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 Sun-Times
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Extreme weather has spurred national blood supply shortage — here’s how to help
Northwestern Medicine said its blood supplies also have not been impacted.
Dr. Glenn Ramsey, head of Northwestern Medicine’s blood bank, stressed that blood care is critical for the whole health care system. “There is no substitute for red cells, platelets and plasma,” he said. “These are coming from the arms of very nice people who come in to donate.”
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Wall Street Journal
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Here’s What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic and Wegovy
“I think your body composition is likely to change,” says Dr. Robert Kushner, an obesity-medicine specialist and professor emeritus at Northwestern University.
Kushner says he’s only had a handful of patients who were able to keep their weight off long-term after stopping a GLP-1 medication. In addition to your appetite roaring back, there is also the psychological impact of gaining weight back, which can lead to people feeling defeated and less likely to exercise.
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NPR Illinois
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Illinois sees its worst flu season in recent years as vaccine skepticism grows
Dr. Taylor Heald-Sargent, an associate professor at Northwestern University who specializes in the cold and flu, vaccines, and pediatric illnesses, said one reason Illinois is having such a severe flu season is because fewer people are getting vaccinated against the flu.
“We’ve definitely seen just overall vaccination rates decreasing for years,” Heald-Sargent said. “We just keep trying to remind people that vaccines are safe and effective, and they’ve been well studied. And if you look back over the past century and a half, some of the biggest gains in modern medicine have been because of vaccines.”
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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A Northwestern nanotech pioneer debuts a first-of-its-kind robotic probe for in-utero surgery
A new, hair-like robotic probe developed by Northwestern University researchers is the first device of its kind that can safely enter the uterus and monitor a fetus’ vital signs during in utero surgery.
It is being developed by Dr. John Rogers, who directs Northwestern’s Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics and the Querrey Simpson Institute for Translational Engineering for Advanced Medical Systems, and Dr. Aimen Shaaban, a pediatric and fetal surgeon at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
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NBC Chicago
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New device developed at Northwestern could allow for safer fetal surgeries
Working with doctors at Lurie Children’s Hospital, Northwestern University researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind device that can track a fetus’ vital signs during surgery. “The surgeons in this context are operating blind…they don’t know in any significant way how the fetus is responding to the surgery,” said Professor John Rogers, whose team of biomedical engineers managed to cram an array of medical sensors onto a space smaller than a shoelace.
The probe is a soft, plastic-like filament that combines electronics with robotics to deliver real-time data to fetal surgeons during the most delicate of operations. “This is a game changer,” said Dr. Aimen Shaaben, who along with Rogers authored the initial study.
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New York Times
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Memory and Speech Are Their Everyday Struggles. Then They Get to Sing.
Recent research on music and cognition seems to back her up. Borna Bonakdarpour, the director of the music and medicine program at Northwestern University in Chicago, said by phone that there was a growing body of scientific literature supporting music as a treatment for neurocognitive disorders.
“With neurological diseases like dementia, a lot of patients do have anxiety, because of feeling lost,” Bornakdarpour said. “Music can help regulate emotions. After listening to music, the brain slows down, and it goes from a chaotic situation into an alpha rhythm, which is more meditative, and more receptive.”
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US News & World Report
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Heart Disease, Stroke Are Top U.S. Killers, Report Says
Heart disease and stroke are America’s top killers, a new American Heart Association (AHA) report says.
Troublingly, more than 80% of young and middle-aged adults show early risk of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, according to the report.
“These numbers should ring alarm bells, particularly among young adults because that’s a snapshot into our future,” said Dr. Sadiya Khan, an associate professor of cardiology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
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NPR
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Deaths from heart disease have dipped but it’s still #1 killer in the U.S.
A new report points to a decline in heart disease and stroke deaths, but cardiovascular disease remains the top cause of death in the U.S. Lifestyle changes could delay or prevent about 70% of cases.
Sadiya Khan, MD, Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, told NPR: Improving high blood pressure with medicine has never been easier. There are so many inexpensive therapies available. And getting blood pressure under control can add years to life, as well as prevent heart disease, stroke and dementia.
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New York Times
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Heart Disease and Stroke Behind Quarter of All Deaths in U.S.
Heart disease, which includes heart attack and heart failure, has been the leading killer of Americans for more than a century. Things started improving in the 1970s; less cigarette smoking, new medications for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and interventions like stents and bypass surgery contributed to a major decline in deaths over decades.
But progress slowed around 2010, as mortality from types of heart disease other than heart attack increased and risk factors like obesity and Type 2 diabetes increased. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted access to care and increased the short- and long-term risks of heart attack, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern University and vice-chair of the committee that wrote the new report. Deaths from cardiovascular disease surged to 932,000 in 2021 and to 942,000 in 2022.
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US News & World Report
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Why Connecting With Others is Good For Your Health
People who live in the country or in an unsafe or hard-to-reach neighborhood are also at risk, as are recent retirees and those who have lost a loved one. Age matters, too.
“Over the course of the adult lifespan, we found that loneliness is higher in young adulthood and older adulthood. It dips during midlife,” said Northwestern University psychologist Eileen Graham.
