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A new era of regenerative medicine could be on the horizon. A 3-D printed ovary allowed an infertile mouse to naturally mate and then go on to give birth to two pups of their own, according to new research published Tuesday in Nature Communications. The 3-D printed bioprosthetic ovary, as it’s termed, is “the holy grail of bioengineering for regenerative medicine,” said Teresa K. Woodruff ,, a reproductive scientist and director of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Featuring: Melissa Simon, MD, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Preventive Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine

Currently, the vaccine is recommended for girls and young women between the ages of 9 and 26, said Dr. Melissa Simon , vice chair of clinical research in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. It’s also recommended for boys and men between 9 and 21, she added. Many parents are worried that vaccinating kids against a sexually transmitted disease will make them promiscuous, but experts say that’s not true.“It doesn’t make them want more sex,” Simon said. If that concern is what’s holding you back, just tell your children they’re getting the vaccine to prevent cancer, Moore said.

The chemical PPD is found in about 80 to 90 percent of hair dyes in salons and consumer products for use at home, says study author Dr. Andrew Scheman , an associate professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University. Most so-called natural hair dyes on the market are really just gimmicks, according to Scheman. “They’re not natural at all,” he says. Like other hair dyes, he says, many brands that claim to be natural contain PPD or PTDS with a few extra botanical ingredients thrown in. Scheman emphasizes: “If somebody’s allergic to hair dye, they’re not going to be able to use the hair dye to which they’re allergic. Period.” Scheman also sees patients with significant hair dye reactions. “They can be terrible,” he says. “Patients can have totally eroded, inflamed and raw scalps and facial skin. Sometimes it’ll go down on the neck, or even spread to other parts of the body.” You can’t immediately assume hair dye is responsible for this type of reaction, Scheman says.

The point of screening younger adults is not so doctors can put them all on statins, said Dr. Neil Stone , one of the authors of the ACC/AHA guidelines. Instead, there are two central reasons, Stone explained. One is to spot younger adults who may be heading down a path toward heart disease later in life. Once they know their LDL is high, they and their doctors can have an “all-important discussion” about diet and lifestyle changes, said Stone, who is also professor of medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. There is “strong and compelling evidence,” Stone said, that catching the condition in younger adults makes a difference. According to Stone, the ACC/AHA guidelines say it’s “reasonable” to repeat cholesterol testing every four to six years. “It’s not mandatory,” he noted. But people’s lives, and heart disease risk factors, change as they move through adulthood, Stone said.

Kiarri Kershaw, PhD, MPH,
Preventive Medicine – Epidemiology at the Feinberg School of Medicine finds where you live — even down to the specific neighborhood — might have an impact on your blood pressure, a new study led by a Northwestern University researcher suggests.

Gastroenterologist Dr. Arvydas Vanagunas
says he’s seen one or two patients with the infection. “The main symptom is pretty severe abdominal pain that typically occurs within hours of consuming raw or undercooked fish,” said Vanagunas, a professor of medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

“We have a lot of patients who are able to maintain reproductive function despite cancer treatment,” said John Lurain , Marsella’s oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “We do everything we can to preserve reproductive function if we’re able to do so without putting a patient’s life at risk. And very often, we are able to do so.”

Samer Attar, 41, an orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, told no one about his June trip to Aleppo. In addition to packing scrubs and a toothbrush, he wrote a farewell letter to his family and gave it to a friend in case he did not return. “Some days we’d be so overrun there would be no place to step,” said Attar, an American-born son of Syrian immigrants who didn’t want to look back in 20 years and say he wasn’t part of the relief effort in the country of his heritage. “I still get chills thinking of people pounding on the doors trying to get into the hospital to be taken care of.”

The biggest criticism of the proposed law appears to be its repeal of Obamacare standards of care. Many health policy groups agree with Northwestern University’s Center for Healthcare Studies that those with pre-existing conditions may well be left out. “This now allows insurers to charge higher rates to people who may be sicker, and typically people who are sicker, they can’t work as much so paying higher rates can be quite a problem and results in not allowing them to get the care they need,” said Dr. Jane Holl.

“The truth of the matter is, when most people learn about this stuff, they’re in seventh grade,” Dr. Lauren Streicher , an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Medical School and author of “Sex Rx: Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever,” told TODAY. “Women who are otherwise very savvy and educated, and know a lot about their bodies, really don’t know a lot about what’s supposed to happen and what’s not supposed to happen.” Streicher provides a lot of expertise throughout the rest of the article.