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.
-
WebMD
–
Screen Use Again Tied to Preschoolers’ Sleep, Behavior Issues
Many 4-year-olds spend this prime year of early childhood perfecting the arts of picky eating, skipping naps, waking up before the adults do, and indulging in the digital babysitter. But new research suggests a specific relationship between screen time, sleep, and behavior problems that parents of young children should know about. Researchers in China found that greater screen time is linked to greater sleep problems among preschoolers. The two things are also linked to an increased risk of hyperactive behavior, attention issues, and emotional problems, which may lead children to seek to use screens even more. Ultimately, the researchers concluded, this can become a cycle. Prior research has linked screen time with a higher risk of attention and hyperactivity problems in children. It’s also well established that screens affect sleep in people of all ages. But don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re using screens with your young child, said child psychologist Miller Shivers, PhD, an infant and early childhood clinical psychologist at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. The key is limits, and just as this latest study suggests, a focus on quality sleep may be more of a priority than counting every second that the digital babysitter is on duty. “If you’re using it just for the fact of ‘I’ve got to cook dinner, so let them just be entertained,’ that’s fine,” said Shivers, who is also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Also, we know that if you’re a parent of little kids who have behavioral problems, you tend to use more screen time, right? Because you just need a break sometimes.”
-
New York Times
–
Day 5: One Change to Eat Healthier All Year
If you regularly eat ultraprocessed foods at meals — like a packaged fruit bar at breakfast or a frozen meal at dinner — keep doing that, but add one fruit or vegetable to your plate. It could be an apple at breakfast or some broccoli at dinner. “Then you don’t look at it as, ‘What do I have to get rid of?’” said Linda V. Van Horn, PhD, RD, the chief of the nutrition division at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. For one week, have a fruit or vegetable at one meal a day. The following week, see if you can add a fruit or vegetable to two of your daily meals, Dr. Van Horn suggested. These behavioral changes, Dr. Van Horn said, can prompt people to keep going, because they might start to feel better or realize that they enjoy the flavors of the fresh produce.
-
Chicago Tribune
–
Bird flu: Here’s what Illinois residents should know, following the first US death from the virus
Bird flu is increasingly sparking concern across the country and in Illinois, following news this week of the first human death from the virus in the U.S., and of birds found throughout Illinois with suspected cases of the illness. Doctors, however, say there’s no need to panic at this point — though they’re watching the virus’s progression closely. In Illinois there have been no confirmed cases yet of humans with the virus. But there have been detections of bird flu in two commercial flocks of poultry in the last 30 days in Illinois, affecting 81,200 birds. It’s “very likely” that a person in Illinois will get the bird flu, if someone hasn’t already, given the number of animal cases in Illinois, said Robert Murphy, MD, professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Some people with bird flu will experience no symptoms, while others can have symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Mild symptoms can include eye redness and irritation, a low fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headaches and fatigue. People with more serious cases can experience high fever, shortness of breath, altered consciousness or seizures. If people experience symptoms after contact with sick or dead birds, they should notify their local health department and any health care facilities they visit while seeking medical attention, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
-
WBEZ Chicago
–
Surgeon General recommends cancer warning labels on alcohol
The Surgeon General is recommending warning labels on alcohol, just like you’d see on a pack of cigarettes. Right now, all alcoholic beverages have a surgeon general’s warning that speaks about the risks of drinking during pregnancy and the risks of drinking while driving or operating heavy machinery. However, there is discussion of adding a third risk, which surrounds cancer. Medical experts say that this is highly controversial, but there’s a lot of respect in the scientific community for the surgeon general’s clear warning here. Heavy drinking is harmful to health, but also increases the likeliness of getting cancer. Aashish Didwania, MD, vice chair of education in the department of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine explains” A number that you can kind of hold on to is a 10% increase by increasing your drinking to one drink a day. So if your lifetime risk of breast cancer is 11%, which is the estimate for the average woman, if you’re a moderate alcohol drinker, one drink a day, that risk increases by 10 to 12% in your lifetime.” He further shares “I think it’s information and education the public needs to understand and it’ll at least generate the conversations people should be having with their healthcare provider.” Overall, having a label on alcohol about the potential risks of cancer would serve a strong purpose of education and helping the public understand that the link is there.
-
Yahoo! News
–
No More Double Chin! Here’s How To Lose Weight in Your Face Naturally
While it’s a little easier to disguise unwanted pounds on your midsection or thighs, your face is out there for everyone to see. And whether that extra weight manifests as rounder cheeks or a double chin, many wonder how to lose weight in your face. There are things you can do to promote overall weight loss and lose facial fat in the process. One study in JAMA Dermatology had women aged 40 to 65 do a half hour of facial exercises daily at first, then every other day for a total of five months. At the end of the study, researchers found the women looked three years younger and showed a significant decrease in fullness in their upper and lower cheeks. “The exercises enlarge and strengthen the facial muscles, so the face becomes firmer and more toned and shaped like a younger face,” reported Murad Alam, MD, a professor of dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and one of the study’s authors. Diet is also important for overall physical appearance, including drinking enough water, and eating enough protein and fiber.
-
Yahoo! News
–
Telltale Signs You Need to See a Doctor for Your Cough
The odds are high you’ve had a cough before in your life, but each time can throw you for a loop. Even though you’ve been through this, it can be hard to know when to see a doctor for a cough and when to just continue to wait and see what happens next. You can further drill a cough down into a productive or nonproductive cough. “A productive cough is a cough that produces phlegm,” Dr. Youssef says. But a non-productive cough is more dry, says John M. Coleman III, MD, a pulmonary and critical care specialist with the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute. Meaning, you don’t cough anything up. “Symptoms also may not be as bad at night,” Dr. Coleman says. But if you’ve been dealing with a cough for a while, or if it feels like your cough is getting worse, he says it’s time to see a doctor.
-
ABC News
–
Former President Jimmy Carter lived to 100 with hospice care. Why it may help some live longer
Hospice care is viewed by many people as end-of-life care to help those who need it spend the final weeks or months of life in comfort. But hospice care may actually help certain patients live longer. People receiving hospice care for certain cancers or heart failure lived an average of 29 days longer than those who didn’t, according to researchers at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). Experts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology use a stoppage of chemotherapy in the last two weeks of life as a measure of receiving quality cancer care. “Deciding to stop anti-cancer treatments is difficult and may feel like choosing between quantity or quality of life,” Andrew Lawton, MD, a palliative medicine physician and an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News. Living longer after stopping cancer treatments and switching to hospice care may seem counterintuitive, experts note. “I’ve certainly seen patients live longer than expected with hospice care,” Lawton said.
-
Yahoo! News
–
The Hidden Dangers Of Starting Your Day With A Cup Of Coffee On An Empty Stomach
Maybe you start your day by rolling out of bed and shuffling straight to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Or perhaps you practice intermittent fasting, so you’re in the habit of having black coffee before you eat anything else. But is it bad to drink your morning brew before you have something in your stomach? While many people drink coffee before breakfast with no issues whatsoever, others have reported increased gastrointestinal upset or jitteriness if they don’t eat something first. According to Marilyn Cornelis, PhD — a caffeine researcher and associate professor in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University — some scientific research suggests that consuming pure caffeine (i.e. not via coffee) with food “increases the time in which caffeine reaches peak levels in the blood and also decreases the peak concentration.” “Theoretically, the latter would decrease any effects of caffeine, but this may vary by an individual’s sensitivity to caffeine,” she said, noting that the caffeine dose in such experiments is generally larger than the amount found in a single cup of coffee.
-
CBS News
–
After Chicago area man requests second opinion, Northwestern doctors find operable tumor on his pancreas
Getting a second opinion made all the difference for a River Forest man—who was found to have pancreatic cancer, but is now cancer-free. His biopsy results came back normal, however he underwent another biopsy when the pain persisted. Indeed there was a small tumor in Timchak’s pancreas, but it turned out to be one that could be removed surgically. “The reason this is so different is it has a much slower growth rate and doesn’t spread to adjacent organs anywhere nearly as quickly as the standard cancer of the pancreas,” said Srinadh Komanduri, MD, MS, professor of medicine (gastroenterology and hepatology) and surgery (gastrointestinal). Northwestern Medicine surgical oncologist David Bentrem, MD met with Timchak, and they agreed a Whipple procedure—in which the head of the pancreas, the first part of the mall intestine, the gallbladder, and a portion of the bile duct are removed—was the best way to go. Timchak had the surgery successfully on Nov. 14. The tumor had clear margins, and 24 lymph nodes were negative for cancer, Northwestern Medicine said. Timchak and his doctors agree that anyone facing a critical health issue should get a second opinion.
-
HealthDay
–
Persistent Short Sleep During Pregnancy Linked to Metabolic Syndrome
Short sleep duration that persists during pregnancy and for two to seven years after delivery is associated with increased odds of metabolic syndrome, according to a study published online Dec. 26 in JAMA Network Open.
Minjee Kim, MD, from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues examined whether persistently short sleep duration during pregnancy and after delivery is associated with incident hypertension and metabolic syndrome in a secondary analysis of the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Be Heart Health Study. Participants were recruited during their first pregnancy between Oct. 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2013, and were followed for a mean of 3.1 years after delivery. Persistent short sleep was defined as self-reported short sleep duration (less than seven hours) during pregnancy and two to seven years after delivery. “These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving sleep health among populations at increased risk to mitigate adverse health outcomes and to promote health equity,” the authors write.
