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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Chicago Tonight – WTTW
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Study: Parental Incarceration Impacts Children’s Health into Adulthood
Children whose parents are incarcerated are more likely to skip needed health care and engage in unhealthy behaviors, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. “When parents are incarcerated, children are serving a life sentence as well, and unfortunately, it shows up in their health behaviors and most likely in other aspects of their life as well,” said Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, lead author of the study and pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. The idea for the study was inspired, in part, by a conversation Heard-Garris had with Dr. Tyler Winkelman, the second author on the study, about whether they should be asking their patients if they had a parent who was incarcerated. “Having a family disruption, whether it be incarceration or divorce, can impact children and their health down the road,” said Heard-Garris.
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HealthDay
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When Parents Do Time, Kids Pay the Price
“The United States has the highest incarceration rates in the world. With the climbing number of parents, especially mothers, who are incarcerated, our study calls attention to the invisible victims — their children,” said lead study author Dr. Nia Heard-Garris. She is a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. In the study, the investigators analyzed data from more than 13,000 young adults, aged 24 to 32, across the United States and found that 10 percent had a parent incarcerated during their childhood. On average, these people were 10 years old the first time their parent was imprisoned.
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The Washington Post
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Time-zone changes can leave people worried about jet lag
The adjustment inside our body happens more quickly, too. According to some estimates, the typical person’s internal clock shifts about 92 minutes later each day after a westward trip, but just 57 minutes earlier after going east. On the flip side, for the minority of people who are early birds with clocks that are shorter than 24 hours, adjusting to going east is easier, says Sabra Abbott, a neurologist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
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Chicago Tribune
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Two hit by lightning along lakefront as storms send holiday crowds running for cover
Dr. Kent Bailey, emergency medicine physician at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, said anyone who is struck by lightning should seek help immediately and be evaluated, even if they appear OK. A lightning strike doesn’t typically create many exterior burns, but internally there can be significant burn damage to muscles, nerves and bones, Bailey said. “For anybody who is struck by lightning, an ambulance should be called,” he said. “They should always be evaluated. … The sooner you get on a monitor and evaluated, the better off you are.”
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Chicago Tonight – WTTW
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New App From Northwestern Rates Nutritional Value of Packaged Foods
Making healthy decisions at the grocery store just got easier, thanks to an app developed by Northwestern University researchers that not only rates the nutritional value of packaged foods but also suggests healthier alternatives. “I’m a cardiologist. I take care of patients who’ve beared the burden of poor nutrition over years,” said Dr. Mark Huffman, associate professor of preventative medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “So it’s pretty important to empower individuals and communities who know that they should be eating healthful food to improve their cardiovascular health.”
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The Washington Post
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What all those words on the sunscreen bottle really mean
Whether you have fair or dark skin, hit the beach every day or only on vacation, are 16 or 60, you need to use sunscreen if you’ll be in the sun for longer than a few minutes. But with bottles and tubes covered with claims, “it’s really hard to make sense of what all the terminology means,” says ,”Roopal V. Kundu, an associate professor of dermatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who researches how people buy and use sunscreen. Here, then, is the help you need: seven common terms and what they actually mean — and don’t. First, however, know that although the federal government requires sunscreen claims to be “truthful and not misleading,” only three of the main claims that consumers see — “SPF,” “broad-spectrum” and “water-resistant” — are strictly regulated.
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TODAY
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Toxic shock syndrome blamed for 16-year-old’s sudden death on school trip
TSS now occurs in up to three per 100,000 menstruating women, the National Organization for Rare Disorders estimated. Menstrual TSS most commonly occurs in girls and women 15 to 25 years old who are using tampons. Dr. Lauren Streicher, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, has only seen one case in her almost 30 years of practice. “It’s extraordinarily, extraordinarily rare,” Streicher told TODAY. “I certainly would not tell my daughters or my patients that they should be concerned about using tampons.”
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National Public Radio (WBEZ-Chicago)
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Science and Creativity: Your Brain on Laughter Part III
When is humor appropriate in the medical field? Bioethicist Katie Watson, an Assistant Professor in the Medical Humanities & Bioethics Program of Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, has thought a lot about this issue. She moonlights as faculty at the Second City Training Center in Chicago, the teaching side of the famous improv comedy club.
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NBC News
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HIV-prevention program that uses soap operas and games shows results
“Keep It Up!” is made up of different modules involving interactive games, exercises, a simulation at a bar and a soap opera. “We start the program by hearing from other gay and bisexual men, talking about their connections to family, community, dating and sexual health,” said Brian Mustanski, lead author of the study and director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University. “So we start by this realization that we’re not just talking about HIV, we’re talking about your lives.” The study, conducted by the institute, was published last week in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. When the HIV prevention program was developed, researchers compared its style of education to more traditional HIV education models made up of powerpoint slides and instructional videos.
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The Washington Post
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From apps to avatars, new tools for taking control of your mental health
IntelliCare, developed at Northwestern University’s Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, is based on a similar methodology aimed at depression and anxiety and includes a suite of programs. Some of these mini-apps give advice, others offer a checklist. “When you start, the app gives you a brief screening to find out the severity” of the user’s problems, said psychologist Stephen Schueller, one of IntelliCare’s developers and an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern. Individuals who are depressed and likely to stay in bed all day might be prompted with “goals” to get out of bed, brush their teeth and eat something. “So you check them off as you do them,” Schueller said, “and as you check them off, you’re given harder things to accomplish. People really like being challenged.”
