CU Anschutz In The News

Obese teens who diet to lose weight may have more success if they also focus on getting enough rest, a small study suggests.The effort is worth it, though, to avoid poor sleep becoming a lifelong problem, said Stacey Simon of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. "Health habits learned in adolescence often continue into adulthood, so learning good sleep and eating strategies in adolescence is critical,” Simon, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

"For someone to be a candidate for deep brain stimulation, we want them to have tried all the standard therapies and to have had those not work," explains Dr. Rachel Davis, a psychiatrist at UCHealth and director of the OCD Clinic at CU Anschutz. "They need to have tried the medications that are standard for OCD. So medications that work on serotonin. They need to have tried an antipsychotic, a benzodiazepine, and they need to have done at least 20 sessions of exposure and response prevention with a therapist who's familiar with treating OCD."

Yet banned substances such as the triclosan in this Dial soap still commonly appear on online product descriptions, researchers found after searching the National Drug Code Directory and the websites of major online retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and Target. The health effects of antibacterial ingredients "are very poorly defined," said Chandler Rundle, MD, first author of the study, which was published in Dermatitis. Rundle is with the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.

Speciality drug development has expanded the disconnect between manufacturers and payers. Colorado is adding more rare diseases but some advocates question what good that does if treatment is unaffordable. “For personalized medicine to truly be successful in the United States, we need to have payers on board,” said Dr. Kathleen Barnes, director of the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. 

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus brought notable attention to the work there this month as they explore help for children and teens vulnerable to bipolar disorder. Researchers found two treatments were more effective at delaying new and recurring bipolar symptoms: 12 sessions of teaching families better communication skills or six sessions of traditional psychoeducation to help patients understand and cope with their symptoms.

In a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, Maryam Guiahi, a researcher at the CU School of Medicine, looked at unnecessary pelvic exams. The research found that almost one-quarter, or 2.6 million, young women between the ages of 15 and 20 received a bimanual pelvic exam — during which a doctor places two fingers inside the patient’s vagina to check for abnormalities in the uterus or ovaries. More than half of those exams were potentially unnecessary.

"For someone to be a candidate for deep brain stimulation, we want them to have tried all the standard therapies and to have had those not work," explains Dr. Rachel Davis, a psychiatrist at UCHealth and director of the OCD Clinic at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. "They need to have tried the medications that are standard for OCD. So medications that work on serotonin. They need to have tried an antipsychotic, a benzodiazepine, and they need to have done at least 20 sessions of exposure and response prevention with a therapist who's familiar with treating OCD."

Access to certain things in the home, whether it be firearms or medication, can be dangerous for someone at risk of suicide. Now researchers with the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus, have created a free tool to help address the issue. This week, researchers and clinicians released the online resource called Lock to Live. The idea is that by reducing access to firearms or medication in the home, people can help to possibly save the life of someone in crisis.