NIH Science in Seconds – a weekly roundup of NIH’s research news. Read more about each of the featured news stories below. Week of December 12, 2022: 1. An NIH-funded study finds that amyloid plaques, the protein clumps indicative of Alzheimer’s disease—occur at roughly the same level in the brains of people with Down syndrome who have Alzheimer’s disease as they do in people with forms of hereditary, early-onset Alzheimer’s. The largest study of its kind to date, the findings suggest individuals with both Alzheimer’s and Down syndrome may benefit from Alzheimer’s disease treatments. https://bit.ly/3WkSP60 2. NIH’s All of Us Research Program has begun returning personalized health-related DNA results to more than 155,000 participants, with reports detailing whether participants have an increased risk for specific health conditions and how their body might process certain medications. So far, the program has offered genetic ancestry and traits results to more than 175,000 participants and continues to return about 6,000 results each month. https://bit.ly/3WdeoW0 3. Endocarditis, a rare but often fatal inflammation of the heart valves, among patients with cocaine use disorder or opioid use disorder increased from 2011 to 2022, with the steepest increase occurring from 2021 to 2022. Among patients with either substance use disorder, those diagnosed with COVID-19 faced a higher risk of a new endocarditis diagnosis as well as hospitalization, compared to those without COVID-19. https://bit.ly/3Whm35T 4. An NIH-funded study shows that individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are less likely to receive antivirals for hepatitis C, despite current guidelines recommending antiviral treatment regardless of alcohol use. Antivirals are highly effective at reducing serious illness and death among individuals with hepatitis C, which commonly occurs in individuals with AUD. https://bit.ly/3FxdXiy 5. To address the overdose crisis in the United States, NIH is establishing a research network that will test harm reduction strategies, like distributing naloxone and fentanyl strips, in different community settings to inform efforts to help save lives. Many overdose deaths are largely driven by cheap, potent synthetic drugs like fentanyl contaminated the drug supply. [LINK] 6. The percentage of adolescents reporting substance use in 2022 largely held steady after significantly declining in 2021, according to the latest results from the Monitoring the Future survey of substance use behaviors and related attitudes among eighth, 10th, and 12th graders in the United States. In 2022, reported use of any illicit drug within the past year remained at or significantly below pre-pandemic levels for all grades, with 11% of eighth graders, 21.5% of 10th graders, and 32.6% of 12th graders reporting any illicit drug use in the past year. #NIH #covid19 #nationalinstitutesofhealth #science