Media Coverage

Air quality was expected to move from “good” to “moderate” Wednesday into Thursday in Lake County, but the forecast is a respite from the unhealthy air some people experienced in the area over the weekend and it may return later this summer. Between wildfires in Canada and near drought conditions, it is likely unhealthy conditions will return for the general population – or may become very unhealthy – before summer ends. Dr. Mary Zinn-Batina, a pulmonologist at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, said symptoms which can arise include shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing, wheezing and chest discomfort. There can be more. “Some people may have headaches,” Zinn-Batina said. “Lesser issues include irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Symptoms tend to improve when the air quality improves. Contact a health care professional if significant respiratory issues arise.”

Federal regulators on Monday approved a shot to protect infants and toddlers against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the leading cause of hospitalizations among young children in the U.S. The FDA’s newly-approved treatment could mitigate hospitalizations by 80%. According to Anat Brinkman, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics in emergency medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and attending physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “RSV is the leading cause of lower respiratory infections. We’re looking at children coming in with fast breathing rates difficulty breathing and lots of coughing. The vaccine will be approved for all children.” Her daughter was also a participant of this clinical trial of vaccines/placebo.

A woman had topical-steroid withdrawal, a serious, rare and poorly understood condition that can occur in some people who regularly use or stop using topical steroids on their skin. Topical steroids are creams, lotions and gels that treat inflamed, irritated skin caused by conditions such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. The National Eczema Association says there are no affordable alternatives to these cheap drugs that work as well. Peter Lio, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told the National Eczema Association: “Start with a trusted dermatologist. But, because it is relatively rare, many practitioners have never even heard about it. “If that venue is not helpful, reach out to ITSAN or the National Eczema Association for help finding a practitioner who may be able to help,” referring to the International Topical Steroid Awareness Network.

Alex McKeown, 33, works in a demanding and stressful job in the investment industry in Chicago, negotiating and closing deals for large retail companies. It was during a workout at his fitness center that everything changed. After the first few minutes of his workout, he began to feel lightheaded. “The room was heated and I was sweating, so I thought I was just dehydrated and needed to drink something,” he said. But soon he began to lose his balance and realized he needed to sit down on the floor. They called 911, and by the time the paramedics arrived, McKeown was losing control of his left arm and leg and couldn’t stand up on his own. He was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a stroke. We tend to associate strokes with older people, but strokes can happen to anyone – although they’re much less common in younger people, according to Ali Shaibani, MD, chief of neurointerventional radiology and a professor of radiology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. McKeown admits he would have likely dismissed his symptoms. “I would have told myself to just push through it, but I was surrounded by women at the gym – particularly the fitness instructor and another employee – and I’m so thankful they took my symptoms seriously and called 911,” he said. “Without them, I would have likely just tried to go home to sleep it off, and I probably wouldn’t be walking or talking right now. No matter what your age, never ignore the symptoms. “If you’re ever in a situation where you’re questioning whether you need medical attention, call 911,” he said. “Even if it’s a 5% or 10% chance that it’s something serious, you need to bite the bullet and call. You’ll be much happier to be alive.”

Extensive swaths of the northern United States awoke to unhealthy air quality Monday morning or were experiencing it by midafternoon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov Smoke and Fire map. Climate change and rising temperatures cause the environment to be more prone to wildfires, and more susceptible for air masses to become stagnant and stationary, explained Dr. Ravi Kalhan, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine and preventative medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s not normal,” he said of the repeated air quality alerts experienced by the Midwest this summer.

A Northwestern Medicine study shows the extent to which Black residents living in highly segregated neighborhoods have significantly shortened life expectancies. The study found that, compared to residents living in less-segregated, predominantly white neighborhoods, life expectancies of people in highly segregated areas are four years shorter on average. “We’ve learned much about the health consequences of adverse social determinants of health,” corresponding study author Dr. Sadiya Khan, associate professor of cardiology and epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician, said in the statement. “But we were trying to better understand on a local level what the implications of racial segregation are on life expectancy.” Dr. Clyde Yancy, vice dean for diversity and inclusion and chief of cardiology at Feinberg, said in the statement that local challenges require local solutions. “No single intervention fundamentally changes risk at a neighborhood level,” Yancy said in the statement. “Public health advocacy helps, but economic opportunities and high-quality education are immensely valuable.”

Northwestern Medicine is hosting high school students for a four week program with the goal of creating diversity in the medical field. The students were selected by their school counselors to take part and earn class credit for the summer program. “Our goal is to expose the students to as many people as possible who do share some of their identities, maybe even come from similar backgrounds, so they can say ‘I can do the same thing’,” said Teni Brown, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and director of diversity inclusion of the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. “I hope to impact the same excitement and hope and passion to this next upcoming generation,” said Dr. Brown. “They are smart and I’d personally be happy if any of them chose to join my specialty,” she added.

Sleep experts say a cool environment helps you drift off and stay asleep. But in many places around the world, nights have warmed faster than daytime temperatures – and research suggests the heat could be leading people to lose hours of shut-eye. These tips include keeping your bedroom as cool as possible by using fans and keeping blinds closed during the day, not taking cold showers, practice good sleep habits and changing your sleeping arrangement. It may also help to move to a cooler spot in your home, such as a basement if you have one, said Kathryn Reid, PhD, a neurology professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who studies sleep medicine. On hot nights when it might be difficult to achieve the ideal temperature for sleeping, experts recommend focusing on doing other things to promote sleep, such as creating a dark and quiet environment, preparing for bed by unplugging from screens and winding down with relaxing activities. “It certainly can’t hurt to weigh the different factors in your favor,” Reid said.

Some U.S. patients taking the two highest doses of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy weight-loss drug are facing difficulty filling their prescriptions, eight doctors around the country told Retuers this week, suggesting a new supply challenge for the popular medicine. Obesity specialist Dr. Robert Kushner at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said the delays have caused some of his patients in the Chicago area to take their shot as much as four days late. “Patients are often having to delay their injections because it’s harder for pharmacies to get Wegovy in stock,” he said. He did not know of a patient who was unable to eventually fill their prescription, he added. “It’s almost a game of Whack-A-Mole, to see which pharmacy (has supply),” he said. Patients on the highest doses of Wegovy who miss their weekly injection are likely to experience worse-than-normal gastrointestinal side effects such as vomiting once they take their next injection, according to Kushner, a concern echoed by other doctors interviewed for this story.

Skin lightening, also called whitening or bleaching, is a multibillion-dollar industry with products that can damage the skin and that, researchers say, promote a dangerous message about beauty and social value. But people who use these products – primarily marketed to women – seldom understand the health risks of using the over-the-counter chemicals, Northwestern University researchers found in a study recently published in the International Journal of Women’s Dermatology. “The vast majority of times, skin lightening is really used with the goal of treating a medical dermatological disease or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentations,” said the study’s lead author, Roopal Kundu, MD, founder and director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Ethnic Skin and Hair. “But sometimes it is used in the space of wanting lighter skin and the constructs of beauty compounded by light and dark skin.”