Blue Lights Increase Autism Awareness

Pittsburghers will wonder why several local landmarks are shining bright blue tomorrow night. At least, that’s Mark Tallarico’s hope.

Tallarico is Executive Director of Autism Speaks of Greater Pittsburgh, and he’s hoping that literally shining blue lights on the skyline will shed light on and bring attention to the widespread mental disorder of autism.

He’s joined by 30 countries and all 50 U.S. states, where everything from homes to skyscrapers will be illuminated with blue light. That includes Australia’s Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building, and Niagara Falls. In Pittsburgh, that means both inclines, the Highmark Building, and the Carnegie Library’s main campus.

“It goes [from] as simple as homes lighting up at the Perry Cuomo statue in Canonsburg, all the way up to some of the major structures around the world,” says Tallarico.

The “Light It Up Blue” campaign kicks off Autism Awareness Month. Tallarico says he hopes people will take the opportunity to wear blue on Autism Awareness Day (Saturday), or take part in Autism Speaks conferences and events.

Tallarico says autism diagnosis has increased to the point where 1 of 110 children is affected by the disorder.

“There are more children diagnosed with autism than there are with diabetes, cancer and AIDS combined, so it’s very important that we tackle this problem,” says Tallarico.

He says he hopes the month’s events can build excitement for the twelfth annual autism walk at Heinz Field on June 4. Tallarico says he expects “Walk Now for Autism Speaks” to attract about 12,000 people and raise as much as $1 million.

Donepezil Shows Cognitive Improvement for Older Depressed Adults

A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study found that donepezil improves cognition when used with an anti-depressant for depressed adults ages 65 and up. The study is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, and it is the first to scientifically provide a pathway for older adults with cognitive complications and depression.

Donepezil is more commonly known under its trade name, Aricept and is used to treat dementia in Alzheimer patients. The lead author of the study Dr. Charles Reynolds III, the chair of geriatric psychiatry for UPMC, says 130 patients were observed for two years and 63 received a placebo and 67 received donepezil in combination with their anti-depressants.

"It was during that period of 24 months that we found both improvement in cognition but also a delay in the onset of clinically diagnosed dementia in older adults with depression."

Dr. Reynolds says donepezil delayed the onset of dementia and improved cognitive activity,

"While treatment of depression usually benefits associated cognitive impairment, it does not completely regulate cognitive impairment and may not delay the progression to dementia. So, even in remission, older adults with past depression may still show residual cognitive difficulties, such as slowing of information processing speed and impairments in executive or language function. Our study showed that by adding donepezil, cognition can be improved beyond that which is seen simply with the treatment of depression itself.

ast depression may still show residual cognitive difficulties, such as slowing of information processing speed and impairments in executive or language function. Our study showed that by adding donepezil, cognition can be improved beyond that which is seen simply with the treatment of depression itself.”

But some patients experienced a recurrence of depression episodes. Other side effects included nightmares and GI disturbances such as loose bowel movements, but Reynolds says that all the side effects were easily treatable.

Reynolds notes that donepezil is only for older depressed adults who have cognitive complications such as language impairment and memory difficulty.

Pitt Researcher: Walking Helps the Brain

A study published today shows seniors who walk as little at one mile a day can prevent brain mass loss and slow the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Study author Kirk Erickson says his study piggybacked on a study looking at cardiovascular health. That study looked at the walking habits of people in their 60’s. Nine years later Erickson measured the participants’ gray matter volume and found that those who walked six to nine miles a week had a slower rate of loss than those who did not regularly exercise. He then looked at the onset of Alzheimer’s disease 13 years out and again found that those who regularly walked were less likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s. The University of Pittsburgh Professor of psychology says there is no magic to 6-9 miles and there is no reason to believe that walking is better than any other cardiovascular activity. However he notes that walking is something that nearly all seniors can do. “You don’t have to be a marathon runner to benefit,” says Erickson. Walking more than nine miles a week did not have any additional benefit. According to the data. Erickson says it is never too early to begin an exercise regiment and the study shows that as far as brain health goes, it is also never to late to start. Of the 229 seniors studied, 116 developed cognitive impairment or dementia but those who walked regularly cut their risk of memory loss in half. Erickson says he would like to be able to do more studies of this type. In the future he hopes to look at how long the impact of a regular walking routine lasts after a senior stops walking and he hopes to use more accurate measurement tools that have recently become available.

New Apartments to House Pgh. Homeless

The federal government has given Pittsburgh Mercy Health System more than $1.6 million to build housing for the homeless on the South Side.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development grant will allow the Health System’s Operation Safety Net to build 16 efficiency apartments on South Ninth Street, near the Monongahela riverside.

Operation Safety Net Program Director Linda Sheets says construction will begin within a month, and the building should be ready for occupancy in late winter or early spring.

Sheets says the Trail Lane Apartments are meant to house a specific type of person.

“These are individuals that are very hard to place into private settings, into other types of bridge housing or group homes. These individuals have an undiagnosed or under-diagnosed mental illness and not necessarily an addiction problem,” says Sheets.

The grant will also help cover the cost of case managers and their offices, as well as housekeeping and maintenance. Sheets says the money will provide for two years of service, after which Operation Safety Net will have to reapply for the competitive grant.

Sheets says the 16 Pittsburgh-area residents won’t be required to attend treatment sessions, but she hopes that they will in time.

The neighborhood consists of three Pittsburgh Mercy Health System buildings, including offices, a pharmacy, and a crisis center.

Feds Reviewing Torture Murder of Greensburg Woman

The Acting U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania is reviewing the torture murder of a mentally disabled woman from Greensburg under a new federal law banning hate crimes against people with disabilities. Robert Cessar says it's too early to tell if his office will file charges against any or all of the six suspects under the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act signed by President Obama in October.
The 6 suspects: 3 men, 2 women and a 17 year old female, all from Greensburg, face murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and conspiracy charges in Westmoreland County Court in last week's death of 30 year old Jennifer Daugherty. Her body was found in a trash can in the parking lot of Greensburg Salem Middle School.
Cessar says he needs to do more research to determine whether his office might file an extra charge against the suspects or bring the entire case into federal court.

Mayview One-Year Review

Over two hundred mental health consumers, workers, state employees and other stakeholders gathered in the South Hills on Friday afternoon to discuss how people who had been discharged from Mayview State Hospital are doing. Among the speakers were workers from the Department of Public Welfare and former Mayview patients.

Mayview State Hospital closed last December. It had been open for 150 years. During the closing process, 244 people were discharged. According to Allegheny Health Choices, the group that has been tracking the people, they are, for the most part doing well. Since discharge, 69 of them have had additional psychiatric hospitalizations, 24 have been jailed and 10 have died of various causes. Most are living in the community in assisted living situations.

Joan Erney, Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in the Department of Public Welfare said they hope to have all of the state hospitals closed within a decade.

Problem Solving Courts Approved by PA Senate

With a unanimous vote the PA Senate approved legislation that would statutorily authorize the implementation of problem solving courts in the Commonwealth. Problem solving courts include, among other options, mental health courts and drug courts. The goal is to divert non-violent offenders from jail cells and into supervision programs. The courts are intended to encourage rehabilitation and lower corrections costs. State Senator Jane Orie of McCandless says, "As a former prosecutor and a strong advocate for improving our drug rehabilitation and mental health systems, I believe this legislation is crucial to helping those in need and to improving public safety." "These courts will reduce prison overcrowding and improve cooperation between our criminal justice system and drug and alcohol and mental health systems," says Orie. Allegheny County recently established a veterans' court and has been praised for its success. The law would not force counties to create the special courts but the measure makes it easier to get funding if a county should be interested. According to Sen. Orie, the average cost of building a new prison in Pennsylvania is $200 million and the cost of housing a prisoner can run as much as $30,000 a year. She says approximately 20% of Pennsylvania’s prison population suffers from mental illness. Orie says, “In many cases, we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to incarcerate mentally ill patients or those with addictions who would benefit far more from treatment, medication and counseling.”

Effects of Discrimination on Health is Topic of Lecture

The effects of discrimination on one's health was the topic of a lecture at Pitt's Center on Race and Social Problems today by a professor from the University of Washington who conducted the first ever national study of discrimination as experienced by Asians and Latinos in this country, both native-born and immigrants.

Professor David Takeuchi says respondents answered questions about courtesy and respect, whether they received poor service, were treated as though they were dishonest, were insulted or called names, were threatened or harassed. 75% of Asians and 55% of Latinos born in the U.S. said they were treated with less courtesy. On all the questions, a lesser percentage of immigrants in both groups reported discrimination. Takeuchi says this may be because immigrants tend to live among large concentrations of their particular groups and have less contact with those in other groups.


The study shows perceptions of discrimination have profound effects on mental health outcomes, such as major depression. Takeuchi says discrimination is also linked to poor physical health in Asians and Latinos, whether they are born here or not.