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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NBC 5 Chicago
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Experts, Residents Discuss New Childhood Obesity Treatment Guidelines
After struggling with weight gain in her early teens, a girl underwent a form of bariatric surgery known has gastric sleeve surgery. Now, 21 years old and in nursing school, the woman says she’s been of prediabetes medications since her surgery and hasn’t needed an inhaler for her asthma in years. Dr. Caren Mangarelli is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She said it’s possible children who start weight loss medications could need to take them for the rest of their life, but says that such a move would still be medially-prudent. “You wouldn’t question if that a kid developed, you know, high blood pressure, or if they had a seizure disorder,” she said. “I feel like the medical community as a whole is starting to recognize obesity as a chronic disease. Like any chronic disease, there are medications available, but there is a problem with access.” Mangarelli says that those limitations come through spotty insurance coverage of drugs and due to socioeconomic factors, and hopes that the new guidance will help spur changes. “They’re not covered by most insurance plans, even private insurance plans,” she said. “We know obesity disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic patients. They really need to be available to all patients.”
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New York Times
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Gas Stoves Are Tied to Health Concerns. Here’s How to Lower Your Risk.
For the last 50 years or so, researchers have demonstrated that exposure to gas stoves can be harmful to humans. When you use a gas stove, it emits poisonous gases called nitrogen oxides, including nitrogen dioxide, a respiratory irritant thought to trigger asthma. A study published last year found that families who use gas stoves in homes with poor ventilation, or without range hoods, can blow past the national standard for safe hourly outdoor exposure to nitrogen oxides within just a few minutes. It’s important to lower your risk if you have a gas stove by ventilating your kitchen, using the exhaust hood every time you use your stove, using your stove less often or buying an air purifier. An air purifier with a HEPA filter can help reduce the level of nitrogen oxides concentrating in the home, said Ravi Kalhan, MD, MS, a pulmonary medicine specialist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. IF you’re able to purchase one, place it in or near your kitchen he said.
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WBEZ Chicago
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Chicago City Council tackles teen vaping
Chicago lawmakers are considering requiring new licenses for businesses that make more than 20% of their revenue on vaping products. Dr. Maria Rahmander, assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, shares that the health risks of e-cigarettes include lung issues, addiction and exacerbated asthma symptoms. Rahmander says that we need to hit this issue from multiple angles so Alderman Napolitano’s ordinance is a great idea. She shares that e-cigarettes are filled with carcinogens that can go deep into the lungs and can damage lung health. Further, she thinks making sure products are not advertised towards youth is important.
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New York Times
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Is a Spoonful of Sea Moss the Key to Good Health?
They are among a number of people online who have been promoting the health benefits of sea moss — an edible sea vegetable in the algae family that is packed with nutrients like folate, vitamin K, vitamin B, iron, iodine, magnesium, zinc and calcium. Sea moss, in gel or other forms, can be a relatively low-calorie conduit to adding more nutrients to your diet, said Dr. Melinda Ring, the executive director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The plant is rich in antioxidants, which can break down free radicals that damage our cells, she said. And sea moss gel contains large amounts of potassium, an essential mineral that supports muscle contraction and blood pressure control. But while nutrition experts say that the nutrients in sea moss might offer some health benefits, the hype is probably overblown, Dr. Ring said. “Like all of the superfoods that have come and gone, there’s some truth to it,” she said. “It’s just not a magical thing that everyone should be taking.” But without hard and fast data on sea moss itself, Dr. Ring said, its health effects aren’t totally clear.
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Yahoo! News
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No, those viral face exercises can’t change your face shape experts say
Face exercises, also known as “face yoga,” are one of the latest wellness trends, with plenty of videos demonstrating how to perform them on social media. Many people believe face exercises, which you can easily perform from the comfort of your home, can lift and tone your face, reduce wrinkles, help you look younger and just generally improve your face shape and appearance. To understand how face exercises may work, you should know about the anatomy of the face, which is made up of skin, fat and muscle layered on top of the skull. The outermost layer of skin on your face, what you see and wash every day, is called the epidermis. Underneath that is a thicker layer called the dermis. Underneath that is a layer of subcutaneous fat, explained Murad Alam, MD, vice chair of dermatology at Northwestern University. Beneath the subcutaneous fat is “a series of fat pads, which are plump, fat-containing areas that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle … to create the volume that gives our face shape,” said Alam. “The purpose of the facial exercises seems to be to help to grow muscles under the fat pads such that, as you exercise them, they become larger in size and begin to perform some of the functions the fat pads were performing before to make your face look fuller,” said Alam.
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WBEZ Chicago
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RSV recedes and flu peaks as a new COVID variant shoots ‘up like a rocket’
As the new year begins and the depths of winter approach, U.S. infectious disease experts monitoring the “tripledemic” stew of viruses that have been plaguing the country say they’re good news – and bad. The good news is the worst appears to be over from the RSV surge that has been making life miserable for many children and their parents. Ways to protect yourself from coronavirus subvariant XBB.1.5 include getting vaccinated and boosted, avoiding crowded, poorly ventilated parties, restaurants, bars and other places, and putting the mask back on in risky situations. “It’s not time to let your guard down,” warns Dr. Tina Tan, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern University. Fortunately, most of the precautions that lower your risk of catching COVID-19 will also help protect you against any resurgence of RSV or the flu.
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NPR
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Doctors say bystanders can do a lot to help someone who has stopped breathing
Damar Hamlin’s remarkable recovery may not have been possible if things had gone differently in the moments after he collapsed. Following his medical rescue, the American Heart Association says it’s seen a huge surge in page views on how to deliver hands-only CPR. And doctors say people who happen to be nearby can be tremendous help to someone who has collapsed and stopped breathing. Rod Passman, MD, professor of cardiology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says bystanders can absolutely make a different. “This is a wake-up call land shows you how critical it is that people learn CPR. “Intervention, even by a bystander, could save a life” says Passman. The basic guidance from the American Heart Association is this – if you witness someone collapse suddenly and they’re not breathing, first, call 911. Then use your hands to start pushing hard and fast in the center of the person’s chest. One trick is to push to the beat of the disco song “Stayin’ Alive.” Dr. Passman says CPR is basically a temporary way to keep blood flowing. “It is a way of supporting the organs when your heart pump is no longer working and you’re no longer breathing to take in oxygen,” says Passman.
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WTTW
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Make a Resolution: Get Screened for Hypertension in 2023
According to the American Heart Association, about 55% of Black adults have high blood pressure. Black Americans also have disproportionately high rates of severe hypertension and tend to develop it earlier in life. Higher rates of obesity and diabetes among Black Americans increase the risk for high blood pressure, and uncontrolled hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke, heart failure and kidney disease. “There’s a lot of socioeconomic factors that make it pervasive [in the Black population],” said Pierre Blemur, MD, assistant professor of nephrology and hypertension at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Lack of access to medical care, lack of insurance sometimes plays a role. Lack of affordability of medications that can help control blood pressure unfortunately are prevalent issues in the Black community.” Blemur agreed that a proactive approach to hypertension is the best way to protect your health. “The sooner that you get diagnosed with it, the sooner you could do something about it. It’s not always you need medications in order to control it – there’s lifestyle changes, dietary changes, exercise…Things like that could help control blood pressure. But the sooner you find out about it, the more you can do about it, and I always say: It’s better that you find about it before it finds you.”
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The Washington Post
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Alzheimer’s drug that slows cognitive decline gets FDA approval
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an Alzheimer’s drug that slowed cognitive decline in a major study, offering patients desperately needed hope — even as doctors sharply debated the safety of the drug and whether it provides a significant benefit. Doctors at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago described a woman’s case in a letter to the editor published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. They said an autopsy showed the woman had a condition called cerebral amyloid angiopathy — extensive amyloid in the brain’s blood vessels — and suggested lecanemab may have contributed to her death. Some experts believe lecanemab’s stripping away of amyloid, combined with tPA, could have weakened the patient’s blood vessels. In a response in the same publication, investigators who led the Clarity trial said they understand why the Chicago case generated concern but that tPA “appears to be the proximate cause of the death.” They said there have been cases in which people with the condition have experienced brain hemorrhages when given tPA, even though they hadn’t received anti-amyloid drugs.
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US News & World Report
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Could Weight-Loss Surgery in Teens Raise Risks for Alcohol Abuse?
For teens who are obese, weight-loss surgery can be life-changing, but not always in a good way. A new study finds a troubling downside to weight-loss surgery among 13- to 19-year-olds: They’re at increased risk of alcohol use disorders. And their risk stays higher for up to eight years after their surgery. “We have to be honest about both the risks and benefits of these procedures,” said study co-author Dr. Thomas Inge, director of adolescent bariatric surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and professor of surgery and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Now, Inge and other researchers report that teens who have had weight-loss surgery are also more likely to develop alcohol use disorder. That’s based on tracking 217 teens for eight years and comparing their alcohol use before and after their surgery. The study found that they had eight times the odds for hazardous drinking, a pattern of alcohol use with a risk of harmful consequences; and five times the odds of showing symptoms of alcohol-related harm.
