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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WebMD
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The Mystery Behind Idiopathic Hypersomnia
Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) is a rare neurological disorder. Treatment can help, but there’s no cure. You may snooze upwards of 9 hours a night without feeling refreshed. You may fight to wake up in the morning. Your sleepiness may persist or get worse, even when you take lengthy naps during the day. If you live with IH, you’d probably like to know what’s causing your symptoms. Unfortunately, that’s not something experts have figured out yet. “Literally, the name idiopathic hypersomnia means you’re sleepy and we don’t know why,” says Sabra Abbott, MD, assistant professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. There’s ongoing research into this theory. But Abbott says the idea is that something in your body acts like an all-day sleeping pill.“That’s helpful for when you’re trying to go to sleep, but not when you’re trying to be awake during the day.”
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WebMD
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Treating the Cold or Flu When You Have COVID-19
It’s possible to catch more than one respiratory virus at the same time. That means you could get a cold or the flu along with COVID-19. But so far, these “coinfections” haven’t happened enough for scientists to study them very much. Experts think that’s due to all the physical distancing and other safety measures we took to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It’s important to watch for shortness of breath, very high fever, ongoing chest pain or pressure, trouble staying awake, confusion and pale, gray or bluish skin or lips. We need more research to know if a coinfection will make your symptoms twice as bad. But Benjamin D. Singer, MD, associate professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care, says there’s some limited evidence that people with the flu and COVID-19 fare about the same as those with COVID-19 alone.
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US News & World Report
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Pregnancy May Have Women Cutting Back on Smoking Before They’ve Conceived
Pregnancy can be a big motivator for women to stop smoking. Now a new study suggests that at least some pregnant smokers start cutting back even before they know they’ve conceived. The findings, researchers say, suggest that there may be biological mechanisms during pregnancy that can blunt the desire for nicotine. If true, understanding those processes could potentially lead to new ways to aid smoking cessation, according to the investigators. However, the findings do not imply that pregnancy makes quitting easy, said lead researcher Suena Huang Massey, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Instead, she said, the findings show that, on average, smokers cut down a bit during the time between conception and when they learn they are pregnant. The reasons for that remain an open question.
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The Washington Post
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Ask a Doctor: What treatments work for women with thinning hair?
If you’ve noticed hair loss, the first step you should take is getting a diagnosis from a primary care physician or a dermatologist, who may do a scalp biopsy and order bloodwork to look for potential causes, such as anemia or thyroid disorders, says Jennifer N. Choi, MD, division chief of medical dermatology and oncodermatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Topical minoxidil, often known by the over-the-counter brand name of Rogaine, is my first go-to treatment for the most common cause of thinning hair in women: female androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Not only is topical minoxidil the most well-studied treatment available, it’s also the only topical product that’s been approved by the FDA for the treatment of AGA.
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WTTW
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Black Women Are 41% More Likely to Die from Breast Cancer Than White Women
Breast cancer is one of the most treatable types of cancer — when detected early. Despite that, it’s the leading cause of cancer deaths among Black women. According to the American Cancer Society, Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer compared to White women. They are also less likely to be diagnosed and less likely to receive treatment. Dr. June McKoy, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says it begins with mammograms not being a pleasant procedure. “It is an uncomfortable procedure…,” she said. McKoy says that some myths about breast cancer came out of true concern, “about the additive overtime effect of radiation to the breast.” “If we can’t dispel this myth that mammography will lead to breast cancer then we’re going to lose more of our own women to breast cancer,” she added. McKoy, like Jones and Francois-Blue, believes that awareness early detection is key, but as a doctor, she calls for individualized care for every patient, “especially Black women who might be finding lesions early…” McKoy calls for policy changes as well, to ensure that insurance coverage is available for mammography even when they are not at the age recommended for the test. “Take us as individuals understanding that breast cancer is something really bad in our population,” McKoy said.
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Yahoo! News
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I am a Pharmacist and I think These Medications are Prescribed Too Often
Medicine saves lives, but it can also be abused. Drugs are over prescribed at an alarming rate in the U.S. according to a study that was presented at IDWeek 2018. “We found that nearly half the time, clinicians have either a bad reason for prescribing antibiotics, or don’t provide a reason at all,” Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “When you consider about 80 percent of antibiotics are prescribed on an outpatient basis, that’s a concern.” Over prescribed drugs can be a problem for anyone, but especially for older Americans. Specifically, the prescriptions that are the most over prescribed include antimicrobials like antibiotics and antifungals, zolpidem (Ambien), corticosteroids, decongestant nasal sprays and proton pump inhibitors.
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New York Times
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Expert Tips for Curbing Bad Breath
Onions and garlic are common bad breath culprits because of their strong aromas — but other foods can lead to stinky breath, too. For instance, foods and drinks that can cause gastrointestinal reflux, such as alcohol, coffee, tomatoes, citrus fruits and onions, can incite bad breath because they cause you to burp up or even regurgitate small amounts of food, said Dr. Landon Duyka, health system clinician of otolaryngology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Tonsils are another little-known cause of bad breath, Dr. Duyka told me. Tonsils have crevices that harbor bacteria. Sometimes, the bacteria can mix with food debris and harden and become what are called tonsil stones, which look like little white bumps. You can’t prevent tonsil stones, Dr. Duyka said, but you can eliminate them by gently poking your tonsil with a blunt object or (clean) finger; by gargling with salt water; or by rinsing them with a water flosser.
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Chicago Tribune
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It’s been a month since new COVID-19 boosters arrived. About 10.5% of eligible Illinois residents have gotten them.
About 10.5% of people in Illinois eligible for new, updated COVID-19 boosters have received them in the month since they became available — a percentage that worries some doctors who fear a winter surge. “I think this is not top of mind for people anymore, but possibly when the fall and winter surge happens people will feel more urgency,” said Dr. Mercedes Carnethon, a professor and vice chair of preventative medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Part of the reason more people aren’t rushing to get the boosters may be because they’re not as worried about COVID-19 as they once were. When mitigation measures faded earlier this year, many people began to feel more relaxed about COVID-19, Carnethon said. “I think people think it’s not a big deal,” she said. “Much of that, really, is some false confidence because there are people who do get severely ill and there are people for whom you might not expect to have such a bad (illness) and they do.”
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ABC 7 Chicago
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Mammograms encouraged by doctors after many breast cancer screenings postponed due to COVID-19
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and doctors say it’s the perfect time to get a mammogram. Since many women postponed the screening during the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors are encouraging patients to get back on track. Dr. Sonya Bhole, a radiologist and assistant professor at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said that women should get their first mammogram around 40-years old. “We know that women’s risk of breast cancer increases at the age of 40,” Dr. Bhole said. “One in six breast cancer diagnosis are in women in their 40s.” Bhole said that minorities are also more likely to be diagnosed prior to 50. As more screenings happen, Dr. Bhole is saying that they are seeing an increase in positive screenings. Bhole said that the procedure takes less than an hour which makes it tolerable for most patients.
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The Washington Post
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Fetterman’s use of captions is common in stroke recovery, experts say
During his first on-camera interview since having a stroke, Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman stumbled over words and used closed captioning to read interview questions, prompting Republicans to raise new questions about his health. Disability advocates, however, say that response shows a lack of understanding about accommodations that are often made after a major health event such as a stroke. While neurological experts said they could not offer a specific diagnosis about Fetterman’s health, they noted that closed captions are a common tool for people with auditory processing or hearing issues, conditions which have nothing to do with overall intelligence. Issues with processing sounds can happen for several reasons. Hearing is an especially unique sense because unlike sight or smell, sound gets processed before it even reaches the brain. There are a number of areas where understanding can be impaired, even if someone has no hearing loss or intellectual disability, said Borna Bonakdarpour, an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
