Dentists regularly prescribe opioid pain relievers following surgery to remove wisdom teeth, but a new article reports that over-the-counter drugs are safer and more effective. About 3.5 million young adults have surgery each year to remove wisdom teeth, also known as third molars. For several days after surgery, most people experience some amount of pain, swelling, and bleeding that requires pain medication.  The most commonly recommended pain medication following dental surgery is Vicodin—a...

Worried about that spot on your skin? A new study finds that dermatologists are more likely than physician assistants (PAs) to accurately diagnose some skin cancers. PAs are increasingly used in dermatology practices to cut costs and improve access to care, but according to research published in JAMA Dermatology, PAs are more likely than dermatologists to perform unnecessary skin biopsies to check for cancer, and less likely to accurately diagnose melanoma skin cancer at its earliest stage. ...

The opioid epidemic has many negative effects on health and society, but an often overlooked issue is the potential risk of a pregnant woman passing the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to her unborn baby. HCV is spread through contact with infected blood. The most common way to get HCV in the United States is by sharing needles or equipment used to inject illegal drugs such as heroin. While some people infected with HCV have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, others go on to develop serious...

Why do some people who smoke develop lung cancer while others do not? Why are some people with depression helped by medications, but others struggle to find relief? Why are African Americans at a higher risk of having a stroke than whites are? A groundbreaking new study at the University of Pittsburgh called All of Us Pennsylvania seeks to answer medical mysteries and find better ways to prevent and treat disease by looking at information about individuals’ lifestyle, genetics, and environment...

African Americans have higher rates of heart disease than whites do, and exposure to air pollution may be partly to blame. Western Pennsylvania has some of the worst outdoor air pollution in the country due to emissions from industrial sources and roadway traffic, and data show that racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to live in areas close to these pollution sources. Previous research has shown that exposure to air pollution increases the risk for serious health problems including...

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—a common childhood disorder that makes it difficult for kids to pay attention, focus on tasks, control behavior, and sit still—may also lead to problems with substance use. In findings published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers found that children with ADHD first used drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes at a younger age, escalated their substance use more quickly, and were more likely to regularly smoke marijuana and...

Most people know that asthma causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, but did you know asthma is also associated with poor sleep and daytime sleepiness? University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing researcher Faith Luyster, PhD, and her team asked 714 people enrolled in the Severe Asthma Research Program to complete questionnaires about asthma, sleep, depression, anxiety, and quality of life. Of the 714 asthma patients surveyed, 263 (37 percent) were identified as having...

Medications used to reduce disruptive behaviors in some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can lead to significant weight gain, but a readily-available diabetes drug called metformin may be able to help according to research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child _x0026_ Adolescent Psychiatry. About 20-50 percent of people with ASD exhibit disruptive behaviors that can include aggression, tantrums, and self-injury. Certain types of medications called atypical...

Is your teen getting enough sleep? New research from the University of Pittsburgh found that sleep-deprived teens are at an increased risk for serious problems like depression and addiction. Researchers Erika Forbes and Peter Franzen monitored kids’ sleep and brain activity at Pitt’s state-of-the-art sleep lab during two nights of controlled sleep deprivation. The 35 kids ages 11-15 had two visits spaced two weeks apart. Kids slept for 10 hours per night during one visit and four hours per...

Traumatic events are known to affect a person’s mental health, but new research from the University of Pittsburgh shows that trauma may also have a negative impact on physical health. Pitt researcher Rebecca Thurston, PhD, found that women with a greater number of traumatic events, particularly three or more, had signs of poorer endothelial function—an indicator that the blood vessels are not working as well as they should. Ultimately, endothelial dysfunction can lead to cardiovascular problems...

The use of electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes or vapes, is increasingly popular among young people, but if you think they can keep you from smoking tobacco cigarettes you may be wrong. New research from the University of Pittsburgh published in The American Journal of Medicine suggests that people who vape are actually more than four times as likely to begin smoking tobacco cigarettes compared to people who do not vape. Researchers surveyed 1,506 young adults ages 18-30 who had...

Up to half the people who undergo complex cancer surgery find themselves back in the hospital within 30 days of discharge, but a simple activity may be able to reduce the number of readmissions. Recent research from the University of Pittsburgh’s Carissa Low, PhD, shows that walking after cancer surgery can significantly reduce the chance that a cancer patient will have to return to the hospital. Researchers provided wearable activity monitors called Fitbits to 71 hospitalized participants who...

After a sleepless night, have you ever said, “It’s like I just can’t turn off my brain at night?” For people with insomnia, that may be literally true. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently published an article in the journal SLEEP showing that some regions of the brain may not completely shut down in people with insomnia. After comparing brain scans from 44 research participants who are good sleepers and 40 participants with insomnia, researchers found that participants with...

A risk calculator tool may be able to help healthcare providers predict which children at high risk for bipolar disorder due to family history may develop the condition later in life, according to study results published in JAMA Psychiatry. Children of parents with bipolar disorder have a higher than average risk of developing bipolar spectrum disorder (BPSD) themselves, and early signs may be present for two to ten years before the diagnosis. However, because many of the early symptoms of BPSD...

A surgical procedure to remove clots from blocked brain vessels—known as thrombectomy—may help some stroke patients beyond the six-hour treatment window that current guidelines recommend, according to a groundbreaking new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. During an ischemic stroke, a clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of the brain starts to die and brain damage can begin within minutes. To restore blood flow and minimize...