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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The Washington Post
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How romance can protect gay and lesbian youths from emotional distress
For gay or lesbian young people, however, being in a relationship can be a huge source of support. “The person they were dating was the first person they would go to when they had news to celebrate but also the first person they would go to commiserate or seek support if something awful happened,” says Brian Mustanski, one of the study’s authors. “They helped navigate issues with coming out or challenges they were having in the family about those relationships.” Mustanski said that although parents and friends can help sexual minorities feel better, that support doesn’t tend to offset the effects of bullying. “Here, if they were bullied and victimized and had relationships, that bullying had less of an effect on their mental health,” says Mustanski, who directs the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
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TODAY
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Food allergies in kids may be result of ‘perfect storm’ of factors
Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who were studying genetically vulnerable baby mice and the allergens that might trigger sensitivity, were surprised to find many of them did not develop food allergies even after their skin was exposed to peanuts. So the researchers started adding other possible exposures to the mix. They found mice with the genes for an eczema-like condition would only develop food allergies if they were also exposed to dust mites or mold, had skin contact with the problem foods and were cleaned with soap. “This is a recipe for developing food allergy,” said lead study author Joan Cook-Mills, a professor of allergy-immunology at Northwestern.
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The New York Times
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Tainted Synthetic Marijuana Has Been Sickening People Across the Midwest
But officials here said they still have unanswered, vexing questions: How much of the tainted drug is still circulating throughout the Midwest, and how many more people will be sickened? Where are the drugs coming from, and how far have they spread? How did a dangerous chemical like brodifacoum, which does not create a sensation of being high, end up in synthetic marijuana? “This is not something we have previously seen,” said Dr. Patrick Lank of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “As someone who watches public health, I worry, why is this happening? How did a substance get into these drugs that absolutely has no high?”
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Chicago Tribune
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Before they transition, some transgender youth preserve fertility by banking sperm or eggs
Scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine announced recently that they’d created 3-D printed bioprosthetic ovaries allowing mice to ovulate, give birth and nurse their young, said Teresa Woodruff, director of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern. The hope is to restore fertility and hormone production in cancer survivors, but transgender patients might also one day benefit. While these prospects are exciting, Chen said she tries to focus on technology that’s available today when helping youths make decisions, because she doesn’t want to give them false hope. Even though discussing fertility is important, Chen also explores different forms of parenthood with patients, including adoption and surrogacy.
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Associated Press
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Midlife ‘wealth shock’ may lead to death, study suggests
The analysis of nearly 9,000 people’s experiences underscores well-known connections between money and well-being, with prior studies linking lower incomes and rising income inequality with more chronic disease and shorter life expectancy. “This is really a story about everybody,” said lead researcher Lindsay Pool of Northwestern University’s medical school. Stress, delays in health care, substance abuse and suicides may contribute, she said. “Policymakers should pay attention.”
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USA Today
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Midlife ‘wealth shock’ may lead to death, AMA study suggests
The analysis of nearly 9,000 people’s experiences underscores well-known connections between money and well-being, with prior studies linking lower incomes and rising income inequality with more chronic disease and shorter life expectancy. “This is really a story about everybody,” said lead researcher Lindsay Pool of Northwestern University’s medical school. Stress, delays in health care, substance abuse and suicides may contribute, she said. “Policymakers should pay attention.”
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U.S. News & World Report
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When ‘Nest Egg’ Vanishes, Death Risk Rises
“If this has happened to you, you’re not alone,” said lead researcher Lindsay Pool, a research assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Why is wealth loss related to an earlier death? The study cannot answer that question, Pool said. But, she noted, the stress of losing your financial security — especially later in life — could take a toll on physical health. Plus, people who lose their savings may be unable to afford health care or prescriptions. “Many people in this study would have been on Medicare,” Pool said. “But they can still have had a hard time covering out-of-pocket expenses.”
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HealthDay
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When ‘Nest Egg’ Vanishes, Death Risk Rises
More than one-quarter of study participants lost most of their wealth at some point over the 20-year study. Another 7 percent had no savings or other assets to begin with. “If this has happened to you, you’re not alone,” said lead researcher Lindsay Pool, a research assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Why is wealth loss related to an earlier death? The study cannot answer that question, Pool said. But, she noted, the stress of losing your financial security — especially later in life — could take a toll on physical health.
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TIME
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A Sudden Loss of Wealth Increases Your Chances of Death
In the study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, researchers examined how losing financial stability impacts a person’s health over time. Lindsay Pool, a research assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and her colleagues looked at more than 8,700 people, ages 51-61, who were participating in a national study. The researchers looked at how experiencing a “negative wealth shock”—defined as losing 75% or more of their total asset value, including things like a pension, home or business, over two years—affected a person’s mortality.
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The Washington Post
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The grave health consequences of a personal financial catastrophe
A mounting body of evidence suggests a link between financial setbacks and ill health, and there’s growing interest from traditional health-care players in the nonmedical factors, such as economic security, that shape people’s well-being. Researchers have used the Great Recession as a natural experiment to study the effects of losing wealth and found losses associated with depression, anxiety, suicide, higher blood pressure and substance abuse. “What’s interesting is we find that someone’s starting point — whether your net worth is $50,000 or $500,000 or $5 million — it doesn’t seem to matter in terms of health risk. Losing 75 percent or more of that creates that increased risk of mortality,” said Lindsay Pool, a research assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who led the study.
