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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Los Angeles Times
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Op-Ed: Is that pain you feel all in your head?
Chronic pain affects 1 in 5 people around the world, and for many, their agony controls and constrains their lives. Pain researchers know that most pain is a complex phenomenon that always involves the mind and the body. Vania Apkarian, a pain researcher at Northwestern University, shares that her research strongly suggests that unlike acute pain, chronic pain has more in common with emotion and memory than physical sensations.
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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Study Show How Much Uncontrolled Blood Pressure, Diabetes Contributes to Heart Failure
A new Northwestern Medicine study finds almost half of U.S. adults with heart failure have poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes. “The reason we wanted to do this study is because, unfortunately, mortality related to heart failure has increased in recent years,” said senior author Dr. Sadiya Khan, assistant professor of cardiology and epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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US News & World Report
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AHA News: Uncontrolled Blood Pressure, Diabetes May Be Common Among People With Heart Failure
Many people with heart failure also have diabetes or high blood pressure. But new research suggests those conditions, even when treated, aren’t well controlled, placing people at risk for worsening heart problems. Researchers also found that Black adults had higher uncontrolled blood pressure rates than their white peers, 53% to 47%. That higher rate of poor blood pressure control among Black adults with heart failure was not surprising since it mirrors racial disparities in blood pressure control in the general population, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, senior author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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ABC News
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Moderna seeks to be 1st with COVID shots for little kids
Moderna on Thursday asked U.S. regulators to authorize low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than 6, a long-awaited move toward potentially. opening shots for millions of tots by summer. In a study of kids ages 6 months through 5 years, two Moderna shots – each a quarter of the regular dose – triggered high levels of virus-fighting antibodies. The vaccine proved between about 40% and 50% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 during the trial and the company will test a child booster dose. “Down the road I would anticipate it’s going to be a three-shot series,” said Dr. Bill Muller of Northwestern University who helped with Moderna’s child studies.
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The New York Times
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Patients Taking Experimental Obesity Drug Lost More Than 50 Pounds, Maker Claims
An experimental drug has enabled people with obesity or who are overweight to lose about 22.5 percent of their body weight, about 52 pounds on average, in a large trial, the drug’s makers announced. Dr. Robert F. Kushner, an obesity expert at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said the new drug can close a so-called treatment gap. Because obesity is a chronic medical condition, patients would need to take tirzepatide for a lifetime.
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WTTW
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CPS, Lurie Children’s Hospital Expanding Student Mental Health Pilot Into All District Schools
In order to better support the mental health needs of its students, Chicago Public Schools says it’s planning to expand a pilot program with Lurie Children’s Hospital into hundreds more schools around the city. According to Dr. Tali Raviv, a psychologist and associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, “We know that up to 50 percent of adolescents will experience a mental health concern, but only about 20 percent of these youth get care from a specialized mental health provider – and those that do may only receive that care after their symptoms have reached a crisis point.”
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USA Today
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‘Something needs to change’: As STD rates rise, doctors sound alarm on messaging
Reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases reached an all-time high for the sixth consecutive year in 2019. Dr. Michael Angarone, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Medicine, says “Sexually active individuals with multiple partners per year should talk to their primary providers about getting screened for STIs every six months of every year. And should get screened if a partner tells you they’ve tested positive for an STI. Angarone said reducing the number of cases starts with knowledge and awareness around STIs.
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NBC 5 Chicago
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Hepatitis in Children: What Are the Symptoms to Watch For Amid Recent Warnings?
The Illinois Department of Public Health issued a warning that three possible cases of the mysterious liver disease being reported in U.S. children, possibly associated with adenovirus, have been detected in Illinois. According to hepatologist and professor of pediatrics, Estella Alonso, MD, the most common symptoms of acute hepatitis include flu-like symptoms, fever, nausea and/or vomiting, abdominal pain or discomfort, and diarrhea. Later symptoms can include dark-colored urine and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes).
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NBC 5 Chicago
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Suspected Cases of Severe Hepatitis in Children, Potentially Linked to Adenovirus, Detected in Chicago Suburbs
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a nationwide public health alert to physicians nationwide, asking doctors to be on the look out for unusual cases of severe liver disease in children. According to Estella Alonso, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, “The symptoms of hepatitis in childhood can be vague at first – abdominal pain, loss of appetite, severe fatigue – but then, as it progresses, the children do start to have dark urine, pale stools, yellowing of the whites of their eyes. These are the first things parents notice. And if parents do notice that they should seek medical attention from their pediatrician or in an emergency or urgent care setting as soon as possible.”
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The New York Times
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Can Virtual Reality Help Ease Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is general defined as pain that has lasted three months or longer. It is one of the leading causes of long-term disability in the world. Virtual reality is emerging as an unlikely tool for solving this intractable problem. Research has shown that chronic pain also changes the central nervous system. A. Vania Apkarian’s pain lab at Northwestern University found that when back pain persists, the activity in the brain shifts from the sensory and motor regions to the areas associated with emotion, which include the amygdala and the hippocampus.
