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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Yahoo! News
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Telltale Signs You Need to See a Doctor for Your Cough
The odds are high you’ve had a cough before in your life, but each time can throw you for a loop. Even though you’ve been through this, it can be hard to know when to see a doctor for a cough and when to just continue to wait and see what happens next. You can further drill a cough down into a productive or nonproductive cough. “A productive cough is a cough that produces phlegm,” Dr. Youssef says. But a non-productive cough is more dry, says John M. Coleman III, MD, a pulmonary and critical care specialist with the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute. Meaning, you don’t cough anything up. “Symptoms also may not be as bad at night,” Dr. Coleman says. But if you’ve been dealing with a cough for a while, or if it feels like your cough is getting worse, he says it’s time to see a doctor.
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ABC News
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Former President Jimmy Carter lived to 100 with hospice care. Why it may help some live longer
Hospice care is viewed by many people as end-of-life care to help those who need it spend the final weeks or months of life in comfort. But hospice care may actually help certain patients live longer. People receiving hospice care for certain cancers or heart failure lived an average of 29 days longer than those who didn’t, according to researchers at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). Experts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology use a stoppage of chemotherapy in the last two weeks of life as a measure of receiving quality cancer care. “Deciding to stop anti-cancer treatments is difficult and may feel like choosing between quantity or quality of life,” Andrew Lawton, MD, a palliative medicine physician and an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News. Living longer after stopping cancer treatments and switching to hospice care may seem counterintuitive, experts note. “I’ve certainly seen patients live longer than expected with hospice care,” Lawton said.
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Yahoo! News
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The Hidden Dangers Of Starting Your Day With A Cup Of Coffee On An Empty Stomach
Maybe you start your day by rolling out of bed and shuffling straight to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Or perhaps you practice intermittent fasting, so you’re in the habit of having black coffee before you eat anything else. But is it bad to drink your morning brew before you have something in your stomach? While many people drink coffee before breakfast with no issues whatsoever, others have reported increased gastrointestinal upset or jitteriness if they don’t eat something first. According to Marilyn Cornelis, PhD — a caffeine researcher and associate professor in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University — some scientific research suggests that consuming pure caffeine (i.e. not via coffee) with food “increases the time in which caffeine reaches peak levels in the blood and also decreases the peak concentration.” “Theoretically, the latter would decrease any effects of caffeine, but this may vary by an individual’s sensitivity to caffeine,” she said, noting that the caffeine dose in such experiments is generally larger than the amount found in a single cup of coffee.
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CBS News
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After Chicago area man requests second opinion, Northwestern doctors find operable tumor on his pancreas
Getting a second opinion made all the difference for a River Forest man—who was found to have pancreatic cancer, but is now cancer-free. His biopsy results came back normal, however he underwent another biopsy when the pain persisted. Indeed there was a small tumor in Timchak’s pancreas, but it turned out to be one that could be removed surgically. “The reason this is so different is it has a much slower growth rate and doesn’t spread to adjacent organs anywhere nearly as quickly as the standard cancer of the pancreas,” said Srinadh Komanduri, MD, MS, professor of medicine (gastroenterology and hepatology) and surgery (gastrointestinal). Northwestern Medicine surgical oncologist David Bentrem, MD met with Timchak, and they agreed a Whipple procedure—in which the head of the pancreas, the first part of the mall intestine, the gallbladder, and a portion of the bile duct are removed—was the best way to go. Timchak had the surgery successfully on Nov. 14. The tumor had clear margins, and 24 lymph nodes were negative for cancer, Northwestern Medicine said. Timchak and his doctors agree that anyone facing a critical health issue should get a second opinion.
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HealthDay
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Persistent Short Sleep During Pregnancy Linked to Metabolic Syndrome
Short sleep duration that persists during pregnancy and for two to seven years after delivery is associated with increased odds of metabolic syndrome, according to a study published online Dec. 26 in JAMA Network Open.
Minjee Kim, MD, from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues examined whether persistently short sleep duration during pregnancy and after delivery is associated with incident hypertension and metabolic syndrome in a secondary analysis of the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Be Heart Health Study. Participants were recruited during their first pregnancy between Oct. 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2013, and were followed for a mean of 3.1 years after delivery. Persistent short sleep was defined as self-reported short sleep duration (less than seven hours) during pregnancy and two to seven years after delivery. “These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving sleep health among populations at increased risk to mitigate adverse health outcomes and to promote health equity,” the authors write. -
NBC 5 Chicago
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Flu, RSV, COVID on the rise in Chicago area as people gather for holidays
‘Tis the season for celebration, and unfortunately, sickness. And it appears the Chicago area is not immune. “We have definitely seen an uptick in illnesses coming through,” said Santina Wheat, MD, MPH of Northwestern Medicine. Doctors across the area are asking people to stay on guard as they continue to gather this holiday season. A new way to test illnesses this year is making it easier for Wheat to diagnose people. She said she’s seeing a little bit of everything. “This year we have testing that lets us do one test and it gives us a lot of results,” Dr. Wheat explained. “We can just use one test and get an answer of if someone needs antibiotics or not, or just fluid and rest.” The age-old rules still apply. Make sure to wash your hands, cover your mouth and nose if you cough or sneeze, and if you have a fever, stay home.
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Yahoo! News
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Is there a best sleep position? Experts weigh in.
After a long day, there’s no better feeling than getting comfortable under the covers and drifting off to sleep. And how you sleep, whether on your back, side or stomach, is most likely habit — trying to sleep on your side if you’ve always slept on your back probably feels unnatural. Although there’s evidence to show that side sleeping may have the most benefits, the best sleep position is actually the one that works the best for you. Out of all the sleeping positions, side sleeping arguably has the most benefits. “Sleeping on your side makes it easier to ensure proper support and alignment of your spine, which may help to reduce back pain,” says Keith Summa, MD, an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Additionally, it reduces the effect of gravity on the back of the mouth and throat, which can lead to reduced episodes of sleep apnea and snoring.” Studies have shown that a benefit of sleeping on your left side is that it may help with symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn. But conversely, sleeping on your right side could do the opposite. “In that position, the stomach is above the esophagus, which can lead to increased acid reflux events and heartburn due to gravity,” says Summa.
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Fox News
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Pregnant woman and baby saved after doctors find grapefruit-sized tumor: ‘Extremely rare’
A Chicago woman was just weeks away from giving birth when a nagging cough led to a shocking medical discovery. Some doctors dismissed Lauterbach’s symptoms, she said, repeatedly telling her, “It’s because you are pregnant.” Eventually, though, when the coughing led to vomiting, doctors performed scans and detected a large, grapefruit-sized tumor in her middle chest cavity and right lung, which was completely blocking the artery to the right lung. Eventually, though, when the coughing led to vomiting, doctors performed scans and detected a large, grapefruit-sized tumor in her middle chest cavity and right lung, which was completely blocking the artery to the right lung. “It’s extremely rare to see this type of tumor invading into the major blood vessels of the heart,” said Chris Mehta, MD — a cardiac surgeon with the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute who specializes in complex heart reconstruction — in a press release. Lauterbach was flown to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where a large medical team was waiting for her. “MaKenna was in real trouble, and we had to act quickly – this wasn’t something that could wait for Monday morning,” said Lynn Yee, MD, maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine, in the release. Her cancer is currently considered a “stable disease,” doctors say, which means no new tumors have appeared.
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Fox 32 Chicago
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Heart attacks spike during the holidays. A Chicago doctor explains why
Heart attacks and strokes tend to surge during the last two weeks of December, and it’s important to be aware of the risks, according to one Northwestern Medicine cardiologist. “Cold temperatures cause blood vessels to constrict, which raises blood pressure and makes the heart work harder to pump blood,” said Patricia Vassallo, MD, associate professor of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Vassallo added, “At the same time, stress around the holidays and disrupted routines — like less sleep, more alcohol and skipped medications — add to the strain. Overexertion from winter chores like shoveling heavy snow can further increase the risk, especially in people with existing heart conditions.” In the event of a stroke, Vassallo said to follow the mnemonic device FAST, which stands for: Face drooping, Arm or leg weakness on one side, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911.
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NBC 5 Chicago
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Whooping cough cases reach highest level in a decade
Whooping cough cases in the U.S. have reached the highest annual total in a decade, with as many cases tallied in the last 12 weeks as in the entire rest of the year. Whooping cough vaccination rates in the U.S. remain high, but they have declined over the last five years or so. Whereas more than 94% of children born between 2018 and 2019 had received at least three doses of the DTap vaccine by their second birthdays, the rate fell to around 92.5% for those born between 2020 and 2021, according to a CDC report published in September. However, the vaccine’s protection fades over time. Santina Wheat, MD, MPH, a professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said most of the whooping cough patients she’s seen have been vaccinated tweens and adults. “I think we’re probably seeing some of the impacts of the waning immunity,” she said. Wheat added that an improved ability to diagnose whooping cough is probably also contributing to the United States’ higher case total. “We now have better testing options, so I’m able to run a panel that looks for a variety of different things, and pertussis is one of those,” she said. “Numbers are up, but I also think some of it is just us recognizing it more frequently.”
