Media Coverage

Fireflies Light The Way To Female HIV Transmission

Finding the vulnerable points where HIV enters the female reproductive tract is like searching for needles in a haystack. But Northwestern Medicine scientists have solved that challenge by creating a glowing map of the very first cells to be infected with a HIV-like virus.

Through an animal model, the scientists showed for the first time that HIV enters cells throughout the entire female reproductive tract from the labia to the ovary, not just the cervix, as previously thought.

“It’s a technical achievement that provides immediate insights into the earliest transmission events,” said lead investigator Thomas Hope, professor of cell and molecular biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The FDA Warns That A Common Yeast Infection Drug Can Increase The Risk Of Miscarriage

Yeast infections, which are a common annoyance for many women, are especially common during pregnancy. And new research finds that one of the standard treatments could be dangerous for developing babies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just issued a safety alert for pregnant women about taking the oral prescription drug Diflucan (also known as fluconazole). The FDA cites results from a new Danish study that found there is an increased risk of miscarriage for pregnant women who take Diflucan…
Fortunately, there are other yeast infection treatments that are safe for pregnant women to use. Lauren Streicher, M.D., an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, recommends visiting a doctor to confirm that you have a yeast infection, and to determine where it is…

Children with food allergies from low-income homes may suffer more

A family’s income may play a big role in the type of care a child with food allergies receives, a new study suggests.

The researchers found that poorer families — those making under $50,000 a year — spent less on non-allergenic foods, medical specialists and important medications, such as lifesaving epinephrine injectors.

As a result, “poor people may therefore be experiencing more food allergy reactions,” said study co-author Dr. Ruchi Gupta. She’s the director of the Program for Maternal and Child Health at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Why having a food allergy costs more for the poorest kids

A new study published this week in Pediatrics found that food-allergic children from households that earn less than $50,000 a year incur 2.5 times the cost of emergency room visits and hospital stays compared with their peers from families that are in a higher-income bracket.

Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University who led the study, said the findings suggest that caregivers from households with the lowest incomes may not be able to afford preventative treatment for their food-allergic children.

During Conception, Human Eggs Emit Sparks

“We discovered the zinc spark just five years ago in the mouse, and to see the zinc radiate out in a burst from each human egg was breathtaking,” said one of the study’s senior authors, Teresa Woodruff, Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and director of Northwestern’s Center for Reproductive Science, in a press release.

Study: Steroid may heal damaged lungs in newborns

Hydrocortisone may prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or BPD, in premature newborns given oxygen treatments after birth, according to a recent study…
“Supplemental oxygen has been our standard treatment for critically ill preemies, and while needed, it’s not without risk,” Dr. Kathryn Farrow, a neonatologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University, said in a press release. “Our findings provide new insights and new possible pathways to mitigate or completely eliminate the damaging side effects of an otherwise lifesaving therapy.”

Searching for reasons African-American men face increased risk of prostate cancer

Not only are African-American men approximately 125 percent more likely than Caucasians to develop prostate cancer, they are also 150 percent more likely to die, especially young men in their 40s, because of a more aggressive form of the malignancy…Early detection holds the most promise to save the lives of African-American men and men of African descent, according to Dr. William J. Catalona, a prostate cancer surgeon who pioneered the development of PSA testing.
But Dr. Catalona is now seeing in his practice at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the teaching hospital for Northwestern University’s School of Medicine, an increasing number of men from all racial backgrounds coming in with more advanced stage prostate cancer.

How Medicare Penalizes Hospitals for Being Too Careful

The puffiness along Carol Ascher’s left leg seemed like normal swelling, probably from the high dose of chemotherapy Dr. Karl Bilimoria had injected the previous day. But it could have been a blood clot. He quickly ordered an ultrasound. “We were just being abundantly cautious,” he said.

Such vigilance is a point of pride at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. But the hospital’s tests have identified so many infections and serious blood clots that the federal government is cutting the institution’s Medicare payments for a year, by about $1.6 million. Nearly half of the nation’s academic medical centers are being punished similarly through one of the federal government’s sternest attempts to promote patient safety.

Surgery directors like flexible schedules for trainees

Anthony Yang, MD, assistant professor of surgery – surgical oncology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues collected the perceptions of the surgical faculty who oversaw the training programs. Where residents had flexible work hours, program directors said the trainees used the time to finish operations and the stabilize patients. Compared to program directors at hospitals with restricted work hours, those with flexible hours overwhelmingly reported more positive effects on patient safety, uninterrupted patient care and freedom for residents to attend educational