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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WGN
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Living with ALS for decades: The long struggle and complex questions patients face
ALS is a debilitating and deadly disease with no cure. There are some known genetic markers. The majority of ALS patients, 85 percent, have sporadic disease, meaning there’s no family history. But 15 percent have familial disease – and researchers have identified 30 different genes in which a mutation can be passed down and cause ALS. Some mutations lead to a slow progression, others to a faster course. Gene modifier play a key role. According to Robert Kalb, MD, director of the Les Turner ALS Center and professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of medicine, “There’s something in the background genotype affecting whether the disease will manifest or not and if it does, when it will manifest.” To help answer some of the key questions, Kalb and his team are looking closely at genetically modified worms that are used to model the disease. They’ve identified genetic modifiers that improve their coordination, research supported by the Les Turner ALS Foundation.
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Chicago Tribune
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Another COVID wave could be coming. Here’s how to make your holiday plans.
At this stage in the long slog of the pandemic, many of us are forgoing masks in places we previously wore them and getting together indoors when we had formerly avoided it. But the holidays throw new variables at everyone’s risk calculus. People trek across the country to see each other. Families crowd around dinner tables, with older, more vulnerable people sitting beside their younger relatives. Individual risk tolerance may vary among your family members, but in general, plan around the person at your gathering who is highest-risk. That means taking more precautions if you have a family member who is older than 60, on immunosuppressant medications, received a transplant, or is a cancer patient, said Dr. Michelle Prickett, pulmonary and critical care specialist at Northwestern Medicine.
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WBEZ Chicago
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Study: South Asian women see higher rates of diabetes
More than 23% of South Asians in the U.S. reported having diabetes between 2011 and 2016. That’s higher than any other racial group, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. A study out of Northwestern University — focused on South Asian women — is exploring how much simple exercise can help the problem. Dr. Namratha Kandula, lead researcher on the study and The mission of the work really is to reduce the disparities and risk for diabetes in South Asian women and girls. We wanted to start prevention and encourage South Asian women and their daughters to join this exercise program together. The study is still going on actively throughout the pandemic and now. Different types of exercise is really important for prevention of diabetes. Aerobic exercises and resistant exercises both are equally important to preventing diabetes. We think the cause of diabetes involves genetics, environment, behaviors and larger society and things that may be influencing our health. Specifically in South Asians, is the predisposition to carrying more fat around the waist, rather than in the thighs or legs, and that fat often goes into the liver and can cause high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
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WebMD
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Tips for Adjusting to Life With Idiopathic Hypersomnia
Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) is a sleep disorder without a cure. It’s not well-understood. Even experts don’t know what causes it. Most adults need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep every day. But people with IH are different. “They can sleep more than 11 hours every single night,” says Sabra Abbott, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. You may not feel very awake even if you sleep a lot. But you still need to get a good night’s rest. The effects of not getting enough sleep will likely hit you harder than someone who doesn’t have IH. “Sleep is less of an optional thing,” Abbott says. “Not that sleep is optional for anybody, but [people with IH] are going to be much less likely to be able to function well if they [stay up late] and only get 5 to 6 hours of sleep.” Psychologist Jason C. Ong, PhD, behavior sleep medicine director for Nox Health and adjunct associate professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, created a pilot program called CBT for hypersomnia (CBT-H). His early research shows that people with IH can get more done while sleepy when they break up their day.
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WebMD
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The Mystery Behind Idiopathic Hypersomnia
Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) is a rare neurological disorder. Treatment can help, but there’s no cure. You may snooze upwards of 9 hours a night without feeling refreshed. You may fight to wake up in the morning. Your sleepiness may persist or get worse, even when you take lengthy naps during the day. If you live with IH, you’d probably like to know what’s causing your symptoms. Unfortunately, that’s not something experts have figured out yet. “Literally, the name idiopathic hypersomnia means you’re sleepy and we don’t know why,” says Sabra Abbott, MD, assistant professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. There’s ongoing research into this theory. But Abbott says the idea is that something in your body acts like an all-day sleeping pill.“That’s helpful for when you’re trying to go to sleep, but not when you’re trying to be awake during the day.”
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WebMD
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Treating the Cold or Flu When You Have COVID-19
It’s possible to catch more than one respiratory virus at the same time. That means you could get a cold or the flu along with COVID-19. But so far, these “coinfections” haven’t happened enough for scientists to study them very much. Experts think that’s due to all the physical distancing and other safety measures we took to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It’s important to watch for shortness of breath, very high fever, ongoing chest pain or pressure, trouble staying awake, confusion and pale, gray or bluish skin or lips. We need more research to know if a coinfection will make your symptoms twice as bad. But Benjamin D. Singer, MD, associate professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care, says there’s some limited evidence that people with the flu and COVID-19 fare about the same as those with COVID-19 alone.
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US News & World Report
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Pregnancy May Have Women Cutting Back on Smoking Before They’ve Conceived
Pregnancy can be a big motivator for women to stop smoking. Now a new study suggests that at least some pregnant smokers start cutting back even before they know they’ve conceived. The findings, researchers say, suggest that there may be biological mechanisms during pregnancy that can blunt the desire for nicotine. If true, understanding those processes could potentially lead to new ways to aid smoking cessation, according to the investigators. However, the findings do not imply that pregnancy makes quitting easy, said lead researcher Suena Huang Massey, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Instead, she said, the findings show that, on average, smokers cut down a bit during the time between conception and when they learn they are pregnant. The reasons for that remain an open question.
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The Washington Post
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Ask a Doctor: What treatments work for women with thinning hair?
If you’ve noticed hair loss, the first step you should take is getting a diagnosis from a primary care physician or a dermatologist, who may do a scalp biopsy and order bloodwork to look for potential causes, such as anemia or thyroid disorders, says Jennifer N. Choi, MD, division chief of medical dermatology and oncodermatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Topical minoxidil, often known by the over-the-counter brand name of Rogaine, is my first go-to treatment for the most common cause of thinning hair in women: female androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Not only is topical minoxidil the most well-studied treatment available, it’s also the only topical product that’s been approved by the FDA for the treatment of AGA.
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WTTW
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Black Women Are 41% More Likely to Die from Breast Cancer Than White Women
Breast cancer is one of the most treatable types of cancer — when detected early. Despite that, it’s the leading cause of cancer deaths among Black women. According to the American Cancer Society, Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer compared to White women. They are also less likely to be diagnosed and less likely to receive treatment. Dr. June McKoy, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says it begins with mammograms not being a pleasant procedure. “It is an uncomfortable procedure…,” she said. McKoy says that some myths about breast cancer came out of true concern, “about the additive overtime effect of radiation to the breast.” “If we can’t dispel this myth that mammography will lead to breast cancer then we’re going to lose more of our own women to breast cancer,” she added. McKoy, like Jones and Francois-Blue, believes that awareness early detection is key, but as a doctor, she calls for individualized care for every patient, “especially Black women who might be finding lesions early…” McKoy calls for policy changes as well, to ensure that insurance coverage is available for mammography even when they are not at the age recommended for the test. “Take us as individuals understanding that breast cancer is something really bad in our population,” McKoy said.
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Yahoo! News
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I am a Pharmacist and I think These Medications are Prescribed Too Often
Medicine saves lives, but it can also be abused. Drugs are over prescribed at an alarming rate in the U.S. according to a study that was presented at IDWeek 2018. “We found that nearly half the time, clinicians have either a bad reason for prescribing antibiotics, or don’t provide a reason at all,” Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “When you consider about 80 percent of antibiotics are prescribed on an outpatient basis, that’s a concern.” Over prescribed drugs can be a problem for anyone, but especially for older Americans. Specifically, the prescriptions that are the most over prescribed include antimicrobials like antibiotics and antifungals, zolpidem (Ambien), corticosteroids, decongestant nasal sprays and proton pump inhibitors.
