand genetic, pharmacological and learning mechanisms underlying the association between the propensity to drink alcohol and pain responses."

 
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Mayday Fund of New York
"The Mayday Fund is dedicated to alleviating the incidence, degree, and consequence of human physical pain.

The Mayday Fund's current grant-making targets are projects that result in clinical interventions to reduce the toll of physical pain, pediatric pain, pain in non-verbal populations, and pain in the context of emergency medicine. Mayday will also continue to be proactive in its commitment to promote networking between veterinary and human medicine, especially in an effort to inform measurements of pain in non-verbal populations. Finally, the trustees of the Mayday Fund wish to be nimble enough to respond as special opportunities present themselves. Grants are made only to public charities and educational institutions officially recognized as such by the IRS. The Mayday Fund concentrates its activities in the United States. On occasion, grants have been made to Canadian organizations when the project has an effect that reaches beyond Canada. Grants cannot be made to individuals."

Applications are continuous and no specified due date is applied.

Age Related Funding

Translational Research at the Aging/Cancer Interface (TRACI) (R01)

Program Announcement (PA) Number: PA-12-136

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages translational research proposals in the overlapping areas of human aging and cancer, linking basic and clinical research relevant to the care of older cancer patients through both bench-to-bedside and bedside-to-bench approaches. Ultimately, information from the research supported by this initiative should improve the health and well-being of elderly patients at risk for, or diagnosed with, cancer and decrease the functional impairment and morbidity associated with cancer in this population.    

T1 Translational Research:  Novel interventions for prevention and treatment of age-related conditions (R21)

Program Announcement (PA) Number: PAS-11-280

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) encourages exploratory/developmental R21 research projects to accelerate the pace of development of novel therapeutics involving biologics, pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for preventing and treating key health issues affecting the elderly.   For the purposes of this FOA, T1 translational research on aging is defined as the application of basic and clinical biomedical findings towards the development of new strategies for prevention and treatment of age-related pathologies. For projects proposing basic research that is being conducted in animal models, the potential to treat a clinical age-related pathology must be clearly stated in the proposal.  Direct relevance of the data to a clinical aging condition must be established and clearly stated in the application.

National Science Foundation funding grant "General & Age-Related Disabilities Engineering (GARDE)"
"The General & Age Related Disabilities Engineering (GARDE) program supports research that will lead to the development of new technologies, devices, or software for persons with disabilities.  Research may be supported that is directed to the characterization, restoration, and/or substitution of human functional ability or cognition, or to the interaction of persons with disabilities and their environment.  Areas of particular recent interest are disability-related research in neuroscience/neuroengineering and rehabilitation robotics.  Emphasis is placed on significant advancement of fundamental engineering and scientific knowledge and not on incremental improvements.  Proposals should advance discovery or innovation beyond the frontiers of current knowledge in disability-related research.  Applicants are encouraged to contact the Program Director Ted Conway at [email protected], or call (703) 292-7091, prior to submitting a proposal."

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The New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease
"Funded by The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation and The Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation, the major goal of this partnership program is to support important research in areas in which more scientific investigation is needed to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The program will also serve to encourage junior investigators in the United States and Israel to pursue research and academic careers in the neurosciences, and Alzheimer's disease in particular. Projects in basic and translational research related to Alzheimer's disease (AD) that are clinically relevant, will be considered. Projects that focus on healthy brain aging are also considered. For one of the awards, priority may be given to an investigator with a research interest related to healthy brain aging. Areas of research could for example include learning and memory, nutrition, exercise, cardiovascular risk factors, as they relate to the brain and the aging process. The applicant must be an independent investigator with assigned independent space as assigned by the departmental chair or equivalent official, and must be within the first ten years of receiving a doctoral degree by July 1, 2011. Exceptions to the ten year rule may be requested for unusual circumstances by emailing an NIH-style bio-sketch to AFAR at [email protected] .The proposed research must be conducted at any type of not-for-profit setting in the United States or Israel."

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