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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Crain’s Chicago Business
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Buying multivitamins? You’re wasting your money, Northwestern doctors say.
Northwestern scientists support an independent panel’s new guidelines that state there is “insufficient evidence” that taking multivitamins, paired supplements or single supplements can help prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer in otherwise healthy, non-pregnant adults. “Patients ask all the time, ‘What supplements should I be taking?’ They’re wasting money and focus thinking there has to be a magic set of pills that will keep them healthy when we should all be following the evidence-based practices of eating healthy and exercising,” said Dr. Jeffrey Linder, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. however, the new guidelines do not apply to people who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, said Dr. Natalie Cameron, instructor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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The Washington Post
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The most common abortion procedures and when they occur
The pandemic is believed to accelerated the trend [abortion]. The FDA began allowing abortion pills to be mailed to patients in April 2021, waiving a long-standing requirement that they be dispensed only in health-care settings, and the Biden administration made the change permanent months later. According to Cassing Hammond, an OB/GYN and associate professor at Northwestern University’s medical school, “What we’ve been watching over the 10 years is medical abortion increasing and increasing and increasing.”
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CNN
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Are you wasting your money on supplements? Most likely, experts say
Vitamin, mineral and multivitamin supplements aren’t likely to protect you from cancer, heart disease or overall mortality. According to Dr. Jeffrey Linder, “Lifestyle counseling to prevent chronic diseases in patients should continue to focus on evidence-based approaches, including balanced diets that are high in fruits and vegetables and physical activity…Rather than focusing money, time and attention on supplements, it would be better to emphasize lower-risk, higher benefit activities…following a healthful diet, getting exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding smoking.” However, select populations do need certain vitamins. Pregnant women should take a daily supplement containing 0.4 to 0.8 milligrams of folic acid to prevent neural tube birth defects. Some seniors may need additional supplementation of vitamin B12 and B6 as absorption of those vitamins from food fades as we age.
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US News & World Report
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Extreme Heat Can Bring Extreme Heart Dangers
The record-breaking heat that’s scorching much of the United States this week poses significant heart dangers, and you need to take steps to protect yourself, the American Heart Association (AHA) says. This is especially true for older adults and people with high blood pressure, obesity or a history of heart disease or stroke. “Some medications like angiotensin receptor blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and diuretics, which affect blood pressure responses or deplete the body of sodium, can exaggerate the body’s response to heat and cause you to feel ill in extreme heat,” said Donald Lloyd-Jones, a professor of heart research, preventive medicine, medicine and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Further, “Staying hydrated is key. It is easy to get dehydrated even if you don’t think you’re thirsty,” said Lloyd-Jones.
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WTTW
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Chicago Tonight – Latino Voices
According to Dr. Javier Guevara, the largest health concerns he sees in his practice with Latino men includes stroke, heart disease, diabetes with complications, kidney disease and heart attacks. Because of the lack of trust with physicians, many Latino men do not see their primary care specialist regularly. This may be in part to language barriers and biases Latino men feel caretakers may have against them. Guevara suggests that physicians work to develop the trust of the Latino community. This could include reaching out to Latino communities and places of worship and try to organize events where screenings and education can happen. Further, diet and nutrition are essential to reducing these health concerns. Guevara says the best way to do this is cutting down on carbs, increasing protein and being active for at least 150 minutes a week.
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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Pediatricians eager to get kids vaccinated
The vaccine advisory panel of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has voted unanimously to support clearance to use Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children six months through four years, and it endorsed Moderna’s vaccine for children six months through five. The next step to young children becoming vaccinated will be full FDA approval. Many pediatric healthcare providers are eagerly awaiting approved emergency-use authorizations. Northwestern University pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Bill Muller said that, despite some delay in getting the youngest of children signed off on, “This still represents a very rapid rollout. But at the same time, no corners were cut. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for several months. And it’s really a milestone.”
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WBEZ Chicago
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Researchers say socioeconomics explain the racial differences in heart disease
Socioeconomic differences are the main reason for heart disease disparities. According to Nila Shay, MD, MPH, professor of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Black women are 2.5 times more at risk than white women. Social determinants such as socioeconomic position, neighborhood and physical environment, access to care, literacy and community safety are all major factors that result in different health outcomes. Further, racial differences in cardiovascular disease are not biological. The issues are not related to underlying genetic difference, but other barriers. The conception of why disparities exist is really inaccurate. Barriers to transportation, affordable medicine and overall resources account for health disparities.
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Associated Press
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Trans Kids’ Treatment Can Start Younger, New Guidelines Say
A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at 15 or 17, a year or so earlier than previous guidance. Dr. Joel Frader, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said guidelines should rely on psychological readiness, not age. Frader said brain science shows that kids are able to make logical decisions by around age 14, but they’re prone to risk taking and they take into account long-term consequences of their actions only when they’re much older.
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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What we know about monkeypox in Chicago now
The Chicago Department of Public Health is warning people to take precautions when in spaces or situations where monkeypox could spread through close or intimate contact. The LGBTQ community may be at higher alert, particularly during increased gatherings during Pride month, according to a Northwestern study. Northwestern medicine infectious disease expert Dr. Robert Murphy said in the statement that 95% of the cases in Europe, Canada and the U.S. are in LGBTQ individuals, specifically hitting the community of men intimate with other men. Murphy said symptoms to watch out for include flu-like symptoms, fever, aches, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes “and this rash that has a uniform, blistery appearance – unlike chickenpox, which might have lesions in all different stages (new little ones, old ones). While the virus is a relative of smallpox, most people currently affected have reported only mild symptoms, no one has died, and there is a vaccine available, the Chicago Department of Public Health said in its statement.
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Here’s how to stay safe from high heat as feel-like temps climb into triple digits
