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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Menopausal symptoms from hot flashes to insomnia are negatively impacting women’s careers – and the economy, says new study
Most people are aware that menopause can come with intense symptoms such as hot flashes and insomnia. But a new study from the Mayo Clinic finds it can have a direct impact on women’s ability to work – and on the economy. Researchers discovered that 597 women, or 13.4%, said they had experienced at least one bad outcome at work – meaning they quit, retired, were fired or missed hours or days of work – due to symptoms of menopause. The researchers also found that the odds of having a bad outcome at work increased the more severe a woman’s symptoms were. “There have been multiple studies, mostly from the U.K., which have shown this or worse,” said Lauren Streicher, MD, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Why is anybody surprised that this has a billion-dollar impact on the corporate level and below? Insomnia, hot flashes…people are not able to function. As a result of this, they’re dropping out of the workplace, making mistakes and they’re really struggling.”
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Chicago Tribune
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Illinois’ Blue Cross will stop covering at-home COVID-19 tests when public health emergency ends next month
Many Illinois residents will soon have to pay for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests, with the state’s largest insurer saying it will no longer cover them once the federal emergencies for COVID-19 end next month.
The changes come as a new COVID-19 omicron variant, XBB.1.16, also known as Arcturus, is spreading across the country. The variant now makes up about 10% of cases in the region of the U.S. that includes Illinois, though it does not seem more dangerous than previous variants, according to the World Health Organization.
“We’re going to see people give up testing,” said Lindsay Allen, a health economist and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Behavior comes down to incentives. We know when we provide people with preventative care at a free or low cost they’re much more likely to use it, and that includes COVID tests. … As soon as it becomes cost prohibitive, they’re not likely to use it.” -
FOX 32 Chicago
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Unique heart procedure performed at Northwestern Medicine
It is estimated that more than 100,000 patients in the United States have aortic valve disease. The Ross Procedure gives patients a new heart valve using parts of their own body instead of a mechanical valve or ones made of animal tissue. Less than 300 patients per year get this operation says, Christopher Malaisrie, MD, professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiac Surgery, and there are a select few highly trained surgeons perform the procedure including himself.
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Chicago Tribune
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Single mom from Midlothian, doctor who transplanted her liver forge decades-long friendship
Kathy Fiandaca, of Midlothian, was a single mom with an infant when she learned she needed a new liver.
The physician who delivered the news — Dr. Daniel Ganger — assured Fiandaca that not only would she get a new liver but she’d be able to watch her daughter grow to adulthood.
“There’s somebody upstairs looking after me. I’ve never gone back. I’ve never had an issue,” said Fiandaca, who is now 58. “Somebody is watching over me. I’m blessed. That’s all I can say.”
For many years, that “somebody” has been Ganger, 71, a transplant hepatologist who trained and worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago from 1984 until 1991 before moving to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He met Fiandaca, then 28 in 1992.
“She was a very young person,” he said “and had a very young daughter at the time. I kept track of her.” He added that she was “really young” for a transplant.
The two reconnected in 2008 when Ganger came back to Northwestern to practice. -
New York Times
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22 Out of 25 Melatonin Products Were Mislabeled, Study Finds
A tiny, berry-flavored gummy of melatonin carries a big promise: better sleep. But a new research paper, published in the medical journal JAMA on Tuesday, highlights a critical issue: When it comes to melatonin, as with other supplements, what you see on the label isn’t always what you get.
The higher the dose of melatonin, the more likely you are to experience side effects, said Dr. Sabra Abbott, a sleep medicine specialist at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. Large amounts of melatonin aren’t likely to be dangerous for most adults, experts say, but some people report feeling groggy or hung-over the morning after taking the supplement, or having vivid, unnerving dreams.
Melatonin gummies can pose serious risks to children if they consume too many. Calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers related to pediatric melatonin consumption jumped 530 percent from 2012 to 2021, according to research published last summer. -
Yahoo! News
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What Happens To Your Body When You Sleep in Contacts?
About a third of contact lens wearers report sleeping in their contacts. Sleeping in contact lenses, especially if done regularly, creates an optimal environment for bacteria to get into the eye area. Contact lenses are worn by 45 million Americans and are considered quite safe. But caring for them improperly or keeping them in for too long—especially while you sleep—can have serious impacts on eye health, experts warn. Contact lenses can make it more difficult for enough oxygen to get to the cornea, which can actually lead to damage to the surface cells of the cornea, called the epithelial cells. “If those tears aren’t making it to the cornea easily and you’re not getting oxygen to the cornea, then the cornea can tend to break down and then be vulnerable to the bacteria that are harbored in the contact lens,” said Robert Feder, MD, director of cornea service in the department of ophthalmology and professor of ophthalmology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Soft contacts hang on to water, Feder explained, but can also cling on to debris or bacteria that accidentally gets in the eye throughout the day. If lenses aren’t frequently cleaned, people run the risk of getting an infection. The risk is even higher if they sleep in their contacts.
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NBC Chicago
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Team of Northwestern Women Surgeons Saves Patient’s Life
In the medical field, women are the minority when it comes to a career as a surgeon. But one local man is especially thankful for the female surgeons who literally saved his life. The team of surgeons included Leah Tatebe, MD, associate professor of surgery in the Division of Trauma and Critical Care, Katie Bandt, MD, associate professor of neurological surgery, and Vehniah Tjong, MD, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery.
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Long COVID Treatment Not ‘One-Sized-Fits-All
Investigators in the new study looked at the first 600 long COVID patients who were evaluated at the Northwestern Medicine Neuro COVID-19 Clinic, either in person or via telemedicine, between May 2020 and August 2021. Researchers compared those who had been hospitalized for acute COVID-19 pneumonia to those who had had milder forms of the disease (100 vs. 500 patients, respectively). Patients were seen, on average, about 7 months after the start of their COVID illness. Only about 60% of patients regarded themselves as “recovered” from their illness. Both groups of people showed an average of seven neurological symptoms, while more than nine out of 10 said they had more than four symptoms. “An important take-home message of our new study is that COVID affects the nervous system and causes severe decrease in quality of life and also causes cognitive dysfunction in patients,” said senior author Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.
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CBS Chicago
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Long COVID study reveals difference in symptoms based on severity of first infection
Researchers at Northwestern Medicine have been studying the impact of long COVID for months, and now a new study shows there might be a correlation between the severity of an infection and the long-term effects on your brain. Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious diseases at Northwestern, explains what the study found.
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New York Times
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Why Do Some People Develop Allergies in Adulthood?
Experts don’t know how common it is for different kinds of allergies to develop in adulthood, said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a professor of pediatrics who specializes in allergy at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Though we do have some data as it relates to food allergies. In one survey of more than 40,000 adults in the United States published in 2018, for instance, Dr. Gupta and her colleagues found that about 45 percent of those who had food allergies developed at least one new food allergy in adulthood. Of this group, a quarter never experienced food allergies as children.
An important question for researchers, Dr. Gupta said, is what exactly might cause adults to develop an allergy to a food they’ve eaten before. Right now, she said, we don’t know.
