MEDSCAPE - Commenting on the study in an accompanying commentary, EPI’s JANE CAULEY points out that high-risk women in the current study had a 17.9 percent probability of sustaining a hip fracture and a 30 percent probability of sustaining a major osteoporotic fracture at 10 years. “Thus, despite the absence of a positive impact on the primary outcome, the results of the SCOOP study nevertheless have important public health implications.”
PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER - Modeling by epidemiologist DONALD BURKE suggests that 150,000 to 200,000 people on pain pills transition to injection drugs every year. “The more people using heroin, the greater the probability that more people will use heroin, just like the spread of an infectious disease.” He wonders whether the kind of response used for epidemics might work: Determine key transition points, like when a painkiller addict is likely to tr...
POST-GAZETTE - Odds are you have phthalates inside you. And recent research by EPI’s JENNIFER ADIBI confirms previous findings that the plastic-softening chemicals are linked to changes in the placenta that seem to affect development of the fetus. Because of “ubiquitous exposure”, 99 percent of women of child-bearing age have measurable exposure levels.
CONSUMER REPORTS - It’s unwise to delay or spread out vaccines, says EPI’s WILBERT VAN PANHUIS. The CDC bases the schedule on disease risks, vaccine effectiveness at specific ages, and the way vaccines may interact with each other. “To start mixing this up is really complicated and actually can be dangerous.” The MMR vaccine, for instance, is timed so that children receive it just as they’ve lost residual immunity from their mothers. And measles,...
EPI's NANCY GLYNN won an Innovation Award for the sale of the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale, a reliable measure of perceived fatigability in older adults that can serve as an adjunct to performance-based fatigability measures for identifying older adults at risk of mobility limitation in clinical and research settings. Congrats, Dr. Glynn!
SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING - With the assistance of Pitt’s high-performance computing (HPC) system, EPI’s ASHLEY NAIMI conducts a randomized trial of 1,200 volunteers to determine if a small, daily dose of aspirin may help women to more easily achieve pregnancy and to carry a baby to term. “Our data-intensive research relies on machine learning algorithms to interpret the data we collect.... With the new processors in place, we can obtain meaningful in...
CBS PITTSBURGH - Alumnus DAVID SALCIDO (EPI ’08), resuscitation specialist and assistant professor in Pitt’s Department of Emergency Medicine, is hoping his app can help save lives in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The free app, called Pulse Point, is connected to the Allegheny County 911 system, so that those who know CPR to get to those in need before paramedics arrive. Listen to the interview and learn more about the app.
FORBES - The past several weeks have seen a regular flow of sexual harassment allegations against high profile individuals and a flood of heartfelt stories on the Internet in response to the #MeToo social media hashtag. But as epidemiologist REBECCA THURSTON has found, traumatic experiences such as sexual harassment may affect your blood vessels, your blood flow, and potentially your heart. “We found that a history of more traumatic experiences w...
NEW YORK TIMES - Research by Epi's TONY FABIO, was cited by op-ed columnist Bret Stephen's piece "Repeal the Second Amendment." Fabio's study, published in 2016 in the journal Social Medicine, analyzed the guns recovered by Pittsburgh Police and found that the vast majority were not carried by their legal owners.
DAILY MAIL, UK - This study, led by EPI’s REBECCA THURSTON, is one of the first of its kind to assess the impact of trauma on heart disease risk. She said, “These findings underscore the importance of psychosocial factors, such as trauma exposure, in the development of heart disease risk in midlife women.” Thurston is a professor of epidemiology, psychiatry, and psychology, and director of the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at Pitt.
It is known that high blood pressure in one’s 50s puts a person at risk for dementia in later life. It's now know that hypertension in the 30s and 40s has a similar effect, but only in women. LEWIS KULLER, epidemiology professor emeritus, talks about why this unexpected research finding might be true.
TUFTS NOW - Adding 48 minutes of moderate exercise per week is associated with improvements in overall physical functioning and decreases in risks of immobility in older adults who are sedentary, finds a new study assisted by author NANCY GLYNN, epidemiology researcher with the Center for Aging and Population Health.
TRIB LIVE - Even people who exercise the recommended two-and-a-half hours per week likely face an increased risk of death if they sit a lot every day, according to a new study on sitting’s health risks. The science of sedentary behavior is more limited than the science of physical activity, said epidemiology’s BONNIE ROCKETTE-WAGNER. She tells people to find creative ways to get up and move around – whether it’s pausing a TV show to get a little ...
NBC PHILADELPHIA - State officials want both public and private school students to be up-to-date with all their vaccinations within five days of the beginning of the school year, a drastic reduction from the eight months that pupils used to have to get their shots. Epidemiology’s LEE HARRISON says outbreaks of infectious diseases have demonstrated the need for high immunization rates.