Media Coverage

For decades Northwestern Medicine has been on the cutting edge of cancer treatment for patients with brain and spinal tumors. But the great strides in research and clinical trials could not be achieved without the big hearts of philanthropic donors. According to Dr. James Chandler, professor of neurological surgery, neurology and otolaryngology and surgical director of the Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, “On the surgical front, we have a variety of scientists who have support from the NIH foundation looking at mechanisms by which brain tumors grow pathways critical to brain tumors,” he said. Further, “While we may not have a cure, extending lives and probably most important, assuring patients and their families that this journey will be as good as this journey can be.”

The number of American children affected by acute hepatitis of unknown cause continues to grow, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. So far the agency’s investigation has spotted 180 pediatric cases in 36 states and territories over the past seven months. “It’s unusual because this is occurring in normal, healthy kids who don’t have an underlying condition,” said Dr. Tina Tan, professor of pediatrics in infectious disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Nobody knows the true cause, and what makes it more scary is that these kids develop very severe hepatitis.”

Pfizer and BioNTech SE gained U.S. emergency-use authorization for their COVID vaccine booster shot for kids age 5 to 11, a move to bolster protection in school-aged kids as contagious omicron subvariants spread across the country. Two doses of vaccine, plus a booster later is the direction the COVID-19 vaccines are going, said Dr. Bill Muller of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Kids respond really well to vaccines, so the question we all had is whether two doses is enough protection. It looks like the FDA saw saw that some of the omicron variant was infecting children after two doses. The main thing they looked at though was safety.”

The number of men with prostate cancer who chose to have their disease monitored rather than treated doubled nationally between 2014 and 2021, according to experts who say the dramatic increase shows a growing understanding that low-grade prostate tumors can be safely watched for years without treatment. William Catalona, MD, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said the American Urological Association’s Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance Project’s goal is to have 80% of patients with low-risk prostate cancer to use active surveillance.

If your night owl tendencies are ruining your sleep, there are steps you can take to become more of a morning person. Something that can help is taking a very low dose of melatonin, said Dr. Sabra Abbott, assistant professor of neurology in sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. It’s important to keep the dose low so it clears your system quickly. According to Abbott, “We want it out of your system by the end of the night because melatonin at the end of the night can push your clock later and will make the problem worse.”

The viruses that typically circulate in the winter months had been kept at bay as people were wearing their masks and keeping their distance as part of attempts to stave off the spread of COVID-19, Dr. Michael Bauer of Northwestern Medicine said. With masks coming off, the flu, respiratory viruses and common cold are all spreading. Bauer said his advice to parents is to “control what you can control.” That means good hand washing and avoiding “crowded, indoor, poorly ventilated areas, while these things are circulating.”

John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor and a top Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, is recovering from a stroke he said was caused by a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. Fetterman said in the statement that he had a stroke that was caused by a clot from his heart being in “an A-fib rhythm for too long.” The doctors quickly removed the clot, reversing the stroke. People who develop A-fib are almost always put on a blood-thinning medication for the rest of their life to help prevent the stroke-causing blood clots that untreated A-fib can create, said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, cardiologist and chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Earbuds, noise pollution and age all diminish hearing – more specifically damage hair cells in the ear. In the ear, the outer cells amplify sounds while the inner cells send signals to the brain. If just a few are out of place hearing is compromised. According to Jaime Garcia-Anoveros, professor anesthesiology, neurology and neuroscience at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, “You need both of them to work in conjunction or you hear very poorly.” Researchers at Northwestern are currently working on regenerating hearing cells.

Overturning Roe v. Wade will affect the quality and availability of maternal medical care across the U.S., exacerbating a problem that has been building for years as abortion restrictions have already tightened in parts of the country. Cassing Hammond, MD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, often sees women who have premature rupture of membranes in the second trimester; the sac containing the fetus starts to break and amniotic fluid leaks into the uterus. Sometimes the membranes can reseal, but often that doesn’t happen, putting the woman at risk for infection. Currently, Hammond’s patients can choose whether to evacuate the uterus – which is the same procedure as an abortion – or wait to see what happens. “We need the kind of latitude in medicine to work with our patients and help them make the decision that’s right for them,” Hammond said.

Doctors at Northwestern Medicine and the American Lung Association are seeking to better understand what causes lung damage and disease, and to do so they are launching a first-ever study of the lungs of thousands of millennials. “It’s really important that we enroll young adults right now at the time of their peak lung health, so that we can study the behaviors, the social factors, the environmental factors that are contributing to the development of lung diseases,” said Mercedes Carnethon, PhD, principal study investigator and professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. With various laboratory tests, questionnaires and imaging, the goal of the first of its kind study is to analyze how environment, lifestyle and physical activity impact the lungs.