Media Coverage

A study questions melatonin use and heart health but don’t lose sleep over it

Don’t lose sleep over headlines linking melatonin to heart failure. That’s the message after some scary-sounding reports about a preliminary study involving the sleep-related supplement. It raised questions about the safety of long term use of melatonin for insomnia.

But only certain countries require a melatonin prescription. It’s over-the-counter in the U.S., meaning Americans in the study might have used the supplements without it being recorded, said Northwestern University cardiology chief Dr. Clyde Yancy, who wasn’t involved in the study. The study also did not show dosages.

Rise in Kidney Disease Tied to Other Chronic Conditions, Study Finds

The number of adults with chronic kidney disease is growing, according to a study published Friday in The Lancet. The disease was the ninth leading cause of death worldwide in 2023, up from the 27th leading cause in 1990.

“We should be doing a better job of identifying individuals at risk and intervening,” said Dr. Susan Quaggin, a former president of the American Society of Nephrology and chair of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.

New pancreatic cancer treatment ‘wakes up’ immune cells, researchers say

Scientists have created a new antibody treatment that helps the immune system recognize and attack pancreatic cancer.

“Pancreatic cancer is notoriously good at hiding from the immune system, but we were struck that a single sugar, called sialic acid, can so powerfully fool immune cells,” senior author Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.

Disease of 1,000 faces shows how science is tackling immunity’s dark side

Like with lupus, RA treatment is trial-and-error and scientists are exploring different underlying factors to explain why. In one study, an international team used tiny samples of patients’ joint tissue to identify six inflammatory subtypes of RA based on patterns of cells, how they clustered and their activity.

It “changed how we think about the disease,” said Northwestern University rheumatology chief Harris Perlman, one of the coauthors. Now researchers are comparing cells in joint tissue before and after patients start a new drug to see if they could help guide treatment choices, he said.

Is Melatonin Bad for Your Heart? Here’s What to Know.

This week, a series of headlines warned about the potential risks of taking the sleep supplement melatonin, saying new research had linked it to a 90 percent increase in heart failure. The research is from an unpublished study set to be presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific conference in New Orleans next week.

It also lacked information about melatonin dosage and insomnia severity, said Dr. Phyllis Zee a sleep doctor and researcher at Northwestern Medicine who was not involved with the study. Both of these factors could affect heart risks.

Everyone’s buzzing about the blood test that detects 50 types of cancer. I tried it.

I took the Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test about a year ago in 2024 as part of my longevity-focused stay at Canyon Ranch, a luxury wellness retreat in Tucson, Arizona. Galleri – which costs $949, and is not currently FDA-approved – is a blood test that studies DNA fragments shed into the bloodstream. Patients need a prescription before pulling up their sleeves.

“The key plain takeaway: (This type of testing) may complement current screening by identifying lethal cancers that are otherwise undetected earlier and with limited downstream burden,” says Dr. Mohamed Abazeed, chair and professor of radiation oncology at Northwestern University, who was not involved with the study.

Dick Cheney had five heart attacks. Here’s how science helped him live until 84.

As many reflect on the life of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his political legacy, others marvel at his longevity.

Despite five heart attacks, multiple surgeries and a heart transplant, Cheney still lived a long life and died surrounded by his wife, daughters and other family members Nov. 3 at age 84.

“Modern medicine has kept this man alive through all of these years through innovative advancements in the field of cardiology,” said Dr. Baljash Cheema, advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

New study links melatonin and heart failure, but experts say don’t panic yet

A study that reviewed health records for tens of thousands of adults with chronic insomnia found that people who took prescribed melatonin for more than a year had a higher chance of heart failure over five years compared with people who were identified as nonusers, the American Heart Association announced Monday.

“It’s difficult because many patients are searching for help with insomnia,” said Kelly Gill, MD, a sleep medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine. People often don’t want more prescriptions and consider melatonin a natural and easily accessible option.

“Now, we have to be careful about how we recommend it and how patients utilize it, especially in the context of heart failure,” Gill said.

To optimize health, sync your habits with your body clock. Here’s how

The return to “standard time” is better for our health according to sleep scientists, but the time change can be disruptive, and our bodies must also adjust to more hours of darkness as we head towards winter.

And when it comes to exercise, some people find they do best in the morning, others in the afternoon, says Dr. Phyliss Zee, director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. But the science shows exercising late at night, just before bed can disrupt sleep.

“There’s a peak time for almost every physiological process,” Zee says. “The timing of feeding, the time that you exercise, the physical activity, all of these help entrain the clocks in your body so that they’re in sync,” she says.