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Making Headlines For more information on how to access news articles, click here. Scripps Howard News Service October 1, 2009 … But when snoring is a sign of sleep apnea, a condition that causes breathing to be interrupted repeatedly during the night due to airway obstructions, it can signal some dire consequences… Even a temporary onset of apnea, which often occurs in pregnant women, can cause problems. Researchers at Northwestern University reported last summer that women who were frequent snorers during pregnancy were about four times more likely to develop gestational diabetes than those who did not snore… WLS-TV (Chicago) October 1, 2009 Orthopedics Today October 2009 Surgeons have an intimate view into the workings of the human body. As the first orthopedic surgeon in space, Robert L. Satcher Jr., MD, PhD, will also be privy to a view of the world that few have experienced. “Everybody says that the views of the earth, the stars and the moon escape description,” Satcher, a faculty member at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Orthopedics Today. “Most people say that it changes their perspective of life and our planet. I am looking forward to that.” USA Today September 30, 2009 Treating mild gestational diabetes cut the risk of having an extra-large baby and resulting complications such as a C-section, researchers report today. Treatment also lowered rates of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia, a condition marked by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. There were no stillbirths or newborn deaths at all in the study… New international guidelines for diagnosing gestational diabetes, which have not yet been published, will expand the number of women with the condition, says Boyd Metzger, professor of metabolism and nutrition at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine… Reuters September 30, 2009 U.S. companies could reduce health costs and boost productivity with programs that address risk factors for heart disease among workers, a report published on Wednesday said… “Companies can save anywhere from $3 to $15 for every $1 spent on health and wellness within 12 to 18 months of implementing a program,” said Mercedes Carnethon of Northwestern University in Illinois, who led the study. The report noted that more than 130 million Americans work, making the workplace a huge forum for wellness programs. But over half of workers have no access to such programs… Bloomberg September 30, 2009 Bayer AG and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Nexavar cancer drug failed to slow the progression of breast cancer in the second of four studies that combine the medicine with different types of chemotherapy. The pill in combination with chemotherapy drug paclitaxel showed a “positive trend” toward helping women live longer without their disease getting worse though the results weren’t statistically significant, the two drugmakers said in an e- mailed statement today. Bayer and Onyx didn’t say how long it took the women’s tumors to progress. “These encouraging data warrant further investigation,” lead scientist William Gradishar, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University, said in the statement, adding that women with advanced breast cancer often lack treatment options… Associated Press (also in Forbes) September 30, 2009 Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer said Wednesday that Nexavar demonstrated “positive” trends in a midstage breast cancer study, though the companies did not say whether the drug met its key goals. About 237 women participated in the clinical trial, which combined Nexavar with the chemotherapy treatment paclitaxel. The companies said a complete data analysis is expected in an upcoming scientific meeting… The study was sponsored by Northwestern University. It is the second of four studies from Onyx’s breast cancer treatment program… St. Petersburg Times September 30, 2009 The national health care debate has policymakers and medical authorities worried about what comes next: If today’s uninsured millions could get regular care, would there be enough doctors to serve them? Some experts say that by 2025, the nation could be short by as many as 44,000 adult general care physicians — which includes the traditional family doctors who handle everything from annual checkups to helping manage chronic conditions… “If something does happen where an additional 30 to 40 million people have access to some form of insurance, we do not have the primary care work force to be able to respond to that need,” said Dr. Russell Robertson, the council’s chairman and a professor of family medicine at Northwestern University. “This is a serious, serious concern.”… MSN.com September 30, 2009 “Research shows that companies can save anywhere from $3 to $15 for every $1 spent on health and wellness within 12 to 18 months of implementing a [workplace wellness]program,” the statement’s lead author, Mercedes Carnethon, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release from the heart association. “Beyond cost savings and increased productivity, visionary employers are realizing the value of an employee’s total health,” she said. “An effective worksite wellness program can attract exceptional employees, enhance morale and reduce organizational conflict.” US News & World Report September 30, 2009 “Research shows that companies can save anywhere from $3 to $15 for every $1 spent on health and wellness within 12 to 18 months of implementing a [workplace wellness]program,” the statement’s lead author, Mercedes Carnethon, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release from the heart association. “Beyond cost savings and increased productivity, visionary employers are realizing the value of an employee’s total health,” she said. “An effective worksite wellness program can attract exceptional employees, enhance morale and reduce organizational conflict.” Los Angeles Times September 28, 2009 Prescriptions for the drug are often written with doses in fractions of a teaspoon, but the dropper packaged with the drug is marked in milligrams, requiring a difficult conversion of units, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ruth Parker of the Emory University School of Medicine. “It’s an egregious error that there is a conflict in the prescription labeling instructions and the dosage device that comes in the exact same box,” said co-author Dr. Michael Wolf of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s incredibly confusing to parents.”… HemoOnc Today September 25, 2009 The future of ovarian tissue freezing, according to Teresa Woodruff, PhD, Watkins Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, director of the Oncofertility Consortium at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, involves taking the follicles from the tissue and growing them completely in vitro to produce a mature egg that can be fertilized and then transferred back to the patient. “In that case, the theoretical advantage would be that you could have an embryo and no residual cancer cells, but of course it is still very experimental,” she told HemOnc Today. Woodruff and colleagues are currently working on this technique. HealthDay News September 24, 2009 Doctors warn that parents across the country could give the wrong dose of Tamiflu to their children as treatment for the H1N1 swine flu because the dosing instructions don’t always coincide with the measurement markings on the syringe that comes with the liquid medication. The warning letter, penned by scientists from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Emory University in Atlanta and Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City and published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, also urges doctors and pharmacists to be on the lookout for this potential dosing mismatch and to help parents figure out exactly how much Tamiflu to give their child… Chicago Sun-Times September 24, 2009 Parents could be giving their kids the wrong dose of Tamiflu to treat swine flu because the markings on the syringe included with the drug may not match the prescribing instructions, scientists warned in a letter published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine. Dosing instructions may be in teaspoons, while the syringe markings are in milligrams, leaving parents to try to decipher the correct dose, the letter said. This could lead to kids getting too much or too little of the drug… The letter’s authors, from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Emory University, urged pharmacies to ensure dosing instructions on the box and syringe are in the same units. Health.com September 24, 2009 Doctors warn that parents across the country could give the wrong dose of Tamiflu to their children as treatment for the H1N1 swine flu because the dosing instructions don’t always coincide with the measurement markings on the syringe that comes with the liquid medication. The warning letter, penned by scientists from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Emory University in Atlanta and Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City and published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, also urges doctors and pharmacists to be on the lookout for this potential dosing mismatch and to help parents figure out exactly how much Tamiflu to give their child. US News & World Report September 24, 2009 Doctors warn that parents across the country could give the wrong dose of Tamiflu to their children as treatment for the H1N1 swine flu because the dosing instructions don’t always coincide with the measurement markings on the syringe that comes with the liquid medication. The warning letter, penned by scientists from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Emory University in Atlanta and Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City and published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, also urges doctors and pharmacists to be on the lookout for this potential dosing mismatch and to help parents figure out exactly how much Tamiflu to give their child… MSN.com September 24, 2009 Doctors warn that parents across the country could give the wrong dose of Tamiflu to their children as treatment for the H1N1 swine flu because the dosing instructions don’t always coincide with the measurement markings on the syringe that comes with the liquid medication. The warning letter, penned by scientists from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Emory University in Atlanta and Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City and published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, also urges doctors and pharmacists to be on the lookout for this potential dosing mismatch and to help parents figure out exactly how much Tamiflu to give their child. Atlanta Journal Constitution September 24, 2009 Doctors warn that parents across the country could give the wrong dose of Tamiflu to their children as treatment for the H1N1 swine flu because the dosing instructions don’t always coincide with the measurement markings on the syringe that comes with the liquid medication. The warning letter, penned by scientists from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Emory University in Atlanta and Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City and published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, also urges doctors and pharmacists to be on the lookout for this potential dosing mismatch and to help parents figure out exactly how much Tamiflu to give their child. Los Angeles Times September 23, 2009 Confusing directions on liquid suspensions of the antiviral drug Tamiflu may inadvertantly cause parents to give their children either too little of the drug, impeding the child’s recovery, or a toxic overdose, physicians warned today in a letter published in the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine. Prescriptions for the drug are often written with doses in fractions of a teaspoon, but the dropper packaged with the drug is marked in milligrams, requiring a difficult conversion of units, said Dr. Ruth Parker of the Emory University School of Medicine, lead author of the paper. “It’s an egregious error that there is a conflict in the prescription labeling instructions and the dosage device that comes in the exact same box,” said co-author Dr. Michael Wolf of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s incredibly confusing to parents.”… National Public Radio September 23, 2009 When it takes two health professionals 30 minutes and a bunch of algebra to puzzle out the proper dose of the flu drug Tamiflu to give their sick six-year- old, how’s the average parent supposed to make sense of medication labels?… A spokesperson for Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, told us in an email that the company sent out its own round of letters to health providers Wednesday, and is “working with the U.S. CDC and FDA to provide appropriate information to address the dosing concerns.” None too soon, says Michael Wolf, a health literacy expert at Northwestern University and a co-author on the NEJM letter. AAFP News Now September 23, 2009 “When you look at other nations with comprehensive policies with regard to universal access to health, the ratio of generalists to (sub)specialists is about 50/50,” said Russell Robertson, chair and professor of the department of family and community medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “(These nations) also generally have a higher per capita number of physicians than we do. This is part of what is framing where we are.” MSNBC.com September 23, 2009 Dr. Laura Berman, who has written a guide for how parents can have healthy dialogue with their kids about sex, answers readers’ questions about how to handle some uncomfortable parenting dilemmas. Dr. Laura Berman is the director of the Berman Center in Chicago, a specialized healthcare facility dedicated to helping couples find fulfilling sex lives and enriched relationships. She is also an assistant clinical professor of OBGYN and psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She has been working as a sex educator, researcher and therapist for 18 years. Tehran Times September 23, 2009 Dr. James Webster, a professor of geriatric medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said the study can’t completely rule out that participants who were able to exercise were already healthier than the others, and thus likely to live longer. Associated Press (also in the Chicago Tribune) September 22, 2009 Best-selling author Alex Kotlowitz will discuss urban violence and its impact on community and children’s health at a free conference in Chicago. Friday’s event starts at 9 a.m. at Northwestern University’s medical school. It features three panels of experts and neighborhood activists. They’ll discuss the health effects of urban violence and reasons why more hasn’t been done to eliminate it. Discover Magazine September 21, 2009 New studies show promise for using a person’s own stem cells to protect them from autoimmune disorders like diabetes and multiple sclerosis. What if researchers could reboot a misfiring immune system? That is the intriguing possibility raised by stem cell transplant specialist Richard Burt (Feinberg School of Medicine). He is pioneering a new treatment for autoimmune disorders, one in which patients’ immune systems are suppressed and then replaced with an infusion of their own immune stem cells, filtered out from their blood. These then grow into all types of blood cells, including the white blood cells of the immune system. WTTW-TV (Chicago) September 21, 2009 Medical News Today September 18, 2009 The Best PAD Research Award in Vascular Medicine went to Mary M. McDermott, MD, professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL. Dr. McDermott and her colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study, “Asymptomatic Peripheral Arterial Disease Is Associated With More Adverse Lower Extremity Characteristics Than Intermittent Claudication,” published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association (Circulation. 117:2484-2491, 2008). Miller-McCune September 17, 2009 …Yet many conversations between doctor and patient yield less-than-scientific answers — intangible descriptions, such as the amount of pain a person is in or how much a drug amplifies his drowsiness. Because researchers employ incongruous tools to measure the unmeasurable, a group of clinical studies devoted to a disease might seem like they were written in different languages. To address this problem, David Cella wants to create the Rosetta Stone of medical symptoms. The chair of the department of medical social sciences at Northwestern University’s medical school is leading PROMIS, a government-funded program aimed at standardizing the way patients talk to doctors about their bodies and minds. It has the ambitious goal of re-engineering the way clinical research is performed in the United States… WGN-TV (Chicago) September 17, 2009 Dr. Seema Venkatachalam, OBGYN with the Northwestern Specialists for Women and clinical instructor in obstetrics and gynecology at the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, clears up misconceptions and demystifies some of the most common women’s health myths. Globe and Mail September 17, 2009 Figuring out a person’s sex can be wickedly complex. That’s why the International Association of Athletics Federations’ process for determining whether South African runner Caster Semenya is a woman called for a geneticist, an endocrinologist, a psychologist and others. But even with all the tests in the world, the line that constitutes an “unfair advantage” is up for interpretation, says Alice Dreger, a bioethicist in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Figuring out who’s a female or male â or should compete as such â isn’t as simple as looking for XX or XY chromosomes. MassLive/The Republican September 17, 2009 The study can’t completely rule out that participants who were able to exercise were healthier than the others, and thus likely to live longer. But Dr. James Webster, a professor of geriatric medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said the link between octogenarian exercise and longevity appears valid. The Hospitalist September 2009 To Jeffrey Barsuk, MD, FACP, FHM, the concept of simulation-based mastery learning is simplistic to the point of genius. Give a hospitalist—or any other physician—a physical task and let them practice the procedure until they master it. Take care not to fall into the decades-old mind-set that repetition alone will achieve a threshold of competence. Test the competence with a rigorous assessment schedule, which will objectively determine if the skill is truly mastered… “It’s very common sense,” says Dr. Barsuk, assistant professor of medicine in the division of hospital medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “But no one is doing this. People don’t know that simulators are so effective. At least in the medical profession, we’re probably behind the times in it. … We’re enthusiastic about it because we believe in it so much. We want to see how far it can go. With mastery learning, the sky’s the limit. You can simulate almost anything you want.” Daily Beast September 16, 2009 They prefer the term “intersex.” And now that a South African track star has thrust them into the spotlight, this surprisingly large minority group thinks their Stonewall moment just may have arrived… “The term ‘hermaphrodite’ is stigmatizing and confusing,” says Alice Domurat Dreger, a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University who is cited regularly by intersex individuals and advocates. “It usually suggests to people that someone has all the organs of males and females—but that is not physically possible. The medical profession came to a consensus about three years ago to get rid of all terms based on the root ‘hermaphrodite’ (including ‘pseudo-hermaphrodite’) because they are stigmatizing and confusing.”… Washington Post September 15, 2009 Today fewer people are dying of heart attacks and strokes compared with 30 years ago. Yet the increasing prevalence of high blood pressure and the percentages of Americans who do not exercise or eat well, are overweight or obese, or have Type 2 diabetes indicate we’re heading in the wrong direction. “High blood pressure is increasing, as are physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary habits, obesity and diabetes,” says Robert Bonow, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “That raises concerns about another wave of higher mortality in the future.”… New York Times (Associated Press) September 14, 2009 Even in the “oldest old,” a little physical activity goes a long way, extending life by at least a few years for people in their mid- to late 80s, Israeli researchers found. The three-year survival rate was about three times higher for active 85-year-olds compared with those who were inactive. Getting less than four hours of exercise weekly was considered inactive; more than that was active… Still, Webster said the link between octogenarian exercise and longevity appears valid. He was not involved in the study… KTRS-AM (St. Louis) September 14, 2009 Alice Dreger, professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics, discusses the difficulties of determining sex in the case of runner Caster Semenya. WebMD September 14, 2009 One IV treatment of the investigational flu drug peramivir works as well as five days of Tamiflu pills, suggests a large study that pitted one drug against the other. An injectable flu drug is badly needed because many sick people can’t swallow pills and severe illness can slow the body’s ability to absorb oral medications, researcher Shigeru Kohno, MD, PhD, of Nagasaki University School of Medicine in Japan, tells WebMD… Michael Ison, MD, an infectious diseases expert at Northwestern University in Chicago who moderated the session at which the findings were presented, says many patients find a single IV treatment more convenient than swallowing pills for days. “That gives peramivir an important advantage,” he tells WebMD… Los Angeles Times September 14, 2009 Mononucleosis, the curse of high school and college students, doesn’t have to bring social and academic lives to a screeching halt, researchers reported today. Instead, the disease can be treated to shorten the duration of the illness and reduce the chance of transmission… “I think there would be a lot of interest in treating mononucleosis if we found something that worked,” said Dr. Ben Katz, a pediatrics professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. In a study published in July in the journal Pediatrics, Katz found that about 10% of adolescents diagnosed with the illness still have symptoms — mostly severe fatigue — six to 12 months later… WMAQ-TV (Chicago) September 14, 2009 WVON-AM (Chicago) September 14, 2009 Chicago Tribune September 13, 2009 Know what happens to your body when it’s weighed down by fat? After it settles in the usual places, like your hips or your butt or your arms or your gut, fat invades and settles in your organs. Havoc ensues. Hearts get too big, arteries clog, organs falter and then fail. Diabetes, stroke, heart attack, heart failure, some cancers: all caused by or linked to fat. “We’re not set up to store excess fat in a harmless way,” says Dr. Robert Kushner, a professor of medicine and director of clinical programs at the Comprehensive Center on Obesity at Northwestern University… Cleveland Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com September 13, 2009 Most people welcome such conversations, said Dr. Linda Emanuel, director of the Buehler Center on Aging, Health & Society at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. A study she conducted in 1991 found that 89 percent of people wanted advance directives. KATU.com (Portland, Ore.) September 13,2009 Scientists have found seven key genes in the type of brain tumor affecting Sen. Edward Kennedy that together can predict how aggressive a patient’s cancer will be…. …The study’s lead author likened those genes to organized crime bosses. “You want to find the strategy to knock down the Mafia,” said Dr. Markus Bredel of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, who led the research. “So you probably want to get the big bosses.” New York Times September 12, 2009 Sex, drugs and prosthetic legs. Who would have thought they could have so much in common? Yet all three are posing ever more challenges to sports officials, and all have at their root the same Restrictions on testosterone, on prosthetic limbs and on men competing in women’s sports are meant to protect athletes from unfair advantages. Some may say they protect against unnatural advantage. The idea is that, at its essence, sport is about one human competing against another to see who is naturally the strongest, the fastest, the most skilled. But athletes left the realm of the natural a long time ago. Running barefoot may be a growing fad, but no one expects all athletes to go without high-tech footwear. No one even expects them to all use the same type. And forget about telling teams they can’t use NASA-quality machinery and dietetics during training… Alice Dreger is a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern. She is writing a book on science and identity politics. Associated Press (also in Chicago Tribune) September 11, 2009 South African runner Caster Semenya’s eligibility to compete as a woman is no clearer — even though reports say she has female and male organs. Semenya, who won the women’s 800-meter title at last month’s world championship in Berlin, has had a gender test, and the results given to track and field’s ruling body were leaked to Australian newspapers… Alice Domurat Dreger, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University in Chicago, said it was not uncommon for someone to be raised as a woman even if they have both sets of sex organs. “We are raised based on what adults think our sex is at our births,” Dreger said on her Web site. “Various conditions can lead to a baby being born with female genitalia (labia, clitoris, vagina) and internal male sex anatomy (including testes).”… USA Today September 11, 2009 Alice Domurat Dreger, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at NORTHWESTERN University in Chicago, said it was not uncommon for someone to be raised as a woman even if they have both sets of sex organs. “We are raised based on what adults think our sex is at our births,” Dreger said on her Web site. “Various conditions can lead to a baby being born with female genitalia (labia, clitoris,vagina) and internal male sex anatomy (including testes).”… CNN, Curtis Sliwa Show (Syndicated) September 11, 2009 Newstalk 1010, The Rutherford Show (syndicated, Canada), CRFB -Toronto September 11, 2009 Globe and Mail September 11, 2009 Whether she’s male or female, intersex or â according to the latest reports â a hermaphrodite, one thing should be clear to South African sprinter Caster Semenya: Privacy is no match for ignorance, bumbling officials and the burning desire to know… “Having your sex called into question is a deeply humiliating and stigmatizing event,” said Alice Dreger, professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. “If athletes knew in advance what those rules were going to be, then that could all be settled out of the public eye. And they could know whether they could pass the rules for competition.” In an Aug. 22 essay in The New York Times, Dr. Dreger accused the track organization of relying on unstated, shifting standards for sex verification… UPI September 9, 2009 Many doctors don’t ask their patients with depression and anxiety to quit smoking fearing they will get worse, but that is a myth, a U.S. expert said. Brian Hitsman, a tobacco addiction specialist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said people with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety are the heaviest smokers in the country. Between 40 percent to 80 percent of mentally ill people are daily smokers, compared with fewer than 20 percent of mentally healthy people, Hitsman said… The Oregonian September 9, 2009 Therapists have developed many ways to help stroke survivors recover the use of crippled limbs, but the existing treatments aren’t much use to patients who’ve had severe strokes and lost nearly all use of a hand or a foot… The AMES devise works differently than any existing technology, says Dr. Zev Rymer, vice president for research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and a professor at Northwestern University. “It is better seen as a rehabilitation training system, in that the vibration and motion is designed to reprogram inappropriate muscle activation patterns arising in stroke survivors,” Rymer says. “So it may not be limited in its effects to the same extent.” Rymer is overseeing clinical testing of the device in Chicago… Ethiopian Review September 9, 2009 A study is under way to examine the association between rituximab (Rituxan)—a common lymphoma treatment—and progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis (PML), a fast-moving and often fatal infection that attacks the white matter of the brain. Hematologist and oncologist Charles Bennett, MD, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is leading the project. In a recent issue of the journal Blood (2009;113[20]:4834- 4840), he and his coinvestigators reported on 57 cases, spanning from 1997 to 2008, in which patients with lymphoma, anemia, or rheumatoid arthritis developed PML after taking rituximab. RedOrbit September 9, 2009 People with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety are the heaviest smokers in the country, but their doctors are afraid to ask them to quit. They assume that if their patients try to quit smoking, their mental disorders will get worse. That is a myth, according to Brian Hitsman, a tobacco addiction specialist and assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. This population’s tobacco use and dependence need to be treated, he said. Hitsman has designed and published the first comprehensive, evidence-based plan for psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health providers to help their patients quit smoking. His paper appeared in a recent issue of The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Orlando Sentinel September 8, 2009 Dr. Philip Greenland, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, fired his 89-year-old mother’s orthopedic surgeon after the doctor failed to visit the elderly woman in the hospital for three days or talk to her family. “We were attempting to communicate with him and we couldn’t get an answer,” said Greenland, who wrote about the experience four years ago in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “I literally camped out for a whole day at the hospital, waiting for him to show up, and he didn’t.” The last straw came when the surgeon went home, exhausted after being on call at several hospitals, without telling his partner anything about Greenland’s very sick mother. “I felt a combination of anger and disbelief,” Greenland said. Chicago Tribune September 6, 2009 Most people welcome such conversations, said Dr. Linda Emanuel, director of the Buehler Center on Aging, Health & Society at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. A study she conducted in 1991 found that 89 percent of people wanted advance directives… Detroit Free Press September 6, 2009 Pfizer Inc. was slapped last week with a record $2.3 billion in fines for illegally marketing some drugs, but critics say even that eye-popping total is unlikely to end the sometimes- dangerous practice of promoting drugs for unapproved uses … … For example, the standard treatment for years for severe psoriatic arthritis was methotrexate, but the drug actually was approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, said Dr. Eric Ruderman, a rheumatologist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “If you had to stick to labeling, you couldn’t treat people,” said Ruderman, who has done some consulting work for Abbott Laboratories and received research grants from several drugmakers. New England Journal of Medicine September 3, 2009 By Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Dr. Robert O. Bonow A 52-year-old man requests a coronary-artery calcium (CAC) scan for assessment of his risk of coronary events after seeing an advertisement from a local facility that offers the test. He has no symptoms of cardiac disease, has never smoked, and is not overweight, but he does not exercise regularly. His father, who was a heavy smoker, had a fatal myocardial infarction at . . . Science News September 3, 2009 The bond is a strong one. Covalent bonds, where atoms share electrons, “really up by an order of magnitude the force that the material can deal with,” says James Kramer of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. It isn’t clear what advantages a sulfur-nitrogen bond might have over a disulfide bridge, which is known for its strength. There are already disulfide bonds in the globule that eventually connects the chains, Kramer notes, so perhaps saving a lot of exposed sulfurs for later bonding would screw up the initial folding of the globule. Research by Kramer and colleagues revealed the critical role of collagen in holding together the nematode C. elegans. Even when the genes for collagen IV were knocked out, the worm developed properly. But when it began to move, its muscles pulled apart, detaching from the skin. Associated Press (also in Chicago Tribune) September 2, 2009 Patients with the disease that killed Sen. Edward Kennedy last week are one focus of the new Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute in Chicago. The institute on Northwestern University’s downtown medical campus was jointly formed by Northwestern’s medical school, its cancer center and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The institute combines research and treatment for brain and spinal tumors, including glioblastoma (GLEE-oh-blas-TOE-muh) the kind of cancer Kennedy had. Scientists there are seeking ways to improve survival chances. Most adults with glioblastomas live less than two years after diagnosis; Kennedy survived 15 months… Newsweek September 2, 2009 Team sports also help kids develop their social identity, notes Mark Reinecke, Ph.D., chief psychologist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Our sense of worth is developed through what we accomplish and a sense of belonging. There’s a social aspect to team sports—the ability to collaborate and to feel positively about oneself because we’re part of a larger group.” CBS News September 1, 2009 When I first read about 24 year old PJ Lukac in Chicago’s newspapers I was immediately moved by his story. Here was a young, bright, medical student with a promising future facing the most terrifying news from his own doctor -a malignant tumor lodged inside his brain… There was no desperation in his voice and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It wasn’t until I spoke with his family and his co-workers at the genetics lab at Northwestern University that I came to understand that while PJ came through as reserved and shy, he was determined and passionate about making the most of the time he has left… When Dr. Sanjay Gupta came along for the rest of the interviews, I had learned a lot more about brain cancer — especially the research taking place at Dr. Markus Bredel’s lab. Brain tumors are among the most complex of all cancers, but they’ve managed to find key genetic components that may one day allow doctors to target specific treatments tailored to each patient. They also provide an opportunity for patients to learn about the possible progression of the cancer… CBS News (National) September 1, 2009 Dr. Markus Bredel’s lab at Northwestern University is trying to unlock the DNA of brain cancer. He says that genetics play an important role when it comes to brain tumors because, “brain tumors are a genetic disease.” Brain tumors have more than 100,000 genes, and Bredel’s lab has identified the 31 that enable cancer that’s been dosed with drugs or radiation to remake itself and continue to grow. “That makes us very hopeful that in a couple of years from now we have clinical trials that test new therapeutics, which are based on the research we are doing,” said Bredel. Chicago Sun-Times September 1, 2009 In 2006, researchers from Children’s Memorial and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine began tracking the injuries of nearly 1,500 female soccer and basketball players from 46 Chicago schools. The study concluded at the end of the Athletes who consistently did the KIPP warm-up exercises before practice were 14 times less likely to suffer a non-contact ACL injury than those who didn’t incorporate the moves into their warm-ups… Asian News International September 1, 2009 A presentation on the results from the international REACH (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) Registry was recently made by a researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2009 in Barcelona on August 31… Science Daily September 1, 2009 The results from the international REACH (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) Registry, presented by a researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined data for 32,247 patients one and three years after they enrolled in the registry. “We were surprised by the high rate of these recurring vascular events,” said lead author Mark J. Alberts, M.D., professor of neurology at the Feinberg School and director of the stroke program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “We know how to prevent vascular disease and the events that it produces. This points to the need for better prevention, better use of medications and a need to develop more potent medications. These are the number one and two causes of death throughout the world.” Chicago Tribune August 30, 2009 Dr. Philip Greenland, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, fired his 89-year-old mother’s orthopedic surgeon after the doctor failed to visit the elderly woman in the hospital for three days or talk to her family. “We were attempting to communicate with him and we couldn’t get an answer,” said Greenland, who wrote about the experience four years ago in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “I literally camped out for a whole day at the hospital, waiting for him to show up, and he didn’t.” The last straw came when the surgeon went home, exhausted after being on call at several hospitals, without telling his partner anything about Greenland’s very sick mother. “I felt a combination of anger and disbelief,” Greenland said. Bangalore Mirror (India) August 28, 2009 South African teenager Mokgadi “Caster” Semenya won the 800 metres race at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin last week with what has been described as “a stunningly dominating run.” Unfortunately, her victorious debut in international sports has been clouded by controversy over her sexual identity… According to the IAAF general secretary, “If it is proved that Semenya is not a female, she will be withdrawn and the medals revised.” The question is, of course, whether it is really possible to define what makes a woman. As Alice Dreger, professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, USA, points out, “Genes, hormones and genitals are pretty complicated. There isn’t really one simple way to sort out males and females. Sports require that we do, but biology doesn’t care… Biology does not fit neatly into simple categories…” Voice of America August 27, 2009 Senator Edward Kennedy, a legendary political figure in the United States, died on Tuesday after a year long battle with malignant glioma, the most common type of brain cancer among adults. Researchers are trying to discover the cause so they can treat it better. Dr. Markus Bredel at Northwestern University analyzes the genetic makeup of brain tumors, specifically gene mutations within glioblastomas, an even more aggressive form of the disease. But there are hundreds of thousands of genes in the tumors’ genome. “The difficult question is which of those many, many genes are actually important in the disease process and which are just simply bystanders to the process,” Dr. Bredel said… ABC News August 26, 2009 From diagnosis to death, Sen. Ted Kennedy’s battle with brain cancer was the last struggle of many during his long, eventful life. His final years were marked by an instrumental endorsement of the nation’s first black president, the escalation of a legislative health care battle he had championed for decades, and the death of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. It was during the same time that Kennedy got a close-up look at the medical system he long worked to reform while spending time with doctors fighting his devastating terminal illness… “With surgery his prognosis is better,” said Dr. Jeffrey Cozzens, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Evanston, Ill., the day of Kennedy’s surgery. “But remember that in individuals his age, despite the best treatment, half of patients are dead in one year.”… WBZ (Boston) August 26, 2009 Miami Herald August 26, 2009 The tests she undergoes will be vastly more difficult than anything she has confronted in competition, for her very identity is at stake. The gold medal she won in commanding style prompted the tests — had she finished seventh, no one would have ordered sex verification. But by the time the results come out, the gold medal will be an afterthought, if it isn’t already… “Sex is sloppy,” said Alice Dreger, professor of medical humanities and bioethics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and author of Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex, as well as an essay in The New York Times on Semenya’s situation. “Genes, chromosomes, hormones, genitals, internal reproductive organs — it is more complicated than we were led to believe in the seventh grade. A person can have one sex on the outside and another on the inside. There is a lot more variation in the human species than two types.”… “848” WBEZ August 25, 2009 Chicago Tribune August 24, 2009 Four months ago, swine flu swept across Mexico and then the globe so fast that it caught public health officials — and everyone else — by surprise. There was intense fear of what could be. Would this be a lethal pandemic and kill millions, as a different flu bug did in 1918?… As a general rule, there’s far more benefit than risk in taking the vaccine, says Dr. John Flaherty, an infectious disease expert at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. So how worried should you be? “It is a new virus, and will probably be associated with more severe disease and more death than a usual flu,” Flaherty said. “But right now, I think we’ve got to approach it like we’re expecting a severe flu season and not necessarily ‘The Andromeda Strain.’ “… World News with Charles Gibson (ABC) August 21, 2009 Alice Dreger, professor of medical ethics and humanities, comments on the complexity of determining gender. New York Times August 21, 2009 The only thing we know for sure about Caster Semenya, the world-champion sprinter from South Africa, is that she gets to live the rest of her life under a cloud of suspicion regarding her sex. Now that officials for track and field’s world governing body are investigating her sex, at best Semenya will face an asterisk in every biography and a question in every potential lover’s mind. At worst, she will perpetually be subjected to jeers and jokes… Alice Dreger is professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, and the author of “Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex” (Harvard University Press, 1998). Sydney Morning Herald August 21, 2009 At a petrol station in Cape Town recently, a teenager went to enter the ladies’ bathroom, but she was stopped by an attendant. She was told she wasn’t allowed in there because she was a man… ”Genes, hormones and genitals are pretty complicated,” said Alice Dreger, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the United States. ”There isn’t really one simple way to sort out males and females. Sports require that we do, but biology doesn’t care. ”Biology does not fit neatly into simple categories, so they do these tests. And part of the reason I’ve criticised the tests is that a lot of times, the officials don’t say specifically how they’re testing and why they’re using that test. It should be subject to scientific review.”… Alice Dreger, professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, comments on the difficulty of determining sex in the case of runner Caster Semenya. |
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New York Times August 19, 2009 On the blue track at the Olympic Stadium, all three medalists celebrated after the women’s 800 meters at the world track and field championships. But when it came time for the postrace news conference, the gold medalist, Caster Semenya, was nowhere to be seen… Earlier in the day, I.A.A.F. officials had confirmed that Semenya, a muscular 18-year-old from South Africa competing in her first senior championship, was undergoing sex-determination testing to confirm her eligibility to race as a woman… “It turns out genes, hormones and genitals are pretty complicated,”Alice Dreger, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, said in a telephone interview. “There isn’t really one simple way to sort out males and females.” US News & World Report August 19, 2009 A bounty of trials are exploring the healing potential of injecting stem cells into ailing hearts … … No stem cell therapy for heart failure is going to be a cure-all, experts acknowledge. “Even as a wildly optimistic guy, I don’t imagine that anything I do on a single day in the cath lab is going to reverse 30 years of disease,” says Douglas Losordo, director of the Program in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who is leading a 10-person heart failure pilot study using stem cells derived from patients’ own blood. New York Times August 18, 2009 I am an anesthesiologist. Patients undergoing cardiac surgery routinely receive the intravenous blood thinner heparin, derived from pigs. Alternatives exist but are not F.D.A.-approved for this use and are probably less safe. Recently we had a devoutly Jewish patient. Should we have asked him whether a pig-derived product was acceptable or simply used what we knew to be most appropriate medically?… Katie Watson, an assistant professor in the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, suggests an efficient one-sentence tool for deciding what to convey to a patient. She e-mailed me, “The easiest way to translate that is to ask, ‘Could this piece of information lead someone to make a different decision than if they didn’t know it?’ ” For those averse to pork on religious grounds as well as those who reject it because it is meat, the answer is yes… Chicago Sun-Times August 18, 2009 Researchers say they’ve found a link between high blood pressure and multiple sclerosis that could pave the way for less expensive treatment of MS … Dr. William Karpus, a professor of pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who studies autoimmune diseases said the results of the new study “have major implications” because “this is a system that has not been thought to be involved in multiple sclerosis before.” WebMD August 18, 2009 Robert Kushner, MD, is a professor of medicine at Northwestern University and clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity. He says the obese patients he treats often tell him they’re not seeing the results they want from exercise. “They typically will say, ‘I have been working out three days a week for 30 minutes for the past three months and I have lost 2 pounds; there’s something wrong with my metabolism,'” Kushner tells WebMD. Kushner says he tells patients that exercise is very good for them, but for weight loss, he emphasizes a healthy diet in the beginning. “First, we’ve got to get a handle on your diet,” Kushner says. “Then, as you’re losing weight and feel better and you’re lighter on your feet, then we shift more and more toward being more physically active; and then living a physically active lifestyle for the rest of your life is going to be important to keeping your weight off.” Washington Times August 16, 2009 Obesity is epidemic in the U.S. Currently, 72 million Americans are overweight or obese. The consequences are enormous and include personal suffering through disease and disability, increased medical care and its attendant costs, and a substantial economic impact of lost wages … … Dr. Robert F. Kushner is a professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and president of the Obesity Society. Chicago Tribune August 16, 2009 Researchers are working understand pain from the patient’s perspective. They’re hoping to develop a universal method to measure such symptoms as pain, fatigue and anxiety, and later this month doctors will be able to go online for a free program to help them more accurately assess a patient’s quality of life. The efforts are being pushed by the National Institutes of Health as part of an initiative to better connect research with patient needs, though it remains to be seen how many doctors will use the new pain scale. “Through this improved measurement system we will be able to personalize symptom care, particularly as cancer care becomes more personalized for each patient,” said Dr. Lynne Wagner, a health psychologist at Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, who treats Leonard. The measurement program, called PROMIS, allows doctors to create questionnaires from a database to assess the status of a patient’s health. The questions are multiple-choice about levels of discomfort ranging from “none at all” to “excruciating.” The test also asks questions like: Does your pain limit going out and enjoying time with your friends? The system is adaptive and adjusts each new question based on the previous response. With one question you can get a general idea of a patient’s discomfort and generally after seven or eight questions you get more precision, said David Cella, an investigator from Northwestern University who helped develop the program. MSNBC August 12, 2009 There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are hundreds of ways to say, “Ow!” Pain can be stabbing, searing or throbbing. It can be sharp or dull. It can make you tired, depressed or anxious. It can be incapacitating — or only mildly annoying. Millions of Americans are affected by chronic pain, studies show, yet until now it’s been difficult for doctors or scientists to understand how much a patient is actually suffering. Now, a computer program that measures and rates pain may help put doctors and their patients on the same page… Just as a blood sugar test can diagnose diabetes, a standardized scoring system will be able to register the impact of pain on a person’s life, says David Cella, the program’s developer and professor and chair of the department of medical social sciences at Northwestern University… Chicago Tribune August 12, 2009 Donna DeMuro thought her hearing loss was a natural part of the aging process until her face began to tingle. A month after she told her doctor, she had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor the size of a golf ball… Many people wait to tell their doctors about the symptoms, said Dr. Richard J. Wiet, who counts DeMuro among his acoustic neuroma patients. “Too often, seemingly minor hearing loss is trivialized and ignored,” he said. “If it is in one ear in a person at midlife, that can be a sign of a tumor growing.” Wiet will host a symposium on the condition in Chicago this weekend in conjunction with the national Acoustic Neuroma Association. The 28-year-old organization, which has about 6,000 members, aims to educate the public and provide support for patients… Wiet, a professor at Northwestern University and a physician at the Ear Institute of Chicago in Hinsdale, said the conference will offer workshops to help patients make educated decisions. Experts will discuss the common forms of treatment, which include microsurgery, radiosurgery and observation… Chicago Sun-Times July 25, 2009 Is nationally known pediatrician and author Dr. William Sears wrong to assert that letting babies learn to sleep on their own by “crying it out” causes stress and anxiety that can harm their development? A prominent Chicago pediatrician and expert on children and sleep thinks so. Dr. Marc Weissbluth is taking to the Internet to dispute Sears on an issue that new parents often struggle with… But in a series of blog posts titled “My Problem with Dr. Sears,” Weissbluth, who’s a clinical professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, accuses Sears of using “irrelevant and misleading” research to back his claims that the crying-it-out method hurts kids. “The presentation of Dr. Sears is that crying may harm the child, and the discussion then includes many studies and comments that have nothing to do with [crying it out],” said Weissbluth, the author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. “Children do cry, and . . . to claim that crying is harmful and use studies on rats to prove your point is not helping parents understand how they might help their child sleep.”… U.S. News & World Report July 20, 2009 Not only does a high-salt diet contribute to hypertension, but it can also reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications, a new study finds… Both studies emphasize the importance of controlling salt intake to keep blood pressure at safe levels, said Dr. Martha Daviglus, a professor of preventive medicine and medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association. Between 20 percent and 30 percent of Americans have resistant hypertension, and the emphasis for them has been on drug treatment, Daviglus said. “When a patient comes to a physician’s office with hypertension, we start with one drug, then add another,” she said. “We often forget about lifestyle interventions because they are so difficult.”… U.S. News & World Report July 15, 2009 Electroconvulsive therapy, also known from times of old as “shock therapy,” is on the rise—albeit a relatively quiet one. Considering its beginnings as a crude and violent procedure, it’s not surprising that ECT’s comeback isn’t loudly publicized. The treatment, which involves inducing a controlled seizure, is most often administered to patients with significant psychiatric illness— depression, mania, and bipolar disorder—and is one form of brain stimulation therapy for people whose symptoms don’t respond to medications… The treatment usually takes place in a hospital setting a few times per week over the course of a month or less, in a series of six to 12 sessions. Anesthesia is administered, so the patient feels no pain and doesn’t experience bodily convulsions. An overnight stay is typically required. (While ECT for depression is often covered by insurance, a copayment of several hundred dollars per session might be required.) Still, many are deterred who might benefit, says Mehmet Dokucu, psychiatrist and director of the Cancer Psychiatry Service at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University… Chicago Tribune July 16, 2009 Walking into a packed waiting room at NORTHWESTERN Memorial Hospital, PJ Lukac delivered the unthinkable news to his parents: “I’m going to die.” He had suffered periods of confusion and other symptoms, so his mother had insisted that he get a neurological scan at Northwestern. “I thought it was going to be a waste of money,” he said… But after absorbing the truth of his situation, his outlook began to change. Lukac quickly grew tired of the fear and worry that showed on the faces of friends and relatives when they realized he had a potentially deadly brain tumor. So within weeks of his diagnosis, he went looking for Dr. Markus Bredel, director of the Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute research program… “Some people think cancer has like a mystical power all its own,” said Lukac, 24, of St. Charles. “But [Bredel] has really reduced it to a set equation, with these genes as variables. Like any equation, I think it has a solution, which is the gist of his research.” Lukac told Bredel that he wanted to work in his lab, dismantling the disease’s mystique and, in the process, try to save his own life… |