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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What is an Aortic Aneurysm?
Aortic aneurysms are rare, doctors say, but more common than people may think. Aneurysms, which are enlarged, weakened areas in blood vessels, can occur in any part of the body. An aortic aneurysm is a bulge in the aorta, the main blood vessel that ferries blood from the heart throughout the chest and the rest of the body. There are two primary types of aortic aneurysms: thoracic aortic aneurysms, which occur in the chest, and abdominal aortic aneurysms, which occur in the belly. Doctors tend to think of abdominal aortic aneurysms as a disease that occurs in older people, said Dr. Douglas Johnston, the chief of cardiac surgery for Northwestern Medicine, but thoracic aortic aneurysms can strike younger patients, too. Having a bicuspid aortic valve, meaning that your aortic valve has two flaps, instead of three, puts you at a higher risk of developing an aortic aneurysm. Roughly 2 percent of the population has a bicuspid aortic valve, Dr. Johnston said. But the average patient walking around with an aortic aneurysm in the chest will not have any symptoms. Dr. Johnston noted that some people may feel chest tightness or have a cough. Others may have a slight heart murmur, he added. “Anyone who develops sudden chest pain should be in the hospital as soon as possible,” Dr. Johnston said. If a patient has access to emergency care and is properly diagnosed, there is a high chance of survival. Doctors can perform surgery to remove the enlarged part of the aorta and help the patient recover.
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USA Today
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Kids ibuprofen and acetaminophen are in short supply. Here’s what parents can do.
Despite early wanings from health experts, parents are still confronted by empty pharmacy shelves looking for something to alleviate their kids’ symptoms. “I’ve been doing this for over 20 years now and this fall-winter is like no other. It’s bananas,” said Dr. Shelly Vaziri Flais, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Health experts don’t anticipate the shortage to end anytime soon as flu, COVID-19, RSV and cold cases continue to rise ahead of holiday gatherings. With over-the-counter medication shortages parents should use saline drops for a runny nose, use a humidifier to increase moisture in the air, keep your child hydrated and let them rest. Specifically, what parents should not do includes using vaporizers, giving aspirin and crushing or halving adult medication. Overall, Vaziri Flais said the best way to care for a sick child is to keep at-home remedies simple, treat what your child is feeling (not the number on the thermometer), trust your gut and “typically, less is more.”
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These Factors Increase the Risk of Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancer is one of the 10 most-diagnosed cancers in the United States. Like many of the other cancers on that list – including colon and rectal cancer – kidney cancer is more common now than it used to be. But unlike some others, the underlying causes of kidney cancer are often hard to discern. For example, a significant proportion of breast cancers stem from inherited genetic mutations. But that’s not the case for kidney cancer. Just 3% to 5% of these cancers are caused by hereditary factors. “There are certain genetic conditions associated with increased risk, but the majority of kidney cancers are not familial-based,” says Dr. Shilajit Kundu, chief of urologic oncology and professor of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Patients always ask me, ‘Why did I get this?’ And it’s tough to give them an answer,” Kundu adds. “I often say it’s just bad luck.” The medical term he an other cancer experts use for this kind of bad luck is “sporadic,” meaning the disease tends to appear randomly without any obvious cause. However, not all kidney cancers arise out of the blue. There are a handful of established risk factors, including exposure to some known carcinogens. There are also demographic factors – such as biological sex and race – associated with increased risks. Here, Kundu and other kidney cancer experts detail medical science’s current understanding of these risk factors, plus how it may be possible to lower your risk for the disease. Refraining from smoking, avoiding chemical exposures and maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle can all help curb kidney cancer.
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TIME
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How COVID-19 Immunity Works at This Point in the Pandemic
When the immune system meets a new intruder like SARS-CoV-2, its first response is to churn out sticky antibody proteins that attach to the virus and block it from binding to and infecting cells. Immunization is the most effective way to launch this antibody production against SARS-CoV-2. Getting the virus itself also triggers the process, but to a lesser extent. However, neither past vaccination nor infection necessarily provides protection against later strains of this ever-evolving virus. There’s another important difference between the protection provided by vaccines vs. natural infections. Getting COVID-19 comes with the risk of symptoms, including durable ones in the form of Long COVID. “The risk of natural infection for some infections, like SARS-CoV-2, still outweighs the potential immune benefits,” says Dr. Egon Ozer, director of the center for pathogen genomics and microbial evolution at the Havey Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University. For now, the combination of vaccines, boosters and infections is building a type of immunity against SARS-CoV-2 that is keeping most people from needing hospital care or dying. However you generate that immunity, the good news is that the immune system “has got a little flexibility built in,” Ozer says. “Not every immune cell is completely identical to the other.”
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WBEZ Chicago
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With respiratory illnesses on the rise in Chicago, healthcare providers warn children’s medications may be hard to find
With respiratory illnesses on the rise in Chicago, healthcare providers are warning that children’s medications may be difficult to find these days as worried parents are facing empty shelves and understocked pharmacies across the city. Sterling Elliot, PharmD, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said relying on alternative medications can also lead to shortages. “Pharmacies have to constantly figure out, what’s our strategy for dealing with whatever shortage is coming up,” Elliot said. “So a shortage on one agent can lead to a shortage for another agent that’s supposed to be the alternative.” Physicians should be prescribing medications as wisely as possible, he said. Elliot advised consumers to buy over-the-counter medications within reason and avoid hoarding.
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NPR
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Doctors warn that heart attacks spike this time of year
There’s a lot of focus on viruses right now, but heart attacks and strokes are on the rise during this time of year. Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM says, “We do see a spike of heart attacks and strokes as we head into the holiday season and of course heart and of course heart attacks and stroke are still the leading causes of death, worldwide.” The data pointing to the winter spike shows if you already have compromised blood flow to your parts that sort of spasm or narrowing down of the arteries in response to cold air can make things worse. There is a broad and shallow dip through the summer months and then a very large spike at the end of the year. Lloyd-Jones says, “This may be because people go off their routines during the end of the year. People are more stressed, they eat more and may sleep less. If you’re already at risk for heart disease or stroke the changes that happening our blood pressure with stressors, especially if you add in a mix of alcohol and not sleeping, all those things push our bodies pretty hard.” Symptoms to be aware of include heaviness on the chest and unexplained shortness of breath.
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Chicago Tribune
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Holiday season bringing another rise in COVID-19
In what’s become a unwelcome tradition over the past two years, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise again in Illinois amid the holiday season. This year, the increase in COVID-19 has been accompanied by surging cases of flu and other respiratory viruses. The developments have prompted public health officials to urge greater caution during upcoming celebrations, reiterating the familiar refrain of masking, testing and staying up to date on vaccinations. A coronavirus uptick has emerged since the Thanksgiving holiday but a major surge like the Omicron variant caused in early 2022 has not materialized, said Judd Hultquist, PhD, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This is not unexpected. It’s quite consistent with what we would think about when we think about a respiratory virus. There are more people indoors. They’re interacting more because of holiday parties,” Hultquist said. True case numbers are difficult to estimate because people are testing and reporting cases less often, he added.
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TODAY
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Wake up feeling like you have a cold? Your bedding might be to blame
Many people struggle to sleep through the night due to congestion, coughing, sneezing and other allergy-like symptoms. Chronic nasal congestion is a common problem affecting almost one in four Americans, a recent survey found. Dust mites are tiny bugs that live in dust around your house. They live in bedding, mattresses, furniture with upholstery, carpets and more. In fact a mattress can accumulate so many dust mites that, “believe it or not, (its) weight doubles in 10 years,” said Sai Nimmagadda, MD, associate professor of allergy and immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. About one in five people have allergies, and of that population, about half of them likely are allergic to dust mites, according to Nimmagadda. The main signs of dust mite allergies versus other kinds that Nimmagadda has observed are congestion and postnasal drip. Symptoms like an itchy throat or water eyes are often more related to pollen allergies. Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics, allergy and immunology, and preventive medicine, said you should find out if you actually have a dust mite allergy before spending time and money trying to combat it.
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TODAY
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New Netflix documentary calls out Xanax overuse: What doctors want you to know
For years, the rates of anxiety – and the use of a fast-acting prescription drug to alleviate its symptoms – have been on the rise. The pandemic, experts say, has dramatically pumped up those numbers. A new Netflix film “Take Your Pill: Xanax” spotlights the alarming number of Americans using the medication Xanax to calm their anxiety. The film tells its tale by interweaving the stories of people who use the medication with the opinions of experts who say that while Xanax is quite effective at quieting anxiety, it is a powerful drug that should ideally be used short term. Listening to patients in the film describe how effective the drug is, it’s easy to understand how someone might end up using it for years. The film follows one individual who when realizing his symptoms stemmed from Xanax, he began to slowly and carefully reduce his dose. Cutting back or quitting cold turkey can be dangerous, experts say. “Stopping cold turkey can result in seizures,” says Will Cronenwett, MD, chief of general psychiatry at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Xanax locks onto the same receptors of the brain as alcohol.” The drug can also be fatal if combined with other sedating medications or alcohol, he adds. “In my practice since the pandemic I’ve seen a great deal more people with complaints of anxiety,” Cronenwett says. “People feel less safe, and feeling unsafe about yourself in the world is similar to the feeling of anxiety disorder.”
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New York Times
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What Is Stiff Person Syndrome?
Pop superstar Celine Dion announced Thursday that she is canceling and rescheduling her planned 2023 tour dates after being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition. Stiff person syndrome is a rare autoimmune neurological condition that affects the central nervous system and can cause rigidity throughout the body and painful muscle spasms. The syndrome itself is not deadly, but it can significantly affect a patient’s quality of life. There is no cure for stiff person syndrome, so doctors focus on symptom and pain management. Tapering down body’s immune response can help alleviate symptoms, said Dr. Senda Ajroud-Driss, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. For the non-pharmacological treatments, patients may undergo cognitive behavioral therapy and other psychotherapy to help them mitigate the emotional triggers that prompt muscle spasms, as well as to develop skills for living with a chronic condition. Other types of treatments, such as physical therapy, aqua therapy, heat therapy and acupuncture can provide relief for some patients.
