Media Coverage

“You don’t have that big adrenaline surge [like] when that alarm clock suddenly goes off,” noted Dr. Sabra Abbott, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and board-certified sleep medicine doctor.

“There were two markers of brain damage, or rather a marker of direct damage to nerve cells and another marker that indicates there is increased inflammation in the central nervous system or brain itself,” said Dr. Barbara Hanson, a researcher at the Northwestern Medicine Neurology COVID-19 research lab, speaking at a Monday press conference.

Researchers at Northwestern Medicine have identified both long-haulers with symptoms of anxiety and COVID patients hospitalized at Northwestern Memorial with encephalopathy, the most severe neurologic manifestation of COVID-19, showed evidence of neuron damage and brain inflammation.

Being more open about scheduling is one way to give people some breathing room. Lurie Children’s Hospital associate chief medical officer Dr. Anne Boat said they have been trying to shift schedules and be more open to flexibility especially knowing how people are juggling child care challenges

“This is the first longitudinal data to show that many pregnant women report depression and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum, despite their choice to continue treatment with antidepressants,” said senior author Dr. Katherine Wisner. She directs the Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Scientific research supports the idea that losing an hour of much needed sleep may negatively impact your heart and brain health. Donald Lloyd-Jones says the increase of heart disease and stroke during the daylight saving time change has something to do with the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm.

“The signal that jumped out at us was the complete spread through the male genital tract,” said Thomas Hope, the paper’s senior author and a professor of cell and developmental biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “We had no idea we would find it there.”

Brian Mustanski, director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University School of Medicine, said that “contrary to what Governor Abbott claims, gender-affirming care for transgender people saves lives” by reducing the risks of depression and suicide.

Brian Mustanski, a professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University, cautioned that the relative success of gay men could amount to a double-edged sword.

“What we see in this study is a modest association between premature menopause and a subsequent risk for dementia,” said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, president of the American Heart Association. He was not involved in the study.