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...

A computer program that automatically monitors blood test results can detect acute kidney injury earlier, reducing severity and improving survival, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. Acute kidney injury, which is a sudden episode of kidney failure or damage, is common in hospitalized patients and particularly prevalent in older adults and those in intensive care units. When the kidneys do not function properly, waste products build up in the blood and can...

Understanding cold-related injuries is important for parents at this time of year, according to Raymond D. Pitetti, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. There are two broad categories for cold injuries—freezing injuries like frostbite, and nonfreezing injuries like hypothermia. Kids are especially at risk for both types of cold injuries, in part because when they are having fun outside they just don’t know when to quit! Kids are also different...

Online therapy, both alone and in combination with an internet support group, is a more effective treatment for anxiety and depression than a doctor’s usual primary care, according to recent research from the University of Pittsburgh. Researchers enrolled 704 patients and randomly assigned them to one of three groups: an eight session computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) program, an eight session CCBT program plus an online internet support group (ISG), or usual care by a patient’s...

Fluid-filled pancreatic cysts are often seen on abdominal imaging tests, but predicting which cysts are benign and which may turn into potentially life-threatening pancreatic cancer has been difficult. However, new findings from University of Pittsburgh researchers show that a genetic test developed at UPMC called PancreaSeq® is highly effective in determining which pancreatic cysts are most likely to be associated with one of the most aggressive types of pancreatic cancer. The study, which...

Doctors recommend that women who have weight loss surgery (also called bariatric surgery) wait at least a year and a half before trying to become pregnant in order to avoid complications like fetal growth problems, preterm delivery, and neonatal intensive care unit stays, but new research from the University of Pittsburgh reports that many women don’t follow this advice. Researchers collected data from 710 women ages 18 to 44 who had recent weight loss surgery and found that 4 percent of study...

A national precision medicine study that aims to enroll more than one million people throughout the country and put an end to cookie-cutter healthcare is placing Pittsburghers at the forefront of medical research. As the first site in the country to launch, the Pittsburgh-based All of Us Pennsylvania Research Program—a partner of the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program—is an integral part of a long-term study that seeks to speed up medical breakthroughs and develop...

The high-dose flu shot, which contains four times the flu-fighting substance of the standard vaccine and is typically recommended for older adults due to their diminished immune response, may also provide benefit to middle-aged adults with chronic health conditions. According to recent results from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, expanding the high-dose flu vaccine recommendation to include people aged 50-64 with illnesses like heart disease, lung disease...