A successful pilot study to address health inequities related to chronic pain and depression has received notification of further National Institutes of Health funding to begin a full-scale clinical trial. The study, “Equity Using Interventions for Pain and Depression (EQUIPD),” is an intervention that seeks to address pain treatment disparities by partnering with and empowering Black patients with chronic pain and depression to find safe, effective approaches to chronic pain that best match their values, preferences and lifestyles. Funding is expected to be more than $2.1 million over three years.

Declining blood levels of two molecules that occur naturally in the body track closely with worsening Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in women. Levels were found to drop gradually, from women with no signs of memory, disorientation, and slowed thinking to those with early signs of mild cognitive impairment. Decreases were more prominent in women with moderate or severe stages of the disease. Declines in men were evident in only one molecule, revealing a disease-specific difference between the sexes.