Media Coverage

Most parents are against teen tattoos

Parents’ concerns about the potential for future regret are certainly justified, said Dr. Sarah Chamlin, a professor of pediatrics and dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “Most tattoos cannot be completely removed,” said Chamlin, who was not involved with the new survey. “It is a permanent decision in many cases.”

More U.S. stores likely sell cigarettes to minors than reported

The reason for raising the age to 21 is that it would “decrease rates of smoking among teens whose developing brains are particularly susceptible to addictive substances,” said Dr. Maria Rahmandar of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “And nicotine is a very powerful drug. Even with once a month use, teens can show signs of dependence.”

Older Adults: Here’s What Causes Hunchback – and How to Prevent It

While the postural issue used to be a problem largely reserved for older women, in recent decades, kyphosis has become a significant health problem for older men and women alike, says Dr. Alpesh Patel, director of orthopaedic spine surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “Twenty years ago, when I was in medical school, no one ever thought about it,” he says. Kyphosis now affects between 20 and 40 percent of adults, with both prevalence and severity increasing through the decades, according to a 2015 study published in the scientific journal Neurosurgery. The effects of kyphosis range from decreased mobility to pain and disability to impaired lung function and even increased mortality, according to the study’s findings.

Dementia patients may benefit from music therapy

The new findings highlight the need for more studies involving larger groups of patients, said Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour, an assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Bonakdarpour believes that music therapy can also be used to improve social interactions. “We are doing some interventions here to see if it can improve interactions between patients and caregivers,” he said. “We have preliminary data that suggests it helps.”

Northwestern Memorial ranked best hospital in Illinois

It’s lucky No. 7 for Northwestern Memorial Hospital: For the seventh year in a row, the Chicago hospital has been named the best in the state by U.S. News & World Report.

Northwestern was also the only Illinois hospital to crack the top 20 in the country, settling into the No. 13 spot for the second year in a row, according to the rankings, which were released at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

New hepatitis C drugs mean diseased organs can be used for transplants

“I know there are some centers that think it’s the right thing to do” to offer hep C-infected organs, said lead author Josh Levitsky, a Northwestern University liver transplant specialist. “I just would encourage that it be done under research protocols so they can report the data.”

Device Warns Cancer Survivors of Sunburn

It could someday be a really important tool in the fight against skin cancer. Researchers at Northwestern University say they have created a device that could warn you when you’re getting sunburned.

Parents’ spirituality or religion tied to lower suicide risk in kids

The current results were not a surprise to Dr. John Walkup , a professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and chair of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Helping nature: Inducing labor avoids cesarean for some moms

Being induced doesn’t mean moms can’t have “natural childbirth” — they can forgo pain medicine or use a hospital’s homelike birthing center rather than delivering in “an operating room in a sterile suite with a big light over your head,” said the study leader, Dr. William Grobman, an OB-GYN specialist at Northwestern University in Chicago.