Retraining the brain to treat chronic pain

More than 25 million people in the U.S. live with chronic pain, defined as pain that lasts for more than three months. Despite costing the health care system more than $600 billion a year, existing treatments for chronic pain fail to provide relief for many people.

The most common type of chronic pain is chronic back pain. In about 85% of cases, no physical cause for the pain—such as arthritis or disk damage—can be found. Such unexplained pain is thought to be caused by brain changes after an injury that persist even after the damage heals.

These changes in the brain are thought to serve an important purpose immediately after tissue damage. They provide a warning signal to restrict movement and let the body recover. However, if they continue to send that signal after the injury has healed, the result can be chronic pain.

Researchers have developed a type of treatment called pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) to help the brain “unlearn” this kind of pain. PRT teaches people to perceive pain signals sent to the brain as less threatening. Therapists help participants do painful movements while helping them re-evaluate the sensations they experience. The treatment also includes training in managing emotions that may make pain feel worse.

For the first clinical test of PRT, a team at the University of Colorado, Boulder led by Dr. Yoni Ashar (now at Weill Cornell Medical College) and Dr. Tor Wager (now at Dartmouth College) enrolled 151 people with mild to moderate chronic back pain for which no physical cause could be found. Participants received one of three treatments: four weeks of intensive PRT, a placebo injection of saline into the back, or a continuation of care as usual.

Participants rated their pain before and four weeks after starting treatment. They also underwent fMRI scans to look at brain activity before and after treatment. The team followed up with participants one year later.

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FDA Investigating Certain Imported Medical Gloves

The FDA recommends that health care facilities and providers do not purchase, or use imported medical gloves from companies included on Import Alert 80-04 Surveillance and Detention Without Physical Examination of Surgeon's and Patient Examination Gloves.

Companies are listed on an import alert when the agency has enough evidence to allow for detention without physical examination (DWPE) of their products as they appear to be in violation of the FDA's laws and regulations and thus, create a potential risk to health care professionals, patients and users.

To identify FDA-cleared medical gloves, search the 510(k) Premarket Notification database using the product codes for medical gloves.

Report a Problem with Medical Gloves

If you have purchased any medical gloves that are visibly soiled, are a different color, appear to have been used, or otherwise seem to be fraudulent, please report it to the FDA by email to [email protected].

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CDC panel recommends Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5-11, shots expected to roll out this week

Karen WeintraubElizabeth Weise

USA TODAY

CDC panel recommends Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5-11, shots expected to roll out this week CDC experts find the benefits of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5 -11 outweigh risks. Once the director gives his final OK, shots are likely to begin this week.

Check out this story on usatoday.com: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/11/02/covid-vaccine-kids-children-approved/6233927001/

 

Biden crafts new spending package aimed at attracting all Democrats

The Washington Post

The announcement is a critical moment in Biden’s tenure, and the president plans to visit Capitol Hill on Thursday morning to address House Democrats, many of whom have been distressed by the programs being jettisoned to cut the proposal’s overall cost. While many key lawmakers did not immediately weigh in on the new plan, the White House stressed Biden’s belief that it will attract the support ofall Democrats in the Senate and pass the House.
 
Biden is also expected to make public remarks touting the plan as a generational boon to Americans.
 
Taken together, the moves reflect a decision by Biden to assume ownership of the sweeping safety-net proposal in a new way. He is investing enormous political capital in his new proposal — which follows days of intensive, secretive meetings with key lawmakers — and is essentially warning any wary Democrats that they risk damaging him and the party if they do not get on board.
 
The new signature initiative would expand Medicare benefits, promote cleaner energy, offer free prekindergarten and other educational opportunities and invest heavily in social safety net programs, including tax credits and other aid that chiefly benefit low-income families. It would mark the most far-reaching social package in years.
 
The administration has proposed funding the efforts through a slew of proposals, including a new surtax targeting ultrawealthy Americans.
 
Many of the components in the retooled, sweeping blueprint originate in the proposals Biden put forward in the spring. The ideas correspond with promises the president and other party candidates made in the course of the 2020 election, when Biden ran on a refrain to “build back better.”
 
But the policy framework that White House aides unfurled Thursday is a significant departure from the roughly $3.5 trillion that the president and many top party lawmakers initially sought. Downsizing that plan forced the president to jettison some of his own priorities, including a fuller expansion of Medicare and a plan to provide paid family leave to millions of Americans.
 
Many of the cuts reflected deep ideological divides among party liberals, who sought to spend aggressively, and moderates, who repeatedly in the debate have tried to dial back Democrats’ spending. While the shrinking size, from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, allows moderates to claim they significantly pared back the package, it also is certain to leave many liberals disappointed that they could not accomplish more.

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COVID-19 Updates (Week of 11/01/2022)

 

COVID-19 Booster Updates

Booster Shots are currently available for adults 65+ years old and for certain at-risk individuals age 18+, including healthcare workers, who completed their primary series at least 6 months ago with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

All Johnson & Johnson recipients age 18+ are eligible for a booster shot as long as it’s been at least 2 months since their first dose.

Anyone who is eligible for a booster shot may receive the same vaccine or a different one if they prefer. For example, those who received Pfizer for their first two shots may receive Moderna as their booster.

Read FDA Press Release

 

FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Pfizer Vaccine for Kids Ages 5 to 11

The FDA’s independent panel of advisers recommended last week that the agency issue an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old. Pfizer's data reports that the vaccine is safe and 90.7% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in this age group. Read more from NPR.

 

Fourth COVID-19 Shot May Be Needed for Immunocompromised

"People with certain health conditions that make them moderately or severely immunocompromised may get a fourth mRNA COVID-19 shot, according to updated guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC authorized a third dose for certain immunocompromised people 18 and older in August. It said a third dose, rather than a booster -- the CDC makes a distinction between the two -- was necessary because the immunocompromised may not have had a complete immune response from the first two doses," CNN reports.

 
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