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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New York Times
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Is the Secret to Great Sex Sleeping in Separate Rooms?
Sleeping in separate bedrooms a sometimes help with getting better quality sleep. Couples often share a bed because they think they should, but that may not create a space for the best quality sleep. There are also creative ways to “hack” the bedroom, experts said. Earplugs, white noise or separate mattresses and blankets can help, said Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD, a sleep medicine specialist with Northwestern Medicine. Those options may be particularly useful for couples who aren’t able to sleep in separate rooms. However, for couples considering sleeping apart, there is importance in making a plan for how you will prioritize intimacy.
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Yahoo! News
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Here’s What You Should Do If There’s A Measles Case In Your Area
The measles outbreak in West Texas is only getting worse. A second unvaccinated child died of the virus a few days ago, and there are now more than 500 cases in the state with additional cases in multiple states, including New Jersey, New York, Washington, Ohio, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, totaling upward of 600. It’s a scary time to not be sure if you’re fully vaccinated against measles, but there are a couple of things you can do, according to Michael Angarone, DO, an associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. First, you can ask your doctor to run a blood test to see if you have antibodies to measles, he said. If you do have antibodies, that means you’re protected. If you don’t, you can set up an appointment for your shot. If you can’t get the blood test, “The other option is to just get vaccinated. There is not harm in getting an extra dose of the MMR vaccine as an adult,” Angarone noted. If you’re not vaccinated and are able to get the shot, you should get vaccinated.
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US News & World Report
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US Measles Battle Hindered by Confusion Over Health Secretary Response
U.S. pediatricians and infectious disease experts say the fight against rising measles cases nationwide is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination from government health officials and statements on unproven treatments that are confusing parents. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also made misleading claims about nutrition, vitamin A and other treatments, while exaggerating vaccine risks, even as U.S. vaccination rates are falling. In his Sunday X post, Kennedy promoted the inhaled steroid budesonide, which is used to treat asthma, and the antibiotic clarithromycin. Antibiotics cannot treat a viral infection and using an inhaled steroid to treat measles-related inflammation is risky because it suppresses the immune system, which could make the infection “significantly worse,” said Tina Tan, MD, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Northwestern University and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Rising vaccine skepticism and misinformation have resulted in only 11 U.S. states with vaccination rates of 95% or above – the level needed to protect residents unable to receive the vaccine. The measles vaccine is 97% effective after two doses and 93% after one.
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WebMD
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Future COVID Vaccines Must Be Better; Science Races to Respond
The COVID-19 vaccines were a remarkable medical accomplishment, credited with preventing more than 3 million deaths and 18 million hospitalizations in the U.S. alone in 2 years, but scientists and public health officials say future versions will have to work even better. Current vaccines are best at preventing serious illness, hospitalizations, and death. Improved vaccines would need to up the ante and make infection and transmission far less likely. Other research is focused on how the antibodies generated by the original COVID-19 vaccines may limit the effectiveness of the subsequent booster shots, and what to do about it. “What happens is, those antibodies play a critical role in protecting you against the virus,” says Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, “but those antibodies do the same thing to the vaccine.” His team’s studies have found that antibodies generated by prior vaccines speed up the clearance of the vaccine from the body, making less vaccine available to trigger new immune responses after the booster.
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Yahoo! News
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The Best Foods to Heal Your Gut After Taking Antibiotics
After taking antibiotics the resulting imbalance is known as gut dysbiosis. (Gut dysbiosis can also occur for other reasons, like stress, diet, long-term inflammation, diet, alcohol use, and other types of medications.) “In some cases, antibiotics can also weaken the gut barrier, making the digestive system more vulnerable to inflammation and irritation,” Melinda Ring, MD, a board-certified internal medicine doctor and executive director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University, explains. “Broad-spectrum antibiotics, which target a wide range of bacteria, tend to have a greater impact on gut health compared to more targeted antibiotics,” Dr. Ring adds. Broad-spectrum options are typically used when the precise cause of an infection is unknown or when multiple types of bacteria may be involved—examples include azithromycin (Z-pack) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (Augmentin)—versus a situation where doctors can pinpoint the specific bacteria to blame and prescribe a more targeted medication.
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USA Today
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Longevity icon Bryan Johnson’s methods may be a bust. Is there a secret to living longer?
Longevity experts are mostly over Bryan Johnson’s shtick and hope people consider the basics when it comes to taking care of themselves. “Biological age,” they add, isn’t currently as useful a measure as many companies might persuade you into thinking. The things that we know that work today include sticking to an exercise routine, keeping your weight at a healthy level, getting regular and good sleep and avoiding cigarettes and other toxins, according to Douglas E. Vaughan, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the director of the Potocsnak Longevity Institute. You should also try and reduce stress in your life and maintain healthy relationships with loved ones.
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WebMD
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New Treatment for Atopic Dermatitis: Expert Insights, Key Facts
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common form of eczema. It causes itchy, inflamed skin that can show up anywhere on the body, though it likes to settle in skin folds like the elbows and behind the knees. AD is a long-term condition that comes and goes, and it can affect people of all ages. you can’t stop scratching, a new treatment might help. The FDA approved nemolizumab (Nemluvio) for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in December 2024. To explain how this medication works and who might benefit from it, shared Jennifer Shastry, MD, a dermatologist with Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. “Most other treatments, like steroid creams, focus on calming the rash. Nemolizumab goes straight to the source of the itch to help break the itch-scratch cycle, giving your skin a chance to heal,” said Dr. Shastry. Nemolizumab should reduce itch and other eczema symptoms, but some people with AD experienced a flare during treatment. If your symptoms get worse after you start it, check in with your doctor. They might do a skin biopsy to confirm you have atopic dermatitis and not something else.
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USA Today
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Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious diseases in human history. Here’s why.
When most of us think of serious diseases that kill millions of people, the ones that come to mind are often the ones that get the most attention: cancer, COVID-19, heart disease and diabetes. But a disease that’s been killing a shocking number of people for over a century is tuberculous. Each year, tuberculosis kills some 1.25 million people globally and more than 10 times that number become infected with the disease annually, according to the World Health Organization. In fact, the disease is so prevalent that the organization has identified tuberculosis as one of the top 10 leading causes of deaths worldwide. “Since its identification in 1882, over 1 billion people have died from tuberculosis, making it one of the deadliest infectious diseases in human history,” says Richard Doyle, MD, PhD, a practicing physician and clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University. Doyle adds that anyone infected with TB can potentially develop the active form of the infection, but people with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable. The good news is that even if one is dealing with the active form of the disease, TB is still curable—but it requires “a prolonged course of antibiotics,” says Doyle. These rounds of antibiotics usually last between four to six months, “and most people respond very well to treatment,” says Hewison. Still, because treatment requires a combination of multiple drugs, “it can be difficult for patients to remain adherent for such a long time, especially when the drugs often have unwanted side effects,” she says. To prevent this, “treatment should always first be guided by drug susceptibility testing,” Doyle says, “which can usually ensure the most effective medications are used.”
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Chicago Tribune
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Northwestern engineers develop tiny pacemaker, smaller than a grain of rice
A new, tiny pacemaker — smaller than a grain of rice — developed at Northwestern University could play a sizable role in the future of medicine, according to the engineers who developed it. Researchers unveiled the device, which they say is the smallest pacemaker in the world, in a study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. Though the device is still years away from being used in humans, it could eventually be useful for infants with congenital heart defects and also for adults, the researchers say. “I think it’s really exciting technology that will change how electrical stimulation is done,” said Igor Efimov, PhD, a Northwestern experimental cardiologist who co-led the study. The device can be inserted with a catheter or syringe. After it is placed in or on the heart, it’s paired with another small, patch-like device worn on the patient’s chest. When the device on the chest detects irregular heartbeats it emits pulses of light into the chest that activate the pacemaker, delivering electrical stimulation to the heart. The device is designed for patients who need a pacemaker only temporarily. It dissolves into the patient’s body once it’s no longer needed.
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NBC 5 Chicago
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Shingles vaccine may protect against dementia, new study suggests
Getting vaccinated against shingles — a painful and debilitating condition that can flare up years after infection from varicella zoster — not only lowers the risk of infection, but may also offer some protection against dementia, a provocative new study suggests. The new research, published Wednesday in Nature, analyzed data from more than 280,000 older adults in Wales and found that people who received the original shingles live virus vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia of any type than those who were not vaccinated. The most important take-home message from the Stanford study is that getting vaccinated might lower the risk for dementia, said Aarati Didwania, MD, a professor of medicine and medical education at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Exactly how the vaccines might protect against dementia isn’t clear, Didwania said. “But it’s an intriguing question,” she added. “Is it by decreasing inflammation or preventing the virus from reactivating?” There’s certainly a good reason for getting vaccinated, Didwania said. “Shingles is a terrible, painful and debilitating condition that can lead to horrendous long-term pain,” she said.
