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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The nuances of breastfeeding as a Black mother
The task of feeding an infant is challenging for many mothers. Coupled with adjusting to caring for a new baby, navigating the choice of whether to breastfeed or formula feed can cause additional stress. For Black mothers, however, race adds another dimension, both in terms of fraught history of Black women and breastfeeding and existing racial disparities. Breastfeeding isn’t for everyone, and it is critical to support parents in whatever method they use to feed their baby, whether exclusive breastfeeding, mix of breast/bottle or exclusive formula. Dr. Shawn M. Smith, assistant professor of pediatrics, agrees. “The ‘Breast is Best’ campaigned initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the 1990s intended to highlight the benefits and promote exclusive breastfeeding, but unfortunately, left out many families where breastfeeding or exclusive breastfeeding is not an option,” said Smith. She adds that the campaign also “may have not taken into account historical instances where enslaved Black and Indigenous women were forced to be wet nurses for white babies of families that enslaved people against their will and the generational trauma that may be passed down in Black and Indigenous families. The more inclusive sentiment is ‘Fed is Best,’ meaning a baby with milk in their tummy is better than a baby without any milk at all.”
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TODAY
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Walking and other leisure activities can greatly reduce dementia risk, study finds
Time spent on fun leisure activities might have the extra benefit of protecting your brain and lowering the risk of dementia, a new study suggests. An analysis that combined data from 38 previous studies with more than 2 million participants from around the world revealed that activities such as solving crossword puzzles, playing musical instruments, hiking, swimming, yoga, volunteering and meeting with friends could lower the risk of developing dementia. Participation in physical activities, such as walking, running, bicycling, using exercise machines, playing sports, yoga and dancing, was associated with a 17% reduction in risk. Engaging in social activities, such as attending a class, joining a social club, volunteering, visiting relatives or friends and attending religious activities, was associated with a 13% reduction in risk. “It’s exciting for people to hear that there is a choice they can make for their own brain health,” said Emily Rogalski, PhD, associate director of the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer Disease and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s important to be able to provide home in a time where Alzheimer’s treatments have been somewhat controversial and disappointing.” (Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in older adults.
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ABC News
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Marijuana, hallucinogen use reach all-time high among young adults
Use of marijuana and hallucinogens by 19- to 30-year-olds reached their highest levels since tracking began in 1988, according to a new Monitoring the Future panel study supported by the National Institutes of Health. In 2021, 43% said they’d used marijuana in the last year, which was up 34% from five years ago and 29% compared to 10 years ago. More than 1 in 10 said they now use marijuana every day, according to the study. Dr. Maria Rahmandar, medical director for substance abuse and prevention at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and assistant professor of pediatrics, said that the results of this study are “particularly concerning for teenagers and young adults who have developing brains that are particularly susceptible to the negative effects.” She continued, “Pretty much everybody who ends up having a problem with substance use started as a teenager and continued use as a young adult.
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NBC 5 Chicago
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How Long Do COVID Symptoms Last? Here’s What to Expect First and Which Ones Might Linger
As omicron subvariants continue to make up roughly all COVID cases in the U.S., marking a shift in the most common symptoms and in the virus’ incubation period, how long will symptoms last? A recent study from Northwestern Medicine showed that many so-called COVID “long-haulers” continue to experience symptoms like brain fog, tingling, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus and fatigue an average of 15 months after the onset of the virus. “Long-haulers,” are defined as individuals who have had COVID symptoms for six or more weeks, the hospital system said. Health experts share that like many other viral infections, cough tends to be the most lingering symptom. In general, symptoms will typically appear 2-to-14 days after exposure to the virus. How long they last, however, can depend on the person, the severity of their infection and whether or not they end up with long COVID. Symptoms of the virus include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea.
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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Northwestern Testing Telehealth to Treat Three Risky Behaviors at Once
Northwestern Medicine will participate in a first-of-its-kind trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), testing whether a telehealth-based intervention that addresses three behavioral risk factors can modify cancer patients’ lifestyles to improve their outcomes. The telehealth program will attempt to help people who are diagnosed with cancer to tackle their health risk behaviors of smoking, overeating and lack of physical activity. The three behaviors affect the likelihood that they will not respond to treatment, that they will have side effects from treatment and that they will get a new cancer. Northwestern will receive $5.5 million in funding over five years, and the trail will recruit 3,000 participants at 11 Northwestern Medicine hospitals. “These risk behaviors are the same for most chronic diseases, which is important because many cancer patients are more likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than from cancer,” said project leader Bonnie Spring, PhD, professor of preventive medicine and co-lead for cancer prevention at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
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Reuters
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Explainer: What Is the Impact of Philips’ Recall of Sleep Apnea Devices?
A massive recall of Philips breathing devices in 2021 due to a risk of potential injury has left physicians scrambling to find alternatives for the growing number of people who use them. Since April 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it has received more than 69,000 reports of malfunctions or injuries associated with the PE-PUR foam breakdown, or suspected breakdown, including 168 deaths. The reports do not prove that the devices are directly responsible for injuries or death, but are used by the FDA to track potential problems. Several doctors say they received little warning of the recall or guidance on keeping patients on a potentially faulty device until a replacement became available. Their practices were deluged with calls from patients worried their breathing machines were putting them at risk for cancer. Information on the cancer risk has been limited, said Justin Fiala, MD, a sleep medicine expert at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He and other doctors have recommended their most critical patients keep using their CPAP devices as they await a replacement. Alternatives for less critical patients include using special pillows to keep them from sleeping on their backs, over-the-counter nasal strips to keep airways open and the recommendation to stop drinking alcohol.
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WTTW
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Northwestern Researchers Develop Dissolvable Implant for Drug-Free Pain Relief
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a small and flexible implant that can relieve pain almost instantly without the use of drugs. They hope it could one day provide an alternative to opioids and other highly addictive medications. The water-soluble and biocompatible device works by softly wrapping around nerves to deliver precise, targeted cooling, which numbs nerves and blocks pain signals to the brain. After the device is no longer needed, it naturally absorbs into the body, thereby avoiding the need for any surgical extraction. “Although opioids are extremely effective, they are also extremely addictive,” said Northwestern’s John A. Rogers, who led the device’s development. “As engineers, we are motivated by the idea of treating pain without drugs – in ways that can be turned on and off instantly, with user control over the intensity of relief. The technology reported here exploits mechanisms that have some similarities to those that cause your fingers to feel numb when cold. Our implant allows that effect to be produced in a programmable way, directly and locally to targeted nerves, even those deep within surrounding tissues.”
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NBC 5 Chicago
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American Heart Association Announces Push to Encourage Bystanders to Performs Hands-Only CPR
When someone is in cardiac arrest, seconds can make all the difference, and a new campaign from the American Heart Association is aiming to encourage bystanders to help women who are experiencing cardiac arrest. The new push comes in the aftermath of a 2018 published study that found 45% of men received bystander CPR when they were suffering from cardiac arrest, compared with only 39% of women. As a result, the American Heart Association has released a new training video, portraying a woman as the victim. “What’s really unique is that rather than a mannequin, they have what they call a “woman-a-quin” which is anatomically correct,” said Mercedes Carnethon, chair of the American Heart Association’s Metro Chicago Board of Directors and the vice chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The video emphasizes hands-only CPR, and also shows you how to use an AED or defibrillator. The ultimate message of the two-minute training video is you don’t need a special certification in CPR to be able to save a life. “One of the worst things that we can do is pause and wait for someone else to take action,” Carnethon said.
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If You Have Any of These 9 Symptoms, It Could Be BA.5, Doctors Say
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If You Have Any of These 9 Symptoms it Could be BA.5
Even though the latest subvariant may be new, the symptoms it’s causing are not unfamiliar to most people. Doctors say treating some of the most common BA.5 ailments could be as simple as looking to basic remedies for relief – especially for taking care of a sore throat. “The best approaches are typically what grandma would advise,” says Michelle Prickett, MD, associate professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She advises taking plenty of fluids to stay hydrated and help reduce inflammation in the throat. She also recommends gargling a warm salt water solution a few times daily to help ease the pain. In addition, she says patients can manage other symptoms by taking over-the-counter cold medicines. Researchers were further able to narrow down the most common reported symptoms: nagging cough, runny or stuffy nose, fatigue or lethargy, sore throat, headache, muscle pain, fever and sneezing.
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USA Today
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Queer conversion therapy is still practiced in the US. Experts say we need to talk about it.
Even though bans on queer conversion therapy exist, experts say the pseudoscientific practice lurks and needs to be addressed by lawmakers. Talk therapy is a common technique but more extreme practices exist including eversion treatments that induce vomiting or paralysis and snapping an elastic band around the wrist when someone is aroused by same-sex images or thoughts. Some of the practices used in queer conversion interventions include electric shock, deprivation of basic needs and reconditioning around sexual functioning, says Jagadisa-devasri Dacus, associate director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) at Northwestern University and research assistant professor. Outcomes include self-blame, sexual dysfunction and loss of social supports. “There are groups that still continue to perpetuate this is an effective method of helping to provide therapeutic services or supportive services to those questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Dacus says. Dacus further shares seeking help in learning to understand and accept one’s sexual orientation or gender identity as opposed to trying to change it leads to better mental health and overall wellness for queer people. The ISGMH has found when young LGBTQ people have supportive parents or caregivers, they can form better connections, develop more positive self-esteem and experience a lower rate of anxiety and depressive episodes.
