Health

A small group of youth workers in the state had the opportunity to learn more about how to help these children whose emotional and mental wellbeing is often impacted.

One in 10 Indiana children have a parent who is incarcerated. That’s one of the highest rates in the nation.

Indiana University scientists have identified a new link between a genetic disorder and one of its under-studied characteristics. The research focuses on the abnormal tissue growth of people with what’s called Fragile X Syndrome.

The syndrome is an inherited genetic disorder that is most known for causing intellectual disabilities. IU researcher Arthur Luhur has focused on the biological factors.

“Nobody really knows what happens to the tissues inside the organs with all the focus being on the neuronal problems,” says Luhur.

A new pain medication, part of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly’s non-opioid pain management platform, took another step forward.

The drug is called galcanezumab. It’s one of three being crafted by Eli Lilly to treat chronic and serious pain. The medicine has shown promising results in a series of trials says Dr. Robert Conley, Lilly global development leader for migraine.

“Around 60 percent of our patients lost more than half of their headache days and some patients even got to 100 percent loss of headache,” says Conley

Indiana emergency physicians are concerned a new insurance policy to curb emergency department visits could scare away patients. The Anthem policy, already in place in three other states, will take effect in Indiana next month.

The policy reviews diagnoses after emergency room visits. If it determines the condition wasn’t an emergency, it may not cover the ER trip.

An annual conference for Indiana youth workers was held in Indianapolis this week. It’s the largest gathering for these workers in the Midwest with over 1,300 attendees this year.

The Indiana Youth Institute has hosted The Because KIDS COUNT Conference for 16 years. CEO Tami Silverman says it’s a chance for Hoosiers who work with children in many settings including schools, foster care, after school or crisis centers to come together.

A long-term study found cognitive training may reduce dementia cases and Indiana researchers were involved in this first of its kind analysis.

The Advanced Cognitive Training in Vital Elderly or ACTIVE study observed almost 3000 older adults in different types of cognitive training. Researchers set out to determine if cognitive training improves functions like memory and problem solving.

Indiana University School of Medicine professor, Dr. Fred Unverzagt, says this leads to further analysis.

A law authored by U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) is now implemented throughout the Armed Forces.

The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act was named after an Indiana National Guard member died from suicide in 2009 while on leave from Afghanistan. Donnelly says the bill, his first as a senator, was based on common sense.

“It recognizes that mental fitness, like physical fitness, is a crucial component of military readiness,” Donnelly says.