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A yoga program previously designed for victims of trauma could help prevent women and adolescents from becoming opioid addicts.The new program will reach women in public housing in rural Maryland. The move comes as a way to help combat the country’s deadly abuse of painkiller prescriptions and illegal opioids. “Chronic pain is at the heart of much opioid misuse, as the inescapable torment of a herniated disc, old injury or other ailment drives people to seek relief through medication,�� according to a grant application by the Maryland Area Health Education Center West.The Department of Health and Human Services awarded 16 grants, each about $100,000, to organizations across the country. The push could help prevent problems among girls as well as women age 50 and older.Opioid problems have increased at “alarming�� rates that have even been worse for women than men, according to a 2016 report. Deaths jumped 400 percent among women from 1999 to 2010. Heroin use among women doubled between 2002 and 2013.Health experts across the country are looking for ways to fix the problem that has plagued the country, an issue that President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency. U.S. health and justice leaders say the problem continues to worsen.Grant recipient cites research-backed yoga programMaryland Area Health Education Center West plans to start the program next year, providing free one-hour yoga sessions for 10 weeks, twice a year.Before the one-hour yoga and mindfulness session at public housing, a 30-minute educational component will cover opioid-related topics and other health areas.They’ll use the grant to add staff, including a trauma-sensitive trained yoga instructor.“This is an evidence-based program that we researched,�� said Susan Stewart, executive director of Maryland Area Health Education Center West.The trauma-sensitive yoga program was developed at the Trauma Center near Boston when clinicians there saw talk therapy was not enough for trauma patients, according to David Emerson, who created and runs the program.After Emerson collaborated with the center’s medical director, Bessel A. van der Kolk, trauma-sensitive yoga eventually became recognized as a way to reduce trauma-related disorders and other adverse health effects.Richard Kerns, program coordinator at the Western Maryland center, said he hopes the new outreach could be easily adapted to public housing agencies nationwide.Why women, children are at risk in opioid crisisOne reason women are particularly vulnerable to addiction is that they may fear getting help if their children would be taken away, according to a 2016 report, “Opioid Use, Misuse and Overdose in Women.”Moms also have limited options for help, especially for keeping families together during treatment, the report said.The epidemic has also led health experts to see how they can help children. Federal stats have showed that girls age 12 to 17 abused prescriptions and other drugs more than boys in the same age group.The Wheeler Clinic, a Connecticut health center that also received one of Health and Human Services grants, could affect up to 4,500 specialists across the state. Judith Stonger, the clinic’s vice president of prevention, wellness and recovery, said professionals would be trained to use a screening tool that helps with prevention among adolescents.“It can be just a couple of doses, and people can be very quickly addicted,�� she said. “We know the earlier we intervene, the better the prognosis.��