Media Coverage

Without good information on how well different nonprescription skin creams work for infant eczema, parents may want to try petroleum jelly first because it tends to be cheapest, a recent study suggests. Up to one in five children develop eczema at some point, and half of them get this inflammatory skin condition as babies. The condition can lead to rashes, itchy skin and infections when kids scratch, and it’s also linked to other health problems like asthma, allergies, sleep disorders, developmental delays and behavior issues. “Petroleum jelly is an extremely effective moisturizer,” said lead study author Dr. Shuai Xu, a dermatology researcher at Northwestern University in Chicago. “It also happens to be one of the most affordable.”

The staggering violence in Chicago this year that has led to more than 700 homicides in 2016 alone, according to The Associated Press, which has led to calls for action but also for help in saving lives. A new program called the Chicago South Side Trauma First Responders Course focuses on training anyone to be able to give lifesaving treatment to trauma victims. Started by Dr. Mamta Swaroop, assistant professor of surgery in trauma and critical care at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Dr. Leah Tatebe, a trauma and general surgeon at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in New York, the program was designed in the hopes that if simple steps are taken immediately after a shooting or other violent event, lives can be saved before an ambulance even arrives.

If the new injury is to a disc that had been repaired previously, his recovery timeline could be extended by several weeks, said Dr. Wellington Hsu, the Clifford C. Raisbeck Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Ten years ago, you would have gotten a lot of people that would call this a career-ending surgery, but we know a lot more now that make me optimistic that Gronkowski can fulfill a very promising career,” Hsu told USA TODAY Sports. “However, we can’t take that too far. We can’t get him back to the point where he can be able to play in the Super Bowl.”

Dr. Lauren Streicher offers women four treatment options, and most pick Vagifem. A month’s supply costs $170 and insurance coverage is limited. A generic version, Yuvafem, just launched at a slightly cheaper price. “They go to their pharmacy and see how much it costs, and then they call me up and say, ‘I can’t do it,'” says Streicher, director of the Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause at Northwestern University’s medical school in Chicago. But not being able to have sex “is a deal-breaker in a lot of relationships,” she adds.

“Without question, any time you can see such a dramatic reduction in maternal mortality rates, it’s a testament to better care,” said Dr. Alexis Thompson in a phone interview. She, who was not involved in the study, is a professor of Pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she heads the program in hematology. “The study underscores the value of providing comprehensive care in sickle cell disease.”

“We need to have a more nimble, more forward-thinking FDA, which was evolving under Dr. Califf’s short tenure,” said Dr. Clyde Yancy, a former AHA president from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “We should allow that experiment to continue because the return on that investment could be enormous,” Yancy said, adding that advances in drug discovery science and precision medicine could depend on who leads the National Institutes of Health and FDA.

“Preventing the onset of obesity, hypertension and diabetes will substantially lower a person’s risk for heart failure and substantially increase the average number of years they will live healthy,” said senior study author Dr. John Wilkins of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “The benefits of preventing the onset of the risk factors themselves often far exceeds the benefits experienced through treatment of the risk factors after they’ve developed,” Wilkins added by email.

Written by: Margaret Danilovich, DPT, instructor of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine

Investigators found that a 45-year-old without those three key risk factors has as much as an 86 percent lower risk for heart failure compared with someone with poor control of weight, blood pressure and blood sugar.
“This paper provides more evidence to demonstrate the importance of a heart-healthy lifestyle,” said study co-author Dr. John Wilkins. He’s a cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

With an administration forming around President-elect Donald Trump, the mood in the psychotherapy space has transitioned from anticipation and worry to fear and despair. It’s obvious to me that this highly contested election is already having real mental health consequences. Several people who had not demonstrated overt distress prior to election night began wrestling with the question: what does this mean for me? They wondered aloud about changes in government funding priorities that might affect their job security and ability to get health care.