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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US News & World Report
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Valium, Xanax Prescriptions Could Raise Overdose Risk in Youth
Teenagers and young adults who use benzodiazepines to treat insomnia may be at heightened risk of an overdose, a new study finds. Benzodiazepines include anxiety medications like Ativan, Klonopin, Valium and Xanax, as well as prescription sleep aids such as estazolam (ProSom), triazolam (Halcion) and temazepam (Restoril). In the new study, researchers found that young people prescribed those medications for insomnia were at increased risk of overdose within the next six months. Compared with teens and young adults prescribed other sleep medications, their odds of overdose were 44% higher. At this point, there is a move away from prescribing benzodiazepines for insomnia, according to a sleep disorder specialist who was not involved in the study. “We don’t have to treat insomnia with benzodiazepines, or necessarily use medication at all,” said Dr. Sabra Abbott, an associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Oftentimes, she said, young people can establish healthier sleep patterns by changing their waking habits — like reducing caffeine and screen time in the evening. That said, Abbott noted that by the time people see a sleep specialist, they’ve typically tried those lifestyle steps. In those cases, she said the “first-line” treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy — which involves addressing the anxieties people have around sleep, and working on healthier beliefs and behaviors. “It’s the best way to address insomnia for the long-term,” Abbott said. When medication is prescribed, she added, it should be a “short-term aid.”
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The Chicago Tribune
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Sterling Elliot: As Illinois deals with opioid crisis, Congress can help expand pain management alternatives
In Illinois, we lost 3,013 people just last year to a fatal opioid overdose. Yet, opioids still remain the primary option for patients who are managing pain after outpatient surgery. Despite years of devastation that have broken families and communities apart, Congress has yet to take action to expand access to safe, federally approved methods to manage main. Despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that says nonopioids are just as effective as opioids for battling acute pain, these therapies are underused because of outdated prescribing incentives, says Sterling Elliot, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The costs of the opioid addiction crisis are too high not to provide patients with choices. There were more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths last year, 75% of which were opioid related. The year before, there were enough opioid prescriptions for more than 40% of Illinois residents, or more than 5 million prescriptions. Behind these statistics are the athletes who use opioids to manage their pain, teenagers who try some pills from their parents’ medicine cabinet and seniors who are overprescribed opioids. For some Americans, that prescription begins a long and arduous battle with addiction that ends in tragedy, far too often at the hands of an unintentional fentanyl overdose. The Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation Act, or NOPAIN, would create separate reimbursements for the administration of nonopioid pain management approaches to expand the use of such therapies in the outpatient surgical setting. Beyond saving lives, the bill would help address the cost of the opioid addiction crisis, which reached $1.5 trillion in 2020 alone. Notably, the NOPAIN Act would not in any way dictate how health care providers care for their patients. The bill creates choices; it does not limit them. It leaves decisions about pain management in the hands of medical experts and their patients.
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US News & World Report
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Second Death in Trial of Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug is Raising Concerns
Two people have now died from brain hemorrhages that may be linked to an experimental Alzheimer’s drug, calling into question the medication’s safety. A 65year-old woman with early-stage Alzheimer’s recently died from a massive brain bleed that some researchers link to lecanemab, an antibody drug designed to bind to and remove amyloid-beta from the brain. The woman suffered a stroke as well as a type of brain swelling and bleeding that has been previously seen with such antibodies. Rudolph Castellani, a Northwestern neuropathologist and professor of neuropathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who autopsied the woman, determined that she had amyloid deposits surrounding many of her brain’s blood vessels. The woman had been receiving biweekly infusions of lecanemab, which appears to have inflamed and weakened her blood vessels, Castellani said. These vessels then burst when exposed to the clot-buster, something that can happen even in conventional stroke cases. “It was a one-two punch,” Castellani told Science Insider. “There’s zero doubt in my mind that this is a treatment-caused illness and death. If the patient hadn’t been on lecanemab, she would be alive today.”
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The Washington Post
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Parkinson’s patients and researchers search for exercise ‘prescription’
Parkinson’s experts point to a longtime and growing body of evidence that support the positive impact of exercise on the disease. In a new surge of research, scientists are now studying which exercises at what level of intensity provide the greatest gains. The goal is to design an exercise prescription – one that will probably include a mix of high-intensity aerobics and balance, strengthening and stretching exercises – that delay the disease’s onset, or ideally, prevent it all together. Daniel M. Corcos, PhD, professor of physical therapy and human movement sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is leading a multisite clinical study among those with early Parkinson’s, that is, people diagnosed less than three years and who are not yet taking medications, comparing two levels of exercise.
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Chicago Tribune
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Jennifer Mundt: Sleep is getting more respect – as a way to increase productivity. We need a better mindset.
Sleep is finally having its moment. I’m a sleep researcher and clinician, and it’s exhilarating to see broader recognition that sleep is important, yet I am often dismayed about the framing of why sleep is valuable. Messages equating sleep with laziness have long been woven into our cultural consciousness, with aphorisms such as “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” and “the early bird gets the worm” reflecting our fears that sleep is a hindrance to success and accomplishments, says Jennifer Mundt, PhD, professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. We now know that sleep is connected with every aspect of our health including our cardiovascular health, pain, mood and immune system. Sleep is a pillar of health but has long been neglected in comparison to its more popular cousins — diet and exercise.
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US News & World Report
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Tips for ‘Stomaching’ the Holidays If You Have IBS
Stress affects gut health and intensifies pain, which — for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) — can make traveling to see family during the holiday season excruciating. “People living with IBS often say the holidays are especially stressful, above and beyond the typical holiday stress most people report having,” said Tiffany Taft, medical social scientist and clinical psychologist at Northwestern Medicine, in Chicago. For the 15% of Americans who live with IBS, Taft offered some tips as they gather for the season. “Stress directly affects IBS through the gut-brain axis, which includes parts of the brain that are part of the body’s fight-flight-freeze response,” she said. “Stress can amplify pain, alter the motility of the gut — either speed up or slow down, depending on the person — and change the composition of the gut microbiome.” Taft said the holidays can create stress because some people have family members who aren’t understanding or supportive about IBS. They may worry or be anxious about asking for changes to the holiday menu because of dietary needs. Rather than have an unpleasant conversation, the person with IBS may eat foods that don’t agree with them, Taft said. In addition, she pointed out that “traveling can be stressful for patients, including worries about having symptoms while flying or driving long distances. In short, the holidays can place a spotlight on a person’s IBS, and strategies the person may have to keep IBS symptoms in check may become compromised, which can become incredibly stressful.” If you have IBS and are stressed out about traveling, practice relaxation strategies beforehand, she advised.
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Doctors who want to defy abortion laws say it’s too risky
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, thirteen states have banned abortion except in the case of a medical emergency or serious health risk for the pregnant patient. But deciding what cases quality for a medical exception can be a difficult judgement call for doctors. Still, there may be some middle ground for doctors, between going to jail and failing to provide the care they feel is needed, argues Katie Watson, professor of medical education, medical social sciences and obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. In many of the reported cases in which patients were endangered because doctors denied or delayed necessary care, she says civil disobedience wasn’t called for. Instead, doctors need to become more comfortable working up to the limits of the law. “My perspective is that interpreting life and health exceptions to be consistent with standard medical practice is not lawbreaking,” she says. Those laws are generally intended to block elective abortions, and most have exceptions for medical emergencies. Plus, the federal government requires hospitals to stabilize patients, including when they need abortion procedures.
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WTTW
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Dry Shampoo Brands Face Voluntary Recall, Lawsuit
A number of dry shampoos have been voluntarily recalled over high levels of a cancer-causing chemical, benzene, which has been linked to leukemia and other blood disorders, according to the Food and Drug Administration. But a class-action lawsuit says Unilever, the company that makes the products, knew about the chemical long before the recall. “It’s always been known that this is a dangerous drug,” said June McKoy, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine. “I cannot believe that Unilever can say that they were not aware of it. They knew, or should have known, because the public knows benzine at this point is dangerous.” Benzine is a popular chemical, McKoy said, found in gas, shampoos, pesticides and in the workplace. “We know that what benzene does, it can get into the bone marrow, the soft portion of the bones, where blood cells are made and they can actually change the genetic makeup of the bone marrow,” she said. Changing the DNA makeup is what can lead to leukemia. “Failure to warn. Failure to actually pull the product from the market early enough exposed people who would normally not have been exposed from that period of time when they claimed that they were made aware of it, placed those people in harm,” McKoy said. McKoy suggests that individuals who used the recalled products should stop using them, and get tested to ensure proper red and white blood cell counts, as well as platelets.
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WBEZ Chicago
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Experts are concerned Thanksgiving gatherings could accelerate a ‘tripledemic’
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) began surging unseasonably early this year, infecting babies and young children who had little or no immunity to that virus, which wasn’t circulating all that much over the past two years, in part, because of COVID-19 precautions. At the same time, an unusually early and severe flu season is surging, dominated by the H3N2 strain, which often strikes kids and older people especially hard. People should consider Zooming for Thanksgiving if they’re sick, testing for COVID-19 before gatherings (especially those involving older friends and relatives and other vulnerable people), and even consider putting that mask back on as much as possible. “If you’re not eating or drinking it’s probably a smart idea to protect the immunocompromised, the infants, as well as the older individuals in the household,” says Tina Tan ,MD, an infectious disease specialist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. There are hints that RSV may already be peaking, and the flu could also peak early, before any new COVID-19 surge emerges. That would help relieve at least some of the pressure on hospitals.
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USA Today
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Black women make up the majority of new HIV cases among women. But they aren’t getting care.
Though men remain the largest group of people diagnosed with HIV, Black women make up the majority of new HIV cases among women. Seven thousand women diagnosed with the virus in 2018, and Black women made up more than 4,000 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports transgender women in a separate category. Despite the staggering rates, experts say, there is less awareness of Black women’s burden of the virus, which is associated with men who have sex with men. One in 9 women are unaware they have the virus, the CDC reports. Numerous barriers contribute to the disparities in diagnosis and treatment, including structural racism, stigma, discrimination, homophobia and healthcare access. Those assigned female at birth, Black people and teens/young adults have the lowest percentage of HIV medical care. Epidemiologist Maria Nicole Pyra, PhD, assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said researchers missed an opportunity to reach at-risk women because it wasn’t determined until later that PrEP therapy is safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women. “Information about safety during pregnancy was gathered later on in the process. We do a disservice to women, and we saw this in COVID as well, when we don’t find ways to safely include pregnant people because we don’t have the information to counsel them,” said Pyra, who teaches at the university’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Feinberg School of Medicine.
