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Scientists have long suspected that PAI-1 has other functions outside of clotting that relate to aging. Dr. Douglas Vaughan, a cardiologist at Northwestern medical school, noticed, for example, that mice that had been genetically engineered to produce high levels of the protein age fairly quickly, going bald and dying of heart attacks at young ages. People who have higher levels of the protein in their bloodstreams also tend to have higher rates of diabetes and other metabolic problems and to die earlier of cardiovascular disease.

“This is one of the first clear-cut genetic mutations in human beings that acts upon aging and aging-related disease,” Dr. Douglas Vaughan told Newsweek. Vaughan is a cardiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and one of the lead authors of the study, which was published in Science Advances on Wednesday. SERPINE1 makes a protein called plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, or PAI-1, which may play a role in diabetes and Alzheimer’s, he noted.

Margaret and Mark Zumdahl have made countless memories during their 25-year marriage, but Margaret, who lives with Alzheimer’s, is slowly starting to lose those memories. Thanks to a special program at Northwestern’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the couple is receiving help to deal with the disease.

“It’s like committing suicide by stabbing yourself, shooting yourself and jumping off a building all at the same time,” said lead study author Marcus Peter in a statement published via the Northwestern University website. “You cannot survive.”

“If someone develops numbness, tingling or weakness after a workout, and it’s only on one side of the body, that might indicate MS,” says Dr. Elena Grebenciucova , neurologist and MS expert at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “The numbness or tingling could be mild or so severe that it makes walking difficult. If it’s MS, it’s usually a temporary condition brought on by rising body temperature. Once you cool down, the symptom usually subsides, but it shouldn’t be ignored,” Grebenciucova says.

The number of U.S. children allergic to peanuts has increased by 21 percent since 2010, with nearly 2.5 percent of youngsters now having this type of allergy, a new study has found. “According to our data, the risk of peanut allergy was nearly double among black children relative to white children,” study co-author Christopher Warren said in a news release from the college. Study lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta
acknowledged that peanut and other food allergies can be “very challenging for children and families,” but “the good news is that parents now have a way to potentially prevent peanut allergy by introducing peanut products to infants early after assessing risk with their pediatrician and allergist.” Both Gupta and Warren are researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“Crispr editing of RNA creates more opportunities for things we can do therapeutically,” says Elizabeth McNally , director of the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved in the study but is working on efforts to use the Crispr system to treat forms of muscular dystrophy and other conditions.

I moved from Philadelphia to Chicago to run the program he co-directs: the Lurie Cancer Center OncoSET of Northwestern University at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. This new initiative combines genomic sequencing and molecular analysis with standard pathology to identify new, individually tailored treatments and clinical trials for patients whose cancers are resistant to traditional therapies. Patients like me.

“I think it’s a phenomenal idea,” said Dr. Sarah Friedewald, an oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “Being competitive just helps your endorphins and gets your body ready to fight the next fight,” Friedewald said.

Being open after errors may also help avoid litigation, noted Dr. Gary Noskin , senior vice president and chief medical officer of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and a researcher at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Traditionally, hospitals follow a ‘deny and defend’ strategy providing a paucity of information to patients,” Noskin, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.