Pain Awareness Month
September is Pain Awareness Month

Last month, we surveyed members to find out how Pain Awareness Month is being celebrated throughout the country.

We asked members about obstacles to raising awareness of pain. Members cited challenges such as "getting people to listen," getting insurance companies to fund multidisciplinary pain treatment, understanding patient perceptions (e.g., cancer survivors who believe that once their cancer is gone they shouldn't have pain anymore), and lacking funding and resources.

Several members gave examples of some strategies they employ to raise pain awareness. Twenty-one percent of respondents advertise in the local media, 16% issue press releases, 11% offer experts as speakers and open their facilities to visitors for Pain Awareness Month. Others described some of their community outreach programs, including hosting pain awareness displays within their hospitals, offering community events, and providing resources about pain to libraries and bookstores.

Communication efforts focus on educating both clinicians and the public. Efforts to reach clinicians include publishing a "pain fact of the day" on facility Intranets and hosting pain information exhibits in physician lounges.

Members asked APS for more support to help raise pain awareness. Suggestions included an APS forum for sharing ideas and materials, getting APS more involved in clinician training, and getting more information out to the media and third-party payors.

Thanks to all who participated in the survey. Your suggestions for APS are being shared with the board for consideration.

APS encourages you to download a special screen saver that was created to help you raise pain awareness in your workplace. Download here. You can also adapt this sample press release to help get the word out about Pain Awareness Month.

NY Times Features Story on Methadone Risks

In an August 17 article in the New York Times, authors Erik Eckholm and Olga Pierce wrote about the rise in methadone use and some of the risks of the drug.

The article highlighted the deaths of several patients who had been legitimately prescribed methadone as treatment for pain and died unexpectedly after taking methadone. The article suggested that in some cases physicians started patients on too high a dose of methadone; in other cases physicians failed to properly warn patients about the risks of mixing methadone with benzodiazapines. Methadone has now become the fastest growing cause of death from opioids.

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Share Your Opinion With APS

IASP Congress Featured APS Members in Leading Roles

Known best as Mecca for golfers, Scotland was the global showcase for pain research late last month as it hosted 6,000 attendees at the 12th International Congress on Pain sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Pain (IASP). APS is the United States chapter of IASP and several of its members played prominent roles at the international meeting, which is held every 2 years.

Perhaps the most notable APS contributor was Jerry Gebhart, PhD, Center for Pain Research Director, University of Pittsburgh, and former APS President and longtime editor of The Journal of Pain. Gebhart assumed the reins as IASP President at the meeting and will serve a 2-year term.

Other APS members who made plenary session presentations at the IASP meeting were Jennifer Haythornthwaite, PhD, Mitchell Max, MD, Daniel Clauw, MD, and Tony Yaksh, PhD.

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APS Call for Paper and Poster Abstracts

The Call for Paper and Poster Abstracts for the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting, May 7-9, 2009, in San Diego, CA, is now available online at www.ampainsoc.org/meeting/annual_09/abstracts.htm. Abstracts can be submitted until 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Monday, October 27.

The Journal of Pain Highlights

The following highlights summarize selected articles from September 2008 (volume 9, number 9).

Acute Opioid Administration Improves Work-Related Exercise Performance in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain
Douglas Gross, Yagesh Bhambhani, Mark Haykowsky, and Saifudin Rashiq; University of Alberta, Canada.

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A 14-Week, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Monotherapy Trial of Pregabalin in Patients with Fibromyalgia
Lesley M. Arnold, I. Jon Russell, E.W. Dali, W. Rachel Duan, James P. Young, Jr., Uma Sharma, Susan A. Martin, Jeannette A. Barrett, and George Haig. Study sites included University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, University of North Dakota and Pfizer Global Research and Development, Ann Arbor, MI.

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Clinical Journal of Pain Highlights

The following highlights summarize selected articles from the
July/August 2008 issue (volume 24, number 6).

Predicting Opioid Misuse by Chronic Pain Patients: A Systematic Review and Literature Synthesis
Dennis C. Turk, PhD,¹ Kimberly Swanson, PhD,¹ and Robert J. Gatchel, PhD ABPP^2
(1) Department of Anesthesiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
⁽²⁾ Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Arlington, TX.

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Individual Differences in Opioid Efficacy for Chronic Noncancer Pain
Joseph L. Riley, III, PhD, and Barbara A. Hastie, PhD; Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

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Funding Opportunities

NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Pathophysiology and Treatment (R01)

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) issued by the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) and co-sponsoring Institutes and Centers (ICs) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) encourages investigator(s)-initiated applications that propose to examine the etiology, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in diverse groups and across the lifespan. Innovative applications that address gaps in the understanding of the environmental and biological risk factors, the determinants of heterogeneity among patient populations, and the common mechanisms influencing the multiple body systems that are affected in CFS are encouraged. The NIH is particularly interested in funding interdisciplinary research that will enhance our knowledge of the disease process and provide evidence-based solutions to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life of all persons with CFS. Specific areas of pain research that are identified in this FOA include the possibilities for one to

• Conduct case-control comparisons of CFS with syndromes such as fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and other multisystem illnesses that have similar or overlapping symptomatology
• Explore the potential relationship of CFS with other chronic pain syndromes
• Elucidate the factors/mechanisms mediating common symptomatology in CFS: cognitive deficits, chronic pain, and/or inability to sustain physical exertion
• Explore the relationships of fatigue and CFS to biochemical mediators associated with frailty in the elderly, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-246.html for more information.

NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement Requests for Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration (EUREKA) (R01)

To encourage exceptionally innovative research, this FOA solicits applications from investigators who want to test novel, unconventional hypotheses or pursue major methodological or technical challenges. The potential impact of the proposed research must be substantial, in terms of both the size of the scientific community affected and the magnitude of its impact on that community. The investigator should anticipate beginning and completing the project during the term of the award, since this FOA is not for support of ongoing research or for pilot projects, and awards are not renewable. If it is the hypothesis that is novel, the investigator should be able to prove or disprove that hypothesis by the end of the funding period. If it is the methodology or technology that is exceptionally innovative, the investigator should be able to develop it by the end of the funding period or demonstrate conclusively that the approach is not feasible.

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Vulvodynia Career Development Award

The Dr. Stanley C. Marinoff Career Development Award was established to encourage medical professionals to pursue their clinical and/or academic interest in vulvodynia. The award provides seed money for one of the following: medical research, establishment or enhancement of a vulvar pain clinic, or writing about vulvodynia for a publication. The NVA's intent is to encourage the development of medical professionals in this field and enable them to pursue further clinical or academic opportunities.

The award is open to all medical and allied healthcare professionals. If the applicant is affiliated with a university, he/she can have a clinical or full-time faculty appointment up to the level of assistant professor.

The award is $7,500. The applicant's academic or clinical institution is encouraged to contribute at least a matching amount. The grant may be used to fund any direct costs relevant to the project. NVA does not permit any amount of the award to be spent on overhead or indirect costs.

Applicants should submit a brief letter of intent by Friday, October 17, 2008 to Chris Veasley at chris@nva.org. After receipt of the applicant's letter of intent, NVA will mail him/her guidelines for submitting a full proposal. The final application is due on Friday, November 21, 2008. The award recipient will be announced by February 2009.

COPR 2009 Nomination Process Is Now Open

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking nominations to fill vacant appointments to the 2009 Council of Public Representatives (COPR) roster. Nominations are due Friday, September 26, 2008, and are available online at http://copr.nih.gov/nomination.asp.

New members will be notified of their conditional appointments in time for the April 2009 COPR meeting. All nominees will be notified regarding the final appointees in the summer of 2009.

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New Resources Available on NIH Pain Consortium Web Site

The NIH Pain Consortium Web site is available at http://painconsortium.nih.gov. It has news and events, initiatives, and other resources related to pain research at the NIH. Recent highlights include an article on complementary and alternative medicine and fibromyalgia from the July 2008 newsletter of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a discussion of chronic musculoskeletal pain from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), and a news article on a recent study related to neuropathic pain from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Pain in the News

Medical Specialists Meet to Assess the Past, Present and Future of Urogenital Pain
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/543710/?sc=mwhp

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Improves Sleep, Sexuality and Joint Pain in Older Women
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/543577/?sc=mwhp

Click here to read more pain-related news in the media.