Media Coverage

Beauty and health gurus love it. Do claims about sea moss sink or swim?

Despite a long tradition of using sea moss for its alleged beauty and wellness boosting properties, “we still don’t have much research to support the health claims that our celebrities are endorsing,” King says.

Most of the claims are based on cell or animal studies, which don’t always translate to humans. “Even the human trials that we have are small and of short duration,” says Dr. Melinda Ring, the executive director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University.

Lupus link to arthritis in spotlight amid Selena Gomez’s health battle

Singer and actress Selena Gomez recently revealed that she developed arthritis related to her lupus. She has openly discussed her battle with lupus since 2015.

The process involves several “moving parts,” according to Dr. Irene Blanco, a rheumatologist, professor and director of lupus clinical services at Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute in Chicago.

“Lupus patients classically make antibodies that target their own body’s healthy proteins and structures,” she told Fox News Digital.

A retired grandfather’s heartburn was the warning sign of a rare illness

Langevin had the latter form of the disease, said Dr. Gabriel Wallace, the director of vascular surgery at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital. Langevin’s condition was “pretty extreme,” Wallace said. Patients like Langevin tend to be miserable by the time they are diagnosed, Wallace said.

“They can’t eat, they lose weight, they start becoming malnourished, and there’s a real psychiatric or psychologic detriment,” Wallace said. “The psychological toll of not being able to eat, the disruption of your normal life, the pain, the fear of eating, it totally wrecks people.”

Heart attack in your future? Coronary artery calcium testing via a CT scan shows your risk

The test helps answer a pointed question: To statin or not to statin? If a doctor calculates the 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at 5% or lower, drugs are unnecessary for now.

Over 20%, “There’s no doubt the risk is sufficiently high to justify medication,” says Dr. Philip Greenland, a Northwestern University preventive cardiologist who coauthored a recent review in JAMA. “It’s the in-between range where it’s more uncertain,” including “borderline” risk of 5% to 7.5% and “intermediate” risk of 7.5% to 20%.

Osher Center at Northwestern Medicine to host fundraiser focused on food as medicine

Osher Center executive director Dr. Melinda Ring said there are many ways that food impacts all of our lives and health. She explained to Suzanne Le Mignot what using food as medicine looks like.

Gov. JB Pritzker signs executive order to protect COVID-19 vaccine access under RFK Jr.

Dr. Larry Kociolek, professor of pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said the governor’s order will establish a state-endorsed standard of care that will likely make it more favorable for doctors to be able to prescribe the COVID-19 vaccine to more people.

Kids with High BP May Face Risk of Early Heart Disease Death as Adults

The study is the first to examine the impact of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in childhood on the long-term risk of heart-related death across a diverse group of children.
Systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, is the force exerted in arteries while the heart is beating. Diastolic pressure is force between beats.
“We were surprised to find that high blood pressure in childhood was linked to serious health conditions many years later,” said lead author Alexa Freedman, PhD, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Harmless’ virus found lurking in Parkinson’s patients’ brains, new study shows

Northwestern Medicine scientists discovered Human Pegivirus (HPgV) in the brains and spinal fluid of people with Parkinson’s, but not in those without the disease. The results challenge decades of assumptions about the virus.

“HPgV is a common, symptomless infection previously not known to frequently infect the brain,” Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuroinfectious diseases at Northwestern, said in a press release.