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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Northwestern opens $10 million Polsky Urologic Cancer Institute
The Polsky Urologic Cancer Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Streeterville, which opens today, treats patients with urologic cancers, including prostate, bladder, kidney and testicular cancer. The aim is to “provide comprehensive, bottom-to-top care for our patients—before their diagnosis, during their treatment and after care,” said Northwestern Memorial Urology Chair Dr. Edward Schaeffer. Behind the scenes, the gift will be used to expand the program’s research efforts and create novel treatments. “I’m not really a typical philanthropist who just sort of spreads money around,” said Polsky, the founder and CEO of Invenergy. “I like to consider myself an investor in solutions, where whatever I provide sort of relates to me in some way and also can make a lot of difference.”
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CNN
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More than 1 in 10 US adults has a food allergy, study finds
Research published Friday in the medical journal JAMA shows over 10% of US adults like Sorensen have at least one food allergy: about 26 million people.
“We often think of allergies as a childhood condition, and we see so many of our children, our young children, developing food allergies,” said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, one of the authors of the study. As the research shows, the problem also affects the adult population. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 4% and 6% of American children are affected by food allergies. -
The New York Times
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One in 10 Adults Have a Food Allergy. Many More Say They Have One.
Using these criteria, the researchers estimated that 10.8 percent of American adults — or more than 26 million people — have an allergy to one or more foods. Another 21 million think they have a food allergy but do not. The report is in JAMA Network Open. “With one in five adults having a negative reaction to a food, it is essential to see an allergist for a diagnosis,” said the lead author, Dr. Ruchi S. Gupta, a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern. “Food allergies can be life-threatening, but other food-related conditions may be treatable.”
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Reuters
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High rate of food allergies seen in U.S. adults
“The main message from the survey is that one in five adults have some kind of food related conditions that are causing them to avoid certain foods,” said Dr. Ruchi Gupta of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “And one in 10 has what looks convincingly like a food allergy – and of those, only half are getting a proper diagnosis by a physician.”
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USA Today
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1 in 5 adults think they have a food allergy. Fewer actually do, study shows
Dr. Ruchi S. Gupta of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, who conducted the study, was not immediately reachable for comment. But Dr. Sara Anvari, director of clinical trials of the food and allergy program at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, agreed people should seek a doctor’s clarification. Potentially allergic patients may merely have intolerances to foods like milk, which can be treated, or may require an epinephrine injection in case of serious allergic reactions. The study comes as research emerges for a new peanut allergy treatment that could build some tolerance to peanuts in those who are allergic. Also, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued new guidelines in 2017 saying peanut allergies can be curbed by introducing children to the legume as young as early infancy.
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HealthDay
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1 in 10 Adults Have Food Allergies, But Twice as Many Think They Do
Researchers found that 19 percent of those surveyed thought they had a food allergy. But when the investigators dug into people’s symptoms, they found that only 10.8 percent reported “convincing” signs of a true allergy. Experts said the findings highlight two important facts: Food allergies are common among U.S. adults, and many mistakenly believe they have one. “There are many misconceptions around reactions to food,” said lead researcher Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University, in Chicago. According to Gupta, it can be easy for people to assume food-related symptoms signal an allergy. But other conditions can be the real culprit, she said.
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U.S. News & World Report
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You Probably Don’t Have a Food Allergy
“Nearly twice as many adults think that they are allergic to foods, while their symptoms may suggest food intolerance or other food related conditions,” lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, from Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University, said in a press release. “It is important to see a physician for appropriate testing and diagnosis before completely eliminating foods from the diet.” Nearly half – 48 percent – of food-allergic adults surveyed reportedly developed their allergy as an adult, and only 24 percent said they have a current prescription for epinephrine, a drug used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions, according to the report, published Friday in the JAMA Network Open journal.
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Forbes
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Why Your Workplace Should Be Prioritizing Your Health
Humans are meant to be outside much, much more than we are. As the AMN (Applied Movement Neurology) Academy puts it, “being outside is in our DNA.” For obvious reasons, we can’t move all our technology-heavy offices outdoors. But we can, for starters, vastly increase the amount of natural light we let in. “Office workers with more light exposure at the office had longer sleep duration, better sleep quality, more physical activity and better quality of life,” Northwestern Medicine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found in a study. More natural light in the morning especially has beneficial effects for mood, alertness and metabolism.
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TODAY
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Does weight and BMI affect breast cancer? The role of belly fat
You don’t need a DEXA scan to know whether your excess pounds are piling up in the wrong places, experts said. “Simplistically, if you look in the mirror, you can see if the fat is concentrated in your middle rather than your chest and legs,” said Dr. William Gradishar, a breast cancer specialist and a professor of medicine at Northwestern University. “You don’t need to be a fashion editor or scientist to see that.”
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U.S. News & World Report
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Some Diabetes Drugs Linked to Higher Heart Risks
Study author Dr. Matthew O’Brien said the new findings call for a “paradigm shift in how we’re treating diabetes.” Currently, people with type 2 diabetes are given metformin, and if they need a second treatment, they’re often given sulfonylureas or basal insulin. But these findings call that practice into question. “People who started taking sulfonylureas and basal insulin have a much higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. So, if all the new drugs lower cardiovascular disease risk, that’s where we should go first to treat type 2 diabetes,” O’Brien explained. He is an assistant professor of general internal medicine, geriatrics and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
