Media Coverage
The work done by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine faculty members (and even some students) is regularly highlighted in newspapers, online media outlets and more. Below you’ll find links to articles and videos of Feinberg in the news.
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Associated Press
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There’s no proof each strike on alleged drug boats saves 25,000 lives, as Trump claims
President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that military strikes on suspected drug boats his administration has been carrying out for more than two months in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean are saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S.
Lori Ann Post, the director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine at Northwestern University, explained that “there’s no empirically sound way to say a single strike ‘saves 25,000 lives,’” even if the statement is interpreted more broadly to mean preventing substance use disorders and resulting ripple effects. Among the issues she pointed to are a lack of verifiable cargo data or published models linking such boat strikes to changes in drug use, as well as markets that will adapt to isolated supply losses.
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NBC
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New heart disease calculator predicts 30-year risk for young adults
A new online heart risk calculator could help younger adults learn whether they’re likely to develop heart disease, as much as 30 years in the future, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Monday. That’s a significantly longer time period compared with traditional screenings, including the Framingham risk calculator or the ASCVD Risk Estimator Plus, which measure a 10-year risk for people ages 40 and older.
“This tool was motivated by helping younger adults understand their long-term risk for heart disease,” said senior study author Sadiya Khan, the Magerstadt professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We all procrastinate, but prioritizing health has to start today — and can with this tool.”
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NBC
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Botox helping to ease pain for Ukrainian war amputees
Doctors from Northwestern University’s School of Medicine are using a Botox-like substance injections to help treat Ukrainian soldiers who are experiencing phantom pain after amputations.
Steven Cohen, MD, said, “In your brain, you have a representation of your entire body, and then you lose your leg, then your brain reorganizes. You can have pain in the phantom because it’s not reorganizing.”
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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FDA decision on menopause treatment lacks nuance, Northwestern expert says
Dr. Lauren Streicher both applauded and questioned the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s announcement earlier this week that it would eliminate 20-year-old warnings about the use of hormone therapy to treat symptoms of menopause.
Streicher, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, has some reservations about federal health officials’ methods and motives in suggesting they’ll universally strip warnings about side effects of estrogen therapies like cancer, heart disease, blood clots and dementia.
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NPR
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Is hormone therapy for menopause right for you? 6 things to know
Women should not suffer through menopause with hot flashes, night sweats and poor sleep. That’s the message from FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.
How long should you be on hormone therapy?
“We don’t take someone off [hormone therapy] just because it’s been three to five years,” says Lauren Streicher of Northwestern University. She points to differences in how long menopause symptoms persist, noting that Black and Hispanic women tend to experience symptoms for longer time periods.
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ABC Chicago
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Food Allergies, Treatments And Possible Prevention
About one in 13 children have food allergies, and at least 40% have been treated in the emergency room for reactions to those food allergies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reactions include hives, swollen airways, digestive problems, and in some people, they may be more severe, even life threatening. However, researchers says there are potentially ways to prevent peanut allergies.
Dr. Ruchi Gupta is the director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern University. She says we’re seeing more children with food allergies than in the past.
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NBC
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Harmful cholesterol levels cut in half with one-time gene editing drug in early trial
Altering a single gene may help people lower dangerously high levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood, according to new research presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans. The Phase 1 clinical trial of 15 people was intended to show whether the experimental gene-editing therapy was safe to use in humans.
“What’s nice about this target of ANGPTL3 is that it not only lowers the LDL, the bad cholesterol, but it also has some effectiveness on people who have very high triglycerides,” said Dr. Elizabeth McNally, a human geneticist and cardiologist at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
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CBS News
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Pennsylvania man says experimental drug has helped him recover from cycling accident
An experimental drug could help improve movement for patients with spinal cord injuries, and it’s already making a big difference for one patient in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
Monica Perez, of the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, is the lead investigator. She said she tested 20 patients with chronic incomplete cervical spinal cord injuries. Early results are positive, she said, and she’s hoping for more approvals from the FDA.
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Associated Press
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A study questions melatonin use and heart health but don’t lose sleep over it
Don’t lose sleep over headlines linking melatonin to heart failure. That’s the message after some scary-sounding reports about a preliminary study involving the sleep-related supplement. It raised questions about the safety of long term use of melatonin for insomnia.
But only certain countries require a melatonin prescription. It’s over-the-counter in the U.S., meaning Americans in the study might have used the supplements without it being recorded, said Northwestern University cardiology chief Dr. Clyde Yancy, who wasn’t involved in the study. The study also did not show dosages.
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New York Times
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Rise in Kidney Disease Tied to Other Chronic Conditions, Study Finds
The number of adults with chronic kidney disease is growing, according to a study published Friday in The Lancet. The disease was the ninth leading cause of death worldwide in 2023, up from the 27th leading cause in 1990.
“We should be doing a better job of identifying individuals at risk and intervening,” said Dr. Susan Quaggin, a former president of the American Society of Nephrology and chair of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.
