BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine published a recent study that addressed the use of mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) as a treatment for lower back pain. The authors performed a systematic review of MBSR for lower back pain by searching select online databases. The authors identified 3 RCTS, 2 of which focused primarily on addressing lower back pain among older adults (age >65). Each identified RCT was considered low risk with significant potential for short-term relief of chronic back pain conditions. The study results indicate that MSBR may be effective in treating pain intensity and disability among patients with chronic lower back pain. However, the authors suggest that "further trials with larger sample size, active control groups and longer follow-up are needed before the evidence for MBSR in low back pain can conclusively be judged."

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A recent article published in Pain Medicine featured a translational pain management intervention for older adults. The intervention titled Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) was "designed to promote the adoption of evidence-based pain practices for older adults with cancer in community-based hospices." The intervention employed a randomized controlled trial and was implemented in 16 mid-western hospices. The authors collected and analyzed qualitative focus group data from the hospice staff. The authors noted challenges implementing the program at certain sites and concluded that "future research should explore intervention approaches that rely less on research team members and can be more fully implemented by organizational staff."   

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In the Journal of Pain Symptom Management a recently published study examined pain medication adherence among older adult cancer patients in hospice care. The objective of the study was to determine "if pain-related factors and non-pharmacologic interventions affect medication adherence in older cancer patients in community-based hospices." A total of 65 older adults from 13 community-based hospices participated in the study. The authors determined that "patients were the most adherent to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory/acetaminophen orders and medications for neuropathic pain."

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The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society recently published an article that sought to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among community dwelling older adults. The study cohort consisted of 5,093 older adults (65 ≥) who were assessed annually over a 6-year period. The authors found that 32% of participants reported pain for 3 or more consecutive years, while 32% reported pain intermittently over the course of the study. The authors determined that "musculoskeletal pain in older adults, despite high prevalence, is often intermittent. The findings refute the notion that pain is an inevitable, unremitting, or progressive consequence of aging."

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A recent article published in Cochrane Database System Review

evaluated the effectiveness of topical NSAIDs treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain among older adults. The authors performed a systematic review of the literature addressing topical NSAID use for chronic musculoskeletal pain and selected studies that evaluated treatment efficacy for more than 8 weeks and had a minimum of 10 participants. 34 studies (a total of 7688 participants) were identified using the specified search criteria. The authors found that topical NSAIDs were capable of providing effective pain relief for knee and hand osteoarthritis, but limited data was available for other chronic conditions.

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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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