Media Coverage

Helen Binns, MD, MPH, says parents can only control the controllables. Cadmium does not seem to be one of them right now. 

"If you make it to middle age with an optimal profile, it's really like the fountain of youth for your heart," said lead researcher Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

"Our results suggest that public health initiatives need to address the lack of motivation to exercise and to promote the benefits of physical activity to reduce the prevalence of inactivity in those with rheumatoid arthritis," said lead researcher Jungwha Lee, an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

The procedure is unlikely to have any impact on his physical or neurological prognosis,” said Dr. Richard Fessler, noting that the procedure was common. 

Even mild elevations in risk factors by middle age seem to have profound effects on the remaining lifetime risks for (cardiovascular disease),” said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, who led researchers in analyzing data from more than 250,000 patients across 18 longitudinal studies.

“We are giving incomplete and misleading risk information if we only focus on the next 10 years of someone’s life,” Donald Lloyd-Jones, an associate professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and study co-author, said in a prepared statement, referring to the time span that is often given.

Inactivity was associated with a lack of strong motivation for physical exercise and a disbelief in the benefits of activity, according to Jungwha Lee, PhD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues.

Sen. Kirk "is doing better than I expected. I'm very happy with where we are," neurosurgeon Richard Fessler said Tuesday during a news conference at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where the senator is being treated.

“Regardless of how old you are, male or female, white or black, what decade you were born in, your cardiovascular destiny is determined by those risk factors,” study author Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones said.

"If at age 45 you have two or more of either elevated blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes or smoking, and you're a man, then there's a 50-50 proposition that you will have a heart attack or a stroke during your remaining lifespan," cardiologist Donald Lloyd-Jones, who headed the study at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Women with two risk factors have about a 30 percent chance.

“In general, previous studies have only looked at CVD risk factors across one specific age or gender in white populations,” said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, principal investigator of the study, in an NHLBI press release.

"We are giving incomplete and misleading risk information if we only focus on the next 10 years of someone’s life,” Donald Lloyd-Jones, an associate professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and study co-author, said in a prepared statement, referring to the time span that is often given.

"We continue to be hopeful about his long term prognosis.  He remains in serious condition and is being monitored closely,” said Dr. Richard Fessler, neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  

Scoliosis "is a surgically treatable condition, but it's a difficult surgery to go through," said Dr. Tyler Koski, a neurosurgeon at Northwestern and principal investigator of the study.

Chicago cardiologist Dan Fintel, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University, said he routinely gives heart patients a sex talk on their last day in the hospital, knowing that it’s likely on their minds.

If you're suffering from frequent headaches, it may be time to seek treatment for migraines. Dr. Yvonne Curran, a neurologist at Northwestern Medicine, joined us to explain.

"We are giving incomplete and misleading risk information if we only focus on the next 10 years of someone's life," study researcher Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, says in a news release.

He remains in serious condition and is being monitored closely," said Richard Fessler, neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“The large drop in moisture that occurs during the wintertime can be damaging to your skin causing dryness, itching, irritation, cuts or sores,” said Jill Weinstein, MD, dermatologist at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group.

"We are giving incomplete and misleading risk information if we only focus on the next 10 years of someone's life," said principal investigator Donald Lloyd-Jones, associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Sen. Mark Kirk is alert, answering questions and following commands after having a stroke over the weekend, his neurosurgeon Dr. Richard Fessler said today.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Northwestern Memorial is affiliated with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, a National Cancer Institute-designated center founded in 1974 and located on the hospital's campus.

Dan Fintel, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University in the US, said that resuming sexual activity was safe and actually counted as part of the post-heart attack healing process.

“The fact that he is doing all of those things this quickly ... is a very good sign,” said Dr. Richard Fessler, the neurosurgeon who performed the surgery to reduce brain-swelling on the

Dr. Marek-Marsel Mesulam, a neurologist and the director of the Cognitive Neurology & Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said the brains of animals like rats respond to enriched environments, such as cages festooned with brightly colored toys.

Liver transplants for adults are fairly recent strategy, having started in 1997. That’s according to Talia Baker, a transplant surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and director of the adult living donor liver program.

“What we clearly know is that making abortion less available does not make it performed less often,” said Dr. Lauren Streicher, assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Picking up on that theme, Dr. Lauren Streicher, an ob-gyn professor at Northwestern University’s medical school, contended to ABC News, “What we clearly know is that making abortion less available does not make it performed less often. It’s just more unsafe. Condemning abortion is a cruel and failed strategy.”

"We don't know what the trigger is for the disease," said Dr. Tanya Simuni, a neurologist with Northwestern.

January is the time for resolutions and as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, Dr. Bechara Choucair is responsible for the wellness goals of an entire city.

Ravi Kalhan, MD, director of the Northwestern Asthma-COPD Program, is mentioned in continuing coverage of a study which found that marijuana smoke contains many of the same constituents as tobacco smoke, but whether it has similar adverse effects on pulmonary function is unclear.

Old Man Winter is finally here, and with the snow, ice and cold temperatures comes weather-related injuries. Dr. Rahul Khare, a Northwestern Medicine emergency room physician, joined us with some tips on how to stay out of the ER this winter.

George R. Cybulski, MD (Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago). Dr. Cybulski is a neurological consultant for the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bears. He has a professional interest in treating spinal diseases, spinal cord injury and tumors of the brain and spine.

"Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) increases mostly because this is when girls experience a big growth spurt," says Mary Ellen Pavone, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. David Vigder, an internal medicine physician with Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, has tips for staying healthy as the weather deteriorates.

“We believe we’ve discovered the master regulator gene that prevents the formation of blood vessels in the eye and protects the clarity of the cornea,” said the study’s lead author, Tsutomu Kume, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a researcher at Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute.

Young says everyone needs a little boost - which is why she’s come to Northwestern dermatologist, Dr. Murad Alam, for a little cosmetic enhancement.

Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist at Northwestern University Medical School who works with traumatized children, told jurors today that young people “are more vulnerable” to the side effects of anti-psychotic drugs.

The review by J. Gordon Millichap, MD and Michelle M. Yee, CPNP of Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois finds that what can reduce the symptoms of ADHD include healthy diets low in sugar, free of food additives or preservatives and oligoantigens, and or high in omega-3 fatty acids and fiber.

In similar vein, Dr. Carrie Hill, Professor of Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, claims that “a great way to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s Disease is through physical exercise.”

A study from Northwestern University provides strong evidence that a "culture of me," which is increasingly common in the United States and other Western societies, is a significant risk factor for developing depression.

Goldfarb is also working on having UH join forces with the Oncofertility Consortium, whose headquarters are at Northwestern University in Chicago. The national group's focus is on the reproductive future of cancer survivors.

“The league has been very proactive in making changes in an effort to make the game safer,” says Blackhawks lead team physician, Dr. Mike Terry.

A study by Dr. Lee Lindquist of Northwestern University showed that over a 20-year period, living on a cruise ship would only cost $2,000 more than a nursing home.

"Until recently it was thought that only infants had brown adipose fat, and adults didn't," Hannah El-Amin, an RD who specializes in integrative medicine at the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, says. "While it's not known if diet can affect your brown fat, you can increase the amount of brown fat in your system with regular exercise, which can lead to a breakdown in white fat cells."

William Grobman, MD, obstetrics gynecology, was interviewed in continuing coverage of a new device that may support improved newborn health at delivery through closer monitoring of infant oxygen use during labor.  Grobman comments that the test can indicate a greater chance with fetal oxygenation that needs to be attended to.

“Avoiding hypertension before middle age and delaying the onset of the development of hypertension both appear to have a significant impact on an individual’s remaining lifetime risk for CVD,” wrote Norrina Allen, PhD, of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and colleagues.

Shoveling snow is a very strenuous physical activity that puts a high degree of stress on the heart and its circulation,” says Charles Davidson, MD medical director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Associate Director of Northwestern’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.

“This is the largest scale study that has looked at marijuana use in the context of lung function and what we’ve shown is occasionally smoking marijuana cigarettes does not cause long-term loss of lung function,” said Northwestern Medicine’s Ravi Kalhan, M.D., a co-author of a new study in the Jan. 11, 2012, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Julius Dewald is trying to meld medicine, science and engineering in a path-breaking way to better understand such impairment and how robotic therapy might help people who have had strokes reach for a hamburger or pull on a fancy boot.

Tears can cause bleeding that disrupts blood flow to the brain, which in serious cases can lead to brain damage or death, said Dr. Andrew Naidech, medical director of the neuro-spine intensive care unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

• Also appeared in ABCNews.com

More than a dozen papers have been published on these issues, but so far there is no consensus. "A lot needs to be done before we know," said flu expert Robert Lamb, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Northwestern University.

Changing behavior is never easy, said Dr. Robert Kushner, clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity.

"It's objective and interprets the oxygen use, so it takes away the guesswork," said Dr. Alan Peaceman, lead investigator of the study and chief of maternal fetal medicine at Northwestern.

Ravi Kalhan, MD, director of the Northwestern Asthma-COPD Program, is mentioned regarding a study which found that marijuana smoke contains many of the same constituents as tobacco smoke, but whether it has similar adverse effects on pulmonary function is unclear.

Michael Terry, MD, orthopaedics, is quoted as an author of a book review.

Although broken heart syndrome is quite rare, Dr. Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said doctors should consider it when treating heart attack sufferers. "It is sufficiently common that practitioners should be sensitized to its likelihood," Yancy said.

Cold and flu season can be especially hard on children, but when should you make a trip to your pediatrician or the E.R.? Northwestern Medicine's Dr. Anita Chandra, a pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital, joined us with some advice.

Filmmaker Maria Finitzo has garnered much acclaim for her work at the Chicago-based documentary company, Kartemquin Films. Her 2001 effort, “5 Girls,” explored the lives of five adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17, while her 2007 Peabody Award-winner, “Terra Incognita: Mapping Stem Cell Research,” centered on the efforts of Northwestern University’s Dr. Jack Kessler to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

Special diets that restrict children's sugar, artificial dyes and allergens have become a hugely popular method in treating symptoms of ADHD. However, researchers at Northwestern University reviewed a number of studies and found little evidence that these diets are beneficial.

Cardiovascular disease happens at the average age of 55, so people really don't think about it until they're already at increased risk," said Norrina Allen, an epidemiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Nutritional interventions should therefore be considered an alternative or secondary approach to treating ADHD, not a first-line attack, said the review by doctors at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.

Dr. Richard Fessler leaned over his patient's back and sliced through skin, muscle and bone until he exposed the man's spinal cord, crushed just days earlier in a motorcycle crash.

According to Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the current generation of teens -- characterized by high blood sugar, surplus weight, poor eating habits, smoking and limited exercise -- are the unhealthiest in our history.

“Marijuana may have beneficial effects on pain control, appetite, mood and management of other chronic symptoms,” researchers from the University of California, University of Alabama and Northwestern University said in a statement.

The report, by doctors at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, argued nutritional intervention should therefore be considered as a secondary approach to treating the condition.

"There are a lot of unexpected benefits from many of the foods we eat every day," says Hannah El-Amin, a registered dietitian specializing in integrative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Dr. Richard Fessler leaned over his patient's back and sliced through skin, muscle and bone until he exposed the man's spinal cord, crushed just days earlier in a motorcycle crash.

Mark Bowen, MD (Northwestern Orthopaedic Institute, Chicago). Dr. Bowen is an orthopedic sports medicine physician with a special interest in arthroscopy, ACL reconstruction, meniscal tear treatment and total knee replacement.

But that typically means forgoing cow's milk, cheese, wheat cereal, eggs, chocolate, nuts and citrus foods, which can be tough on the child and on the family, said study author Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, a professor emeritus at Northwestern University Medical School and neurologist at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Dr. Murad Alam of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and a surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital said plastic surgery is a surging $10 billion industry in the United States, but there are a dearth of comparable research trials. 

But Dr. Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said doctors should take it into consideration when they are treating patients.

For the study, Dr. J. Gordon Millichap and Michelle M. Yee, researchers at Children's Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University in Chicago, reviewed 70 studies on diet-based treatments for ADHD.

However, William Catalona, M.D., director of the clinical prostate cancer program at Northwestern University and considered the father of the original PSA test, called the study “flawed,” telling the Post that “it doesn’t really address the question of whether PSA screening saves lives.”

With few early symptoms, ovarian cancer--like many cancers--can be hard to detect without invasive and expensive procedures. "Early detection is absolutely not only key but probably the only way for us to win the war on cancer," says Vadim Backman who is a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Dr. Streicher is here to give us the real deal on the roles menopause and middle age play in weight gain for women.

Researchers at Children's Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University looked at 70 studies on diet-based treatments for ADHD.

Replacing foods such as processed meats and soft drinks with healthy choices seemed to help improve symptoms. Those include fish, vegetables, fruit and whole grains.

Researchers at Northwestern University found that late bedtimes lead to late mealtimes, and that sleeping later and eating later make poor diets and weight gain more likely.

“Many treatments gaining popularity are novel techniques that use complex devices, such as lasers and ultrasound, but there is sparse research evaluating their long-term effects,” said lead author Murad Alam, MD, chief of cutaneous and aesthetic surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Nutritional interventions should therefore be considered an alternative or secondary approach to treating ADHD, not a first-line attack, said the review by doctors at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.

“It’s a flawed study,” said William J. Catalona, a prostate cancer surgeon at Northwestern University in Chicago who helped develop the PSA test. “It doesn’t really address the question of whether PSA screening saves lives.”

“Stress can alter your bowel habits to the point where you get severe constipation or diarrhea or abdominal pain with the perception of bloating and cramping. Acute episodes of stress or anxiety can lead to acute symptoms of abdominal pain,” says John Pandolfino, M.D., gastroenterologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Despite the arguments against routine PSA testing, it's exactly that benefit that Dr. William Catalona emphasizes when he voices his strong support for regular screening for many men.

At Dr. Anita Chandra-Puri's pediatric practice in Chicago, new fathers are offered a shot as well.

Two related studies from Northwestern University offer new strategies for tackling the challenges of preventing and treating diseases of protein folding, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cancer, cystic fibrosis and type 2 diabetes.

Recently I interviewed Dr. Shari Meyerson, a Chicago chest surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She treats lung cancer which is just one of the diseases related to smoking.

We went to Holly Herrington, a Registered Dietitian at the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the Northwestern University Medical Faculty Foundation to get her take on these plans and whether they really work for weight loss.

Northwestern Memorial surgical oncologist Karl Bilimoria said isolated limb infusion can be a good option for those with advanced melanoma in which the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body.

Dr. Phyllis Zee, with Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Sleep Disorders Center, has some easy ways to create a better sleeping environment.

Here's a New Year’s resolution you can start today: Try to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep tonight. Dr. Phyllis Zee, a sleep disorder expert from Northwestern Medicine, joined us to explain.

“We want a quick fix,” explained dietitian Holly Herrington of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at Northwestern University.

“Concussions are indeed a mystery,” says Hunt Batjer, chairman of the department of neurological surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and cochair of the National Football League’s medical committee for head, neck, and spine injuries.

So we went to Holly Herrington, a Registered Dietitian at the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the Northwestern University Medical Faculty Foundation to get her take on these plans and whether they really work for weight loss.

Confronting reality — facing how much you weigh, how much you eat, what you eat — is imperative, says Hannah El-Amin, a registered dietitian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"Parents should always err on the side of caution and seek immediate medical care when they're worried about something," says Anita Chandra-Puri, M.D., a pediatrician at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, in Chicago, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Howard Farkas, PhD, psychiatry and behavioral services, is quoted regarding tips on how to break the cycle of overeating.

He referenced a breakthrough announced earlier this year by Dr. Teepu Siddique, the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C. Wenske Professor of the Davee Department at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

In an accompanying editorial, Robert O. Bonow, MD, of the Center for CV Innovation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, wrote that, although there has been a correlation between the growth of CV technology and the decrease in coronary mortality, the role that diagnostic imaging has played in improving these outcomes is unclear.

"When you start seeing something measured in half a year - to a patient and physician that would be viewed as significant," said Dr. William Gradishar, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University.

Many researchers are linking inflammation to a plethora of diseases, said Judy Fulop, a naturopathologist at Northwestern Integrated Medicine.

Dr. William Gradishar, a breast cancer expert at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital writing in a New England Journal of Medicine editorial, said the use of more effective anti-HER2 agents in patients with earlier-stage cancer could, in many cases, prevent the disease from spreading beyond the breast.

Psychotherapist Mary E. Doheny, at Northwestern University's Family Institute, would give Kehoe a big thumbs-up for that approach.

Still, running outside during the winter months does pose challenges - from slippery paths to plunging temps - so Dr. Michael Terry, orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and for Northwestern University athletics, gives his tips for winterizing your running.

Live streaming video presentations, including the ability for attendees to ask questions virtually, feature some of the nation's leading cardiologists such as Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, VA Boston Healthcare System, Roger Blumenthal, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Chris P. Cannon, MD of Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women's Hospital, Peter Libby, MD, Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Clyde Yancy, MD of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Mark V. Williams, MD, FACP, FHM, professor and chief of the division of hospital medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, describes hospitalist-led post-discharge clinics as "Band-Aids for an inadequate primary-care system."

New therapies for metastatic HER2-positive disease are needed, pointed out William Gradishar, MD, from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Hunt Batjer, co-chairperson of the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Medical Committee, will share his expertise during "What Parents and Coaches Need to Know About Concussions," a free seminar Dec. 7 at Neuqua Valley High School.

"It reaffirms what most clinicians in the U.S. have been saying all along. Women should be regularly screened," says William Gradishar, M.D., a breast cancer expert with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, who was not part of the study.

Mayor Emanuel announced the Outpatient Care Pavilion at Northwestern Memorial Hospital will bring more than 1,300 jobs to the hospital's main campus in Chicago, while greatly advancing health care resources in the area.

But outcomes resulting from the new diagnostic criteria, which have been endorsed by the American Diabetes Association but not by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, should not be compared with outcomes resulting from older diagnostic criteria, warned Boyd Metzger, MD, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.
Also appeared on EMaxHealth.com

"A lot of decisions about allocating research dollars comes from the public media campaigns," said Dr. Tanya Simuni, director of the National Parkinson Foundation's Center of Excellence at Northwestern University.

MATCH was developed by Gary Noskin, MD, and Kristine Gleason, RPh, of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, through the support of an AHRQ grant and collaboration between Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Joint Commission.

Using criteria for the diagnosis of GDM that have been proposed by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG), an expected spike in the diagnosis of GDM might lead to a similar spike in the number of patients at risk for conversion to type 2 diabetes, said Boyd Metzger, MD, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

Prozac has fewer side effects and is much harder to overdose on than the antidepressant drugs on the market prior to 1988 - when Prozac was introduced - which probably is why more people are taking the drug, said Will Cronenwett, medical director of Stone Mental Health Center.

Gildasio S. De Oliveira, MD, of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and colleagues reviewed key issues related to national shortages of important drugs used in the perioperative period. In background information in the article, the authors noted medication shortages have become increasingly frequent over the past decade.

She's not alone, says Dr. Ann Borders, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University. "Pregnancy feels like a period in your life when you want very badly to do the right thing, but you don't have control of what's going to happen, so women look for areas they can control," she says. "We're trying to help women be aware of unhealthy stresses, but not freak out that they're hurting baby for long term."

Northwestern University's Gerhard Baumann, a longtime HGH expert who spoke at Thursday's conference, called the NFLPA's argument "spurious," saying there's no evidence WADA's test for that substance is unreliable.

According to projections just released by researchers at Northwestern University, obesity and diabetes are on the rise. Based on their calculations by the year 2020: 72 percent of women (up from 63 percent today) and 83 percent of men (up from 72 percent) and will be overweight or obese. 53 percent of women (up from 43 percent) and 77 percent of men (up from 62 percent) and will have diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, parent of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, plans to add more than 950 permanent jobs at its Streeterville medical campus in Chicago if it gets the final approvals to begin construction of an outpatient care pavilion that would open in 2014.

Doctors are running out of effective antibiotics, as bacteria evolve ways to evade one drug after another. Now DARPA has called for alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Nanotechnologist Chad Mirkin discusses one such weapon - tiny globs of DNA and RNA that can switch off the bugs' antibiotic resistance.

In an accompany editorial, Dr. Jamie H. Von Roenn of Northwestern University, who was the lead author of the ECOG survey, and Dr. Charles von Gunten of the Institute of Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice talked about "a worldwide outcry for adequate cancer pain management," saying that to provide the care patients deserve, "we must not just integrate training in pain management into every fellowship program, we must expect oncologists to practice what they learn."

Dr. Patricia Garcia, Maternal and Fetal Medicine Specialist, Northwestern Memorial Hospital: "If we can enable a woman to have access to care, medications that will control her virus, it will result in her not transmitting the virus to her baby."

From the patient's perspective, a sensitive screening test that does not require bowel purge would likely further increase interest in CT colonography, Dr. Barbara Jung, assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, said in an interview.

A $1.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities will support NU NEIGHBORS, a partnership between the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) to help reduce inequalities related to cancer care.

Babafemi Taiwo, a US-based Nigerian health expert at Northwestern University, Chicago, said statistics may continue to be scary for the African continent despite all sorts of campaigns and investments unless something drastic is done.

On average, the fractures occurred less than four years after initial chemotherapy. More than half of the fracture group had a bone mineral density (BMD) above the threshold for treatment and 90% had a T-score above the threshold, Beatrice Edwards, MD, PhD, reported at the International Conference on Cancer-Induced Bone Disease.

According to Dean Garstecki, a professor at Northwestern University, one of the best preventive methods for hearing issues is to try not to use earphones (especially in-ear ones) for more than 60 minutes in a day.

Experts say that working out for an hour keeps anxiety at bay for at least 24 hours. A study from Northwestern University School of Medicine suggests that regular aerobic exercise improves the quality of sleep, mood and vitality.

For June McKoy, a Northwestern Memorial Hospital geriatric specialist and researcher who sits on the hospital's ethics committee, the consideration of cost must come second. "If you think of the cost first, you wouldn't take care of most patients," McKoy said. "The cost can be mind-boggling."

Chicago Tonight spoke with Dr. William Gradishar, director of the Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, to learn why all prognoses are different.

High school girls are six more times likely than boys to suffer a sports-related injury to their ACL. Dr. Cynthia Labella of Northwestern Medicine joined us to explain why.

Researchers at Northwestern University examined the effects of sleep timing on diet and body-mass index (BMI), and found that late bedtimes and late mealtimes can lead to less healthful diets and to weight gain.

Dr Gildasio S. De Oliveira, Jr, of Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill writes, "Anesthesiologists should be actively involved in the steps necessary to provide a fast resolution [to drug shortages] and that can minimize adverse effects to patient care." 
Also appeared in SuriStrategies.com

Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, of Northwestern University in Chicago, told MedPage Today that the availability of generic atorvastatin could have a dramatic impact on cardiovascular care in the U.S., and many others have predicted that the generic could help usher in a new era of more widespread prescribing of statins.

A recent study at Northwestern University looked at activity among 1,000 adults, between 49 and 84 years old, who had osteoarthritis of the knee. Ninety percent of the people were not exercising, according to lead scientist Dorothy Dunlop.

"We have a breast imaging center, we have surgeons, the oncologists, the whole supportive oncology staff, nutritionists, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists, patients can get acupuncture here, a massage," said Dr. Nora Hansen, Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care.

Northwestern oncologist Virginia Kaklamani didn't treat Mrs. Daley, but she says when her patients saw her in clinic they marveled at how well she looked.

Gildasio De Oliveira Jr., MD, and colleagues at Northwestern University reviewed key issues related to national shortages of important drugs used perioperatively and found that medication shortages have become increasingly frequent over the past decade.

Christina M. Shay, PhD, of the department of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues used the 2003 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to enroll 14,515 adults who were 20 years old or older for the study.

"She felt it was important for other women to realize there are many options," Dr. Steven Rosen said, "and they can survive for a long time with proper treatment."

We wish it could be longer, though we have many patients beyond the two- to three-year mark," said Dr. William Gradishar, director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care.

"She was heroic. She had great dignity, and she was an inspiration for all of us," Dr. Steven Rosen, director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, told the Chicago Tribune.

Dr. Steve Rosen, Mrs. Daley's oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, described her as "heroic" and a medical miracle for surviving metastatic breast cancer for so long.

Dr. Rahul Khare of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago noted in an email that eating too much can sometimes be life-threatening.
Also appeared on MedPage Today

Dr. Steven Rosen, director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, said he had seen Mrs. Daley this morning at her home, where in recent weeks she had been under the care of nurses and people from the center's support care program.

Dr. Stephen Smith of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago provided one-on-one consultations with families.

About 8 percent of immigrants who have lived in the United States for less than one year are obese. After 15 years, that number jumps to 19 percent, according to a report by Northwestern University professor Mita Sanghavi Goel in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Senior author Teepu Siddique, M.D., the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C. Wenske Professor of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School and a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital says "This gives us a clear target to develop drug therapies to try to fix this problem. It strengthens our belief that this broken system is at the heart of ALS."

The study, led by Dr. Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, looked at seven healthy behaviors known to lower the risk of heart disease to see if they also protected people against the most prevalent cancers: lung, breast, colon and prostate.

"We are extremely grateful for the support Minds Matter has received over the past three years; it's wonderful to see so many people come together to fund research and clinical trials that advance knowledge and how we treat brain cancer," said Dr. Jeffrey Raizer, co-director of NBTI, medical director of neuro-oncology at Northwestern Memorial and associate professor of neurology at the Feinberg School.

Dr. Stephen Smith of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago provided one-on-one consultations with families.

Recent advances provide some hope for future drug pathways that can be targeted to treat the disease. In the latest issue of Archives of Neurology, Teepu Siddique and his colleagues at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago reported finding mutations in the gene that encodes a ubiquitin-binding protein (known as p62 or sequestosome 1) in about 3% of people with either sporadic or inherited forms of the disease.

A couple of seasons ago, Hunt Batjer, MD, watched as the USA soccer team, of which his teenage nephew was a member, played a team from Africa.

"This could potentially be very useful," says radiobiologist Gayle Woloschak of Northwestern University in Chicago, who was not involved with the study.

According to Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., chair and associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University and the senior investigator for the study, "We are all born with ideal cardiovascular health, but right now we are looking at the loss of that health in youth. Their future is bleak."

"Guidelines just came out in March of this year from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stating that oral food challenge is the proper test to diagnose food allergy, along with medical history and positive skin and blood testing," lead researcher Ruchi Gupta told the news source.

Embryonic stem cell researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine have stopped the first trial involving human patients after the Northern California company backing the study killed its funding.
Also appeared in Chicago Tribune

"Pregnancy feels like a period in your life when you want very badly to do the right thing, but you don't have control of what's going to happen, so women look for areas they can control," said Dr. Ann Borders, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.

Earlier this year, researchers from Northwestern University announced a breakthrough in understanding the cause of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

"Now that we have two bad players, it shines more light on this broken pathway," said senior author Teepu Siddique, M.D., the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C. Wenske Professor of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School and a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. 

Psychologist Nancy Molitor of Wilmette, Ill., says the thought of traffic congestion, high prices and some high-crime areas stresses some travelers before arrival in New York or Los Angeles.

They "accept the fact that, 'Hey, I'm going to gain weight. I'll start back up in January,'" said registered dietitian Holly Herrington.

Mark Huffman, who teaches preventive medicine and cardiology at Northwestern, presented his findings at the American Heart Association's annual scientific meeting last week. Not surprisingly, he also projected a rise in diabetes cases, a condition that often goes hand-in-hand with weight issues.

"The extra daily calories can mean a significant amount of weight gain - two pounds per month - if they are not balanced by more physical activity," said co-lead author Kelly Glazer Baron, a health psychologist and a neurology instructor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Keep arthritis at bay - This could be the worst period for arthritis sufferers. Researchers from the Northwestern University have shown how shrinking day light affects the physical activity of individuals suffering from arthritis.

"It's an exciting time," said Mark Alberts, MD, professor of neurology and director of the Stroke Program at Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

"It's a big bonus that a healthy lifestyle not only protects you from cardiovascular disease but also helps you avoid cancer," said lead investigator Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Physicians need motivation to really push the issue of prevention with patients," said lead author Laura J. Rasmussen-Torvik, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

The Women's Health Science Program for High School Girls and Beyond is a four-year-old program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. It won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
Also appeared in the Chicago Defender Rockford Register Star

"In this country, essentially all of us are born with ideal cardiovascular health, but we lose it very quickly," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, chief of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and senior author of the report.

The latest numbers come from Mark Huffman, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and cardiology at Northwestern University who presented them at the annual scientific meeting of the American Heart Asssociation this week.

Dr. Michael Hoffman, instructor in medicine, discusses a new study regarding obesity.

As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern says his study followed 5,547 children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19.

According to an alarming new study from Northwestern University, for the first time there is an increase in deaths from heart disease in younger adults ages 35 to 44, particularly in women, and scientists project that today's teens will die younger from this disease, the nation's No. 1 killer.

The government has set a goal for the nation as a whole to increase heart health by 20 percent by 2020, but there is no way that is going to happen, said Mark Huffman of Northwestern University.

That's according to study author Mark Huffman, MD, assistant professor in preventive medicine and medicine-cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"We are all born with ideal cardiovascular health, but right now we are looking at the loss of that health in youth," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., chair and associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Anesthesiologist Gildasio Deoliveira, MD, and Robert McCarthy, PharmD, looked at 1,169 studies published in 14 anesthesia journals between 2008 and 2009.

Researchers from Northwestern University reported at the recent Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association that 83 percent of men and 72 percent of women will be overweight or obese by the year 2020, according to their projections.

"Physicians need motivation to really push the issue of prevention with patients," said lead author Laura J. Rasmussen-Torvik, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Now, after participating in a testosterone study run by Dr. Mark Molitch, endocrinologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Kelin has "more energy than ever," said the Buffalo Grove resident.

But Dr. Cynthia LaBella, associate professor of pediatrics, and her team at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have found a way to keep more of Chicago's female high school athletes healthy and on the field and court.

Skip the antibacterial soaps. Dr. Rahul Khare, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University, tells us they're no better than the regular stuff.

If you are looking to manage your weight during the holidays, it might be worth it to replace your Thanksgiving turkey with a tofu-turkey. Kimberly Thedford, a senior research Nutritionist at Northwestern Medicine, joined us to explain.

Dr. Robert Murphy, Northwestern University: "Did they handle the mother when she was bleeding?"

Mrs. Daley's physician, Dr. Steven Rosen of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, says there is no dramatic change in her condition, but he will not comment beyond that.

According to researchers at Northwestern University, several varieties of hummus are made with olive oil, which is rich in oleic acid - an omega-9 fatty acid that aids in stopping the gene in charge of causing 20-30 percent of breast cancers.

 Since your cleanser is on your skin for the shortest amount of time of any other product you use, it's the least important step in your beauty regimen, according to Dr. Amy Taub, a board certified dermatologist, assistant professor at Northwestern University, and founder of Skinfo and Advanced Dermatology.

Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said the results from the POWER studies were the most significant findings reported at the AHA.

Session moderator Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, called POWER an incredibly important trial given that obesity is by far the No. 1 public health problem in the United States and will drive cardiovascular disease in the coming decades.

Based on the primary end point results, "the study provides no basis to infer differential clinical benefit between atorvastatin and rosuvastatin," commented Dr. Darwin R. Labarthe, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the designated discussant for the report at the meeting.

Laura J. Rasmussen-Torvik, Ph.D., M.P.H., from Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues examined the association between ideal cardiovascular health metrics and cancer incidence.

He was referring to a recent report by Dr. Amy S. Paller and her coworkers in which they described their successful reversal of the skin manifestations of congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform erythroderma and limb defects (CHILD) syndrome in two patients having the X-linked dominant disorder of distal cholesterol metabolism.

"The study provides no basis to infer differential clinical benefit between the two interventions," said Darwin Labarthe, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's medical school.

In addition, the toddlers of women who smoked during pregnancy begin to show a pattern of behavior problems as early as 18 months of age, according to research by Lauren Wakschlag , a developmental clinical psychologist and vice chair for scientific and faculty development at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine that suggests cigarette smoking affects the part of the fetus's brain that regulates behavior.

In the meantime he continues seeing Dr. Teepu Siddique, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine who has led groundbreaking research into the causes of ALS.

The traditional PSA test, developed in 1991 by Dr. William Catalona, a Northwestern University urologist, has always been controversial because high scores often don't mean prostate cancer.

"There seems to be a connection between obesity and breast cancer, especially in women that are already diagnosed with breast cancer," said Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, an oncologist at Northwestern.

During a panel discussion of the study, AHA immediate past president Dr. Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, said clinicians and patients don't always value the same clinical trial end points and that patients would likely view an intervention that is safe, effective, and saves them money as more than just a "modest" improvement.

The new technology might expand the range of people who could administer tPA, said Robert Bonow, a cardiologist at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.

As a geriatrician who treats many patients with cognitive problems, Lee A. Lindquist, MD, MPH, is accustomed to seeing family members accompany patients on visits to her Chicago clinic. The relatives often serve as caregivers and help make critical medical decisions.

"This new unit represents a true collaboration between our emergency, cardiology and nursing departments," said Charles Davidson, MD, Medical Director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Daily blasts of too-high blood sugar can disrupt metabolism in several ways, said Dr. Stephen Devries, a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Lyle Berkowitz, medical director of clinical information systems for the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, Chicago, talks with Modern Healthcare reporter Maureen McKinney on his selection as one of this year's Top 25 Clinical Informaticists.

Joe Feinglass, one of the study's authors and a research professor of medicine at Northwestern, noted "There's more than a three-hour difference in the amount of completely sedentary time each day, where people are just sitting around doing nothing, during the months with less daylight, such as November, versus June."

"Pregnancy feels like a period in your life when you want very badly to do the right thing, but you don't have control of what's going to happen, so women look for areas they can control," said Dr. Ann Borders, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.

"Eczema, psoriasis and seborrhea are each specific skin conditions," says Dr. Peter Lio, assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University and director of the Eczema Care and Education Center in Chicago.

Women who drink two or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day increase their chances of heart disease and diabetes, according to a study by Northwestern University's Department of Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Clyde W. Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, urged caution before jumping to any conclusions about vitamin C, however. "There is a benefit to a heart-healthy lifestyle, but it is not clear if vitamin C is independently associated with better outcomes among people with heart failure," he said.

Daily blasts of too-high blood sugar can disrupt metabolism in several ways, said Dr. Stephen Devries, a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

"This tells us that the immediacy of the tragedy is being followed by risk that may have implications in later life," says Clyde Yancy, a cardiologist at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago who was not involved in the study. "That's very disconcerting."

"A more robust search for family members should be done," says Laurie Zoloth, a bioethicist at Northwestern University.

That unfamiliar visual experience, Northwestern University ophthalmology professor Michael Rosenberg said, "translates into greater mental effort, making it easier to get a headache." 

In September the New York Times reported on a study published by Northwestern University that showed testosterone dropped after fatherhood.

My name is Mark Alberts, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Stroke Program at Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Today I would like to update you about some exciting news.

"This fascinating study found that the 2 groups of patients with moderately active RA who took etanercept did better than those who had etanercept withdrawn, but patients on half-dose etanercept did as well as those on full-doses etanercept," stated Eric Ruderman, MD, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

The traditional PSA test, developed in 1991 by Dr. William Catalona, a Northwestern University urologist, has always been controversial because high scores often don't mean prostate cancer.

"It's always a shame to hear 'potentially, potentially, potentially' without any real scientific basis," says Dr. John Kessler, the director of the Stem Cell Institute at Northwestern University.

Dr. William Spies, Northwestern Memorial Hospital Radiologist: "There are standard treatments for Parkinson's disease. What we're trying to do with this test is to help them with troubled patients, difficult patients where they're not certain whether or not the patient has Parkinson's disease or another similar movement disorder."

"If there is a viral cause, one reason why it hasn't been identified to date is that we strongly suspect it is a virus in some new viral family that has not been discovered," says Dr. Anne Rowley, a leading expert in Kawasaki disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Although efforts are made to address patients' concerns, there are a number of reasons a doctor might not provide breast reconstruction information during a breast cancer diagnosis, noted session moderator Marla L. Clayman, PhD, assistant professor and health communication researcher in the division of general internal medicine at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois.

Dorothy D. Dunlop, Ph.D., of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues set out to fill this knowledge gap by measuring the levels of physical activity in adults with knee osteoarthritis.

Before the PSA test, many men weren't diagnosed with prostate cancer until it had already spread, "and they died from it," said Dr. William Catalona, Northwestern University urology professor and director of the prostate cancer program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. "And it's a really terrible death."

Northwestern Memorial Hospital has used DaTscan since October 2010 as part of a multicenter trial study, said Dr. William Spies, associate director of nuclear medicine at Northwestern.

"There are positive ways dads are involved in their children's health and negative ways," lead author Dr. Craig Garfield , an assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical social sciences at Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital, in Evanston, Ill., said in the release.
Also appeared on MSN Health

Flu season is just beginning in the Chicago area, and every year 20 percent of us come down with the virus. Dr. Catherine Cheng from Northwestern Medicine joined us with some tips on how to prepare for the flu season.

"We found that there's a huge difference in trying to get these patients to be active in the winter and trying to get them to be active in the summer," remarked Joe Feinglass, a research professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

They report success in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The researchers, led by Cynthia LaBella, associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, randomly assigned 95 coaches to either continue their usual warm-up routine with their female soccer and basketball players or to learn a new injury-prevention warm-up designed to be completed in about 15 minutes.

For some of the more elite programs, it might be easier to win the lottery than gain acceptance to programs like the BS/MD combined program at Washington University in St. Louis or Northwestern University's Honors Program in Medical Education.

Cynthia R. LaBella, M.D., from Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues examined the effect of coach-led neuromuscular warm-up on LE injuries in 1,492 female athletes of mixed-ethnicity from predominantly low income, urban populations.

Integrated Safety Data from Phase 2 Studies of Monotherapy Carfilzomib in Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma: An Updated Analysis. Dr. Seema Singhal, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

The American Academy of Pediatrics says limited screen time for 2 to 4-year-olds can be enriching if there is interaction with an adult. The recommendation is no screen time for children under the age of 2. "We don't want electronic media to be a hindrance to normal development," said Dr. Anita Chandra, American Academy of Pediatrics.

Katie Watson, an assistant professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, wrote a recent essay addressing gallows humor in medicine.

"We found that there's a huge difference in trying to get these patients to be active in the winter and trying to get them to be active in the summer," said Joe Feinglass, a research professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"It is always a challenge when using databases like these to make sure you have accurate data," said Eric Ruderman, MD, associate professor of medicine and clinical practice director of the rheumatology division at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

The study was conducted by Northwestern University's Comprehensive Center on Obesity, and BodyMedia, Inc, which makes armbands that measure an individual's energy expenditure.

The prevalence of rotavirus (RV) in adults dropped by half after widespread pediatric vaccination against the virus, Evan Anderson, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, reported during a poster session here at Infectious Diseases Society of America 49th Annual Meeting.

"It may very well be a stress factor," said Phyllis Zee, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern University. "If you feel lonely, that itself could be a stress. It's almost like a threat where you can't feel safe."

According to Dr. Clyde Yancy, professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, you can add ten years or more to your life by taking just seven steps to improve your health.

Dr. Neil J. Stone of Northwestern University, chairman of the cholesterol panel, said, "We're taking extraordinary measures to reduce any bias from potential conflicts of interest on a panel with tremendous expertise."

Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD, director of the sleep disorders center, was interviewed live on ABC's Windy City Live! regarding healthy sleeping habits.

Dr. Hrayr Attarian, a neurologist with Northwestern Medicine, said this weekend is the perfect time to reset your sleep habits.

Experts say between commuting, work and computer or TV time at home we spend up to 15 hours a day sitting down. Melissa Paolino, an exercise physiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said, "I would go as far as to say it's killing us."

Chicago Youth Programs was founded by Northwestern University pediatric medical students Joe DiCara and Karen Sheehan, who, at the time, noticed that the most prevalent health risks for children weren't the rare conditions in their textbooks, but more common dangers in the community, such as gangs, gun violence, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.

Robert Bonow, past president of AHA and a professor of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, notes that the problem with the observational studies showing a relatively small risk or benefit of alcohol is that it's always possible that drinkers differ from non-drinkers in fundamental ways that might mask the true effects of alcohol consumption.

"Sleep problems are widespread and on the rise, yet many people dismiss the issue and don't realize the consequences that can result," said Hrayr Attarian, MD, neurologist at Northwestern Memorial and associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"In the United States, more than 400 people die prematurely every day and many more are becoming disabled due to the excessive sodium in our food supply," said Stephen Havas, MD, author of the APHA resolution and adjunct professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. "Their failure to prevent this toll of death and disability is inexcusable. We must do better."

A team led by Northwestern University chemical biologist Neil Kelleher has developed a new "top-down" method that can separate and identify thousands of protein molecules quickly.

A team of scientists led by Northwestern University researcher Neil Kelleher has developed a workflow for high-throughput top-down proteomics, using it to identify more than 3,000 protein species in an analysis of HeLa S3 cells.

Anne T. Berg, Ph.D., from Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues investigated the likelihood of attaining complete remission in children with NSE over the course of 10 years or more from initial diagnosis.

A dazzling new hospital with the right payer mix in a west suburban location is an enticing draw for Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, which is on the hunt to expand its reach beyond its home near downtown Chicago.

"I hope what you heard today is not a no, but a not yet," said Clyde Yancy, the panel chairman and chief of the cardiology division at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare are in talks to merge, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

"There are people in all different fields looking at this as a way to make money," said Karlan, a facial plastic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Stephen Miller, 63, is a Ph.D. who has spent most of his career researching autoimmune diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Michael F. Fleming, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, recently organized a conference at Northwestern that brought together national experts to discuss ways to reduce drinking by college students.

Mark E. Molitch, MD, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, who is not affiliated with the study, spoke with Medscape Medical News about the results.

Chaired by Dr. Clyde Yancy (Northwestern University, Chicago, IL), the advisory panel voted 9 to 1 that the data do not provide reasonable assurance about the safety of the AF catheter-ablation system.

Rex Chisholm, vice-dean for scientific affairs and graduate education at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, says that trying to make up for the cut "would create real difficulties for Northwestern and most other medical schools. Most of us don't have that kind of money just lying around."

Based on a study at Northwestern University, the average radiologist would take at least that long to interpret only four mammograms.

Men who spend little time in the sun, live in northern locales or have dark skin may need to increase their intake of vitamin D to prevent deficiency, a Northwestern University medical researcher has found.

"There's not a shift that goes by when I don't see a patient who said, 'I looked this up, and I'm worried about this,'" said Dr. Rahul Khare, emergency medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician at Northwestern Medicine, joined us with some tips.

Dr. Ralph R. Kazer -- a reproductive endocrinologist at Northwestern Memorial and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago -- said often when a cancer patient is first diagnosed he or she is not looking into the future and thinking about starting a family.

But is there reason to be alarmed? Dr. Rahul Khare of Northwestern Memorial Hospital agrees with the study that hand washing is important, but he emphasizes that we shouldn't turn into a nation of germophobes.

"PSA is the best screening test we have for prostate cancer, and until there is a replacement for PSA, it would be unconscionable to stop it," said prostate cancer surgeon William Catalona, MD, director of the Clinical Prostate Cancer Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago.

"We do sometimes see that because of the severity of a condition, people have difficulties fulfilling their family roles," said internist Joshua Hauser, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and palliative care at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago

"It's hard to believe that it's something that makes a great deal of sense," said Joel Frader, a pediatrician and bioethicist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "It would be difficult to justify testing it on kids simply on the hypothetical possibility that there might be an attack."

In fact a study by the Laboratory for Human Biology Research at Northwestern University found that children exposed to more animal faeces and suffering more cases of diarrhoea before the age of two had less incidence of inflammation in the body in later years.

Canadians who tend to pride themselves on being healthier, generally, than their neighbors south of the border need to take a cold hard look at CVD trends in their own country, according to American cardiologist Dr. Clyde Yancy (Northwestern University, Chicago, IL), who was the keynote speaker during the opening ceremony of the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011.

Dr. Clyde Yancy of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, who is to deliver the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Lecture at the opening ceremonies of the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Vancouver Sunday, said following his guidelines can greatly enhance people's odds of achieving longevity.

"The death rate is still unacceptably high," said Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Hospitals need to aggressively treat heart failure patients' other ailments and immediately schedule follow-up care after discharge, said Gheorghiade, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

Managing diabetes, knowing and controlling cholesterol levels and blood pressure, following a healthy diet, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, getting active, and forswearing tobacco are the steps advocated by Dr. Yancy, a professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at the Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also the past-president of the American Heart Association.

A visit to the hospital at Northwestern University turned up the diagnosis of a closed-head traumatic brain injury, sending Zimmermann down a life path that included several surgeries, a stay in a rehabilitation facility for therapy, financial problems due to people who took advantage of him over the years, and some large medical bills that have yet to be paid.

Making seven simple changes to your lifestyle could add a decade of healthy years to your life. That's the claim made by a top cardiologist from Northwestern University.

Now, I was horrified. This helped to explain new research from Northwestern University that reported people who frequently attend religious services are significantly more likely to become obese by the time they reach middle age.

Dr. Clyde Yancy, a professor at Northwestern University who will deliver an address at the Canadian Cardiovascular Conference, said that managing blood sugar levels is a critical step for preventing cardiovascular complications. This may help diabetics live longer lives.

"Our report offers a path to develop an Energy Star equivalent for foods and beverages," said Northwestern University professor Ellen Wartella, who chairs the committee that wrote the report. She was referring to the government-run labeling system that lets shoppers easily identify appliances that meet certain standards of energy efficiency.

"I really don't know a whole lot about appliances and kilowatts, but when I see the Energy Star on a stove I want to buy, I know it's energy-efficient and that's all I need to know as a consumer," said Ellen A. Wartella, a professor of communication and psychology at Northwestern University and the chairwoman of the committee that wrote the report.

Ellen Wartella, chair of the committee and a professor at Northwestern University, said at the press conference that while there are many factors that influence what and how Americans eat, "there's a clear disconnect" between the dietary guidelines for better health and what people actually eat.

"American shoppers are busy shoppers," said Ellen Wartella, a Northwestern University psychology professor who chaired the Institute committee that studied food labels at the government's request. "We want a really simple system that says if you have three marks, that product is healthier than one with two marks."

"A successful front-of-package nutrition rating system would enable shoppers to instantly recognize healthier products by their number of points and calorie information," said Ellen Wartella, a professor of psychology and communication at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and chair of the committee that wrote the report.

"Given that most of us - as many as 90 percent -- will develop high blood pressure with age, we all should be consuming less than 1,500 mg a day of sodium, unless your health care provider has told you that this doesn't apply to you," Dr. Clyde Yancy, past president of the American Heart Association and the cardiology chief at Northwestern University, said in a statement.

"Blood supply to tumors can be complex and can present challenges for interventional radiologists," said Riad Salem, M.D., MBA, FSIR, who wrote an accompanying commentary in JVIR. "This research advances the field and provides information that is immediately applicable to all interventional radiologists when treating their cancer patients," said Salem, professor of radiology, medicine and surgery and director of interventional oncology, division of interventional radiology, in the department of radiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill.

"The death rate is still unacceptably high," said Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Researchers from Northwestern University in the US have developed a material that can radically change its electronic properties.

Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University and a spokesman for the American Heart Association, noted that for patients who did wind up in the hospital, the death rates one year later didn't decline dramatically over that same period - a finding that he said wasn't surprising.

The "persistently" and "unacceptably" high one-year mortality rates suggested a need for immediate attention to heart failure postdischarge practices, wrote Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade of Northwestern University in Chicago and Dr. Eugene Braunwald of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard in Boston.

Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade, associate director of the Center for Cardiovascular Innovation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and co-author of an accompanying editorial, said that "the study is encouraging, but we still have a big problem with mortality and morbidity."

Public health experts began focusing on heart-failure hospitalizations in the early 1990s, when studies showed 15 percent of patients died and 30 percent were readmitted within three months, wrote cardiologists Mihai Gheorghiade from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and Eugene Braunwald from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, in an editorial.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital plans to start construction next year on a 25-story medical office building, betting the $334-million project will create an edge amid the scramble for downtown patients.

But Dr. Jason Washburn of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine says the definitions being used to identify the disorder are problematic, leading to the jump in diagnosis.

"The death rate is still unacceptably high," said Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Researchers at Northwestern University have published a paper in this month's edition of Nature Nanotechnology that demonstrates a rather astonishing discovery.

Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade, associate director of the Center for Cardiovascular Innovation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and co-author of an accompanying editorial, said that "the study is encouraging, but we still have a big problem with mortality and morbidity."

Although the study authors argue that social phobia is a psychiatric disorder somewhat separate from normal shyness, the two lie on the same spectrum, says Dr. Mark Reinecke, chief psychologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"We're not recommending that you just put 4-year-olds on meds right away," says Karen Pierce, MD, a child psychiatrist who helped develop the guidelines. Pierce is also a clinical associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Northwestern University researchers--the same ones that brought us self-erasing documents a couple of years ago--are envisioning a day when computers and other gadgets can rewire themselves automatically to better suit the user's needs at a given moment.

Researchers at Northwestern University say they have developed reconfigurable electronic materials that can rearrange themselves to meet different computational needs at different times.

The disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, strikes people in their 30s and 40s and causes degeneration of the cerebellum, the part of the brain controlling movement, medical researchers at Northwestern University said.

Ralph Kazer, MD, chief of reproductive endocrinology, was interviewed regarding the possibility that IVF treatments may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer. Kazer comments that studies have found that IVF does not represent a risk factor for developing breast cancer.

Last month, a study of 624 men found their testosterone levels dropped by one third when their children are born. The researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago said this drop causes men to become less aggressive and display a more caring side.

The PSA test became the prime weapon to battle prostate cancer due largely to urologist William Catalona of the Northwestern University medical school.

Lower-income, urban dads are involved in their children's health and encourage them to exercise and eat healthy foods, reports a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine., but these same dads may also give their kids the wrong dose of medicine and may be uncomfortable handling emergency medical care for their children.

"Both musical ability and literacy correlated with enhanced electrical signals within the auditory brainstem," said study leader Dr Nina Kraus, from Northwestern University in the US.

Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a new nanomaterial that can "steer" electrical currents.

Dr. William Catalona, director of the clinical prostate cancer program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, tells us that figure is outdated and that new data will show more men actually benefit from surgery.

Chad Mirkin is one of the authors of a research paper in the journal Science that describes just how to do that. He is a professor of chemistry and director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Now researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois say they've gone nature one better by building crystalline materials from nanoparticles and DNA, using nanoparticles as "atoms" and DNA as "bonds" to build completely new structures that have no naturally occurring mineral counterpart.

Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and colleagues wondered if they could wrest control from nature and create crystals where the bond lengths and number of bonds don't depend on the size or composition of the component particles.

"Patients with Barrett's esophagus have the same life expectancy as does the general population, and esophageal cancer proves to be an uncommon cause of death in patients with Barrett's esophagus," wrote Dr. Peter J. Kahrilas, chief of gastroenterology at the Northwestern University medical school and the author of the editorial.

Researchers from Northwestern University may have figured out a way to turn off food allergies for even the most severe sufferers by tweaking the immune system.

Despite its limitations, Dr. Robert Kushner, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinburg School of Medicine, said that the registry offers realistic hope for people looking to shed a significant amount of weight.

Dr. Marie Crandall of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine has studied gunshot victims in Chicago, and found that transport times do affect their chances of survival.

Researchers at Northwestern University have successfully tested mice with a method to suppress allergic reactions to peanuts

"We think we've found a way to safely and rapidly turn off the allergic response to food allergies," Dr. Paul J. Bryce, assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill. said in a statement Wednesday.

Advisory panel chairman Clyde Yancy, MD, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, called the new device "a technology that would not just benefit, but greatly benefit, these patients."

"We think we've found a way to safely and rapidly turn off the allergic response to food allergies," Dr. Paul J. Bryce, assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a written statement.

"It's a pretty straightforward call," said Dr. Nicholas Volpe, chairman of the department of ophthalmology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Don't wear a contact lens if you don't know how to properly take care of it and if it has not been properly fitted and prescribed by a physician."

Dr. Rahul Khare, emergency room physician and health services/public health researcher, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, "Using exercise and a healthy diet to keep my cholesterol under control. …With eating, I try to have fruit twice a day, veggies with every meal … and cut out all fast foods."

Now a team of scientists led by Northwestern University professor Richard I. Morimoto may have discovered a "master switch" that controls the development of the diseases, which include Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and how long people live.

More than 100 Chicagoland businesses are joining forces for "In Good Taste." When you dine there, donations of just a buck per check -- or more, if you desire -- will benefit the Lynn Sage Scholars Program at Northwestern University.

The word epidemic is increasingly being used to describe the 25 million Americans with diabetes. Dr. Mark Molitch, a physician with Northwestern Medicine joined us to explain how to prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes.

Stephen Miller, PhD, professor of microbiology-immunology, discusses peanut allergy research.

Scientists at Northwestern University were able to switch off a peanut allergy in mice and hope their successful experiment may ultimately lead to treatment for human patients.

Making a presentation on 'Children, Media and the Childhood Obesity Crisis' at the Northwestern University in Qatar's new lecture series, Ellen Wartella, Communication, Psychology, Human Development and Social Policy professor, said that worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980.

"The extent to which PSA screening causes overdiagnosis and overtreatment is exaggerated," William Catalona, MD, of Northwestern University in Chicago, said in an email. "Using surgical pathology criteria, the rates of overdiagnosis are even lower. In fact, there is more underdiagnosis of prostate cancer than overdiagnosis in patients treated with radical prostatectomy."

Given that Barrett's esophagus is an important risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma, identifying and monitoring it makes logical sense, according to Peter Kahrilas, MD, of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Researchers from Northwestern University found a way to tweak the immune system so that it doesn't go haywire when foods like peanuts and eggs are encountered - in mice, at least.

Damian Turner was a youth activist who was killed by a stray bullet in 2010. He was hit while he was on the South Side, near the University of Chicago. But he was transported downtown to an adult trauma center at Northwestern University.

Dr. Paul Bryce, an assistant professor of medicine and allergy specialist at Northwestern, said that, "knowing what is causing the increase in peanut allergies - it still remains to be determined."

"We think we've found a way to safely and rapidly turn off the allergic response to food allergies," said Paul Bryce, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in a statement.

Scientists from the Northwestern University in Chicago have come one step closer to developing a potential cure for peanut allergies, by creating an immune system tolerant to peanuts.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital has further expanded outside of Chicago with a new clinic in Moline. It'll serve potential transplant candidates, those awaiting a transplant and those seeking consultations for advanced or complex liver disease.

Dr. Steven Flamm, the program's medical director, says the expansion will have a big benefit to patients in the area and minimize trips to Chicago.

"It's probably the rare woman who is in good enough shape to run a marathon while pregnant. It's probably the exception more than the rule," said Dr. Priya Rajan, an assistant professor in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

A potentially fatal peanut allergy was switched off when scientists tricked the immune system to no longer treat nut proteins as a threat to the body, researchers from Northwestern Medicine reported in the Journal of Immunology.

It's being conducted at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and involves turning off the body's allergic response by attaching peanut proteins onto blood cells.

Paul Bryce and Stephen Miller of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said they turned off a life-threatening allergic response to peanuts by tricking the immune system into thinking the nut proteins aren't a threat to the body.

Also appears in: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Washington Post, and more

"Lack of sleep doesn't necessarily cause heart disease," says Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and director of the Sleep Disorders Program at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

The study by researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine achieved peanut tolerance by attaching peanut proteins onto blood cells and reintroducing them to the body - tricking the immune system into thinking the proteins pose no threat.

Allergy experts at Northwestern University in Chicago have managed to create immune system tolerance to peanuts in those who are sensitive to them, by attaching peanut proteins on to white blood cells.

The popularity of the P.S.A. test as the main weapon against prostate cancer is due in large measure to the earnest and passionate advocacy of William Catalona, a urologist from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. William Catalona, who led the study here and now works at Northwestern University, said in interviews Friday that he still encourages men to get the test and that its harms have been exaggerated.

Dr. Leonard Gomella, chairman of urology at Thomas Jefferson University, called the decision an "appalling affront to all men who will die from prostate cancer." Dr. William Catalona, director of the Clinical Prostate Cancer Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said, "The extent to which PSA screening causes over diagnosis and overtreatment is exaggerated."

"This is nothing drastically different than what they've been running in all summer and what they've been training in," said Dr. George Chiampas, medical director for the marathon. "Their training has been in this, if not warmer, temperatures throughout the summer, so I anticipate the majority of people to welcome this day."

"The bottom line is that we should encourage screening because it will give men the full range of options to avoid death from prostate cancer," said William Catalona of Northwestern University's medical school.

"It's usually made from a real fatty kind of pork, the shoulder," says Holly Herrington, registered dietitian at the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. "You really can't trim that off." 

In a 2009 Northwestern University study, medical residents with sim lab experience needed fewer needle passes to insert an IV and were more confident about their procedural skills compared with residents who received traditional training.

The desire to protect is natural and universal, said Mary Doheny, a clinical psychologist with Northwestern University's Family Institute. "The problem is that when you go behind their backs you forfeit their trust," Doheny said.

One of course's developers, Dr. George Chiampas, says about 60 percent of runners suffer from exercise-associated collapses, including becoming lightheaded, weakness in the legs, hyperthermia and sodium shortages that can affect the body immediately after the run.

We were also joined by Dr. Dr. Mahvi, an oncologist with Northwestern Medicine.

Researcher Christina Zelano says while it may not be obvious predictive templates give us a behavioral advantage, people often overlook the power of the sense of smell.

Ram Yogev, MD, medical director of pediatric and maternal HIV infection at Children's Memorial Hospital and professor of pediatric, adolescent, and maternal HIV infection at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, presented the findings.

Physicians making referrals for cardiac stress testing often underestimate their patients' ability to exercise to target heart rate, according to Dr. Michael Ross.

The editorial, written by Philip Greenland, MD, of Northwestern University in Chicago, and Tamar S. Polonsky, MD, of the University of Chicago, acknowledged the uncertainty in the area of CAC testing, and noted that testing could improve classification of risk by placing more individuals in extreme risk categories.

Dr. Maria Colavincenzo, an assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, points out that some people never go gray, so taking an unnecessary pill for such a long time for something that might not even happen sounds a little nutso.

Author Katie Watson decided to explore gallows humour in medicine when a doctor friend told her how he and his colleagues failed to save a teenage pizza delivery boy who had been shot.

"It takes a dark-skinned male like myself 90 minutes three times a week to absorb enough sunlight to produce the recommended amount of Vitamin D compared to just 15 minutes three times a week for a Caucasian male," said said Dr. Adam Murphy, a clinical instructor in urology at Northwestern's Feinberg School.

Teepu Siddique, MD, and his team announced they have discovered the common cause of ALS, which could help open the door for the development of treatments for the disease.

The cause of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) has long eluded scientists and prevented the development of effective therapies. However, a new study from Les Turner ALS Foundation researcher Dr. Teepu Siddique and his team at Northwestern has identified a common cause of all forms of ALS.

"A number of chemotherapeutic agents have been clearly associated with cardiac toxicity. This is a statement of fact," said Clyde W. Yancy, MD, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in an email to ABC News and MedPage Today.

"This drug appears to put the brakes on abnormal development of scar tissue in the lungs and skin and may also work in other organs," said lead author Manu Jain, M.D., associate professor of medicine and of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Children's Memorial Hospital. 

Clinical psychologist Timothy Pearman, PhD, serves as director of the Lurie Cancer Center's Supportive Oncology Program. He'll be a panelist at the center's upcoming Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Town Hall Meeting on Sunday October 2nd, which will cover the latest in breast cancer research, treatment and support.

"These diseases have a high fatality rate, and there is no truly effective treatment for them right now," lead author Manu Jain, MD, of Northwestern University in Chicago, noted in a press release.

Hello, and welcome to this Medscape stroke blog. I am Dr. Mark Alberts, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Stroke Program at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

But there is hope. In a new study published Aug. 21 in the journal Nature, researchers at Northwestern University discovered a common cause of all forms of ALS, which could boost efforts to find a treatment for the fatal disease.

"This study shows that across-the-board vitamin D recommendations just won't work for everybody," said study researcher Dr. Adam B. Murphy, clinical instructor in the department of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in an American Association for Cancer Research news release.

For her study, Dr. Farmer, who is now a post-doctoral researcher at Northwestern University in Chicago, was able to produce a "vulvodynia-like" state in female mice by exposing them to a series of yeast infections.

"The bouncer molecule stopped the immune cells from going crazy," said Harris Perlman, associate professor of rheumatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School, who led the study.

"This drug appears to put the brakes on abnormal development of scar tissue in the lungs and skin and may also work in other organs," said lead author Manu Jain, M.D., associate professor of medicine and of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Children's Memorial Hospital.

Thomas Hope, professor of cellular and molecular biology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, has a novel idea for shrinking the number of people with HIV.

Before experiencing symptoms, many patients with younger onset dementia had expected to continue working well into their 60s. But unlike Summitt, most patients have usually lost their jobs or had to retire early because of their symptoms by the time they are diagnosed, said Dr. Diana Kerwin, geriatric physician and assistant professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Are there patients out there who have schizophrenia who would not have had it without substance abuse? There may be," said Dr. Csernansky, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University, Chicago.

"[High] schools are not going to have a physician on the field," Dr. H. Hunt Batjer, professor and chair of neurological surgery at Northwestern University, Chicago, said in an interview. In the metro Chicago area, "many do not have close affiliation with a trainer. Somebody is going to have to take on that role of identifying a concussed athlete.
Also appeared on Internal Medicine News

"This study shows that across the board vitamin D recommendations just won't work for everybody," said Adam B. Murphy, MD, MBA, clinical instructor in the department of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who reported the study at the fourth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Washington, D.C.

"This study shows that across the board, vitamin D recommendations just won't work for everybody," Adam B. Murphy, MD, MBA, clinical instructor in the Department of Urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, said in a statement.

This study shows that the current one-size fits all recommendations for 600 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D don't work," said Adam Murphy, M.D., a clinical instructor in urology at Northwestern's Feinberg School. "Skin color and sunlight exposure need to be considered for recommended daily allowances of Vitamin D."

"CDI was able to provide us with the necessary endothelial cells to endothelialize our decellularized organ scaffolds. The preliminary data look excellent," said Dr. Michael Abecassis, Founding Director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Bryan Gammon, M.D., from Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues described their experience using MMF to treat 24 patients with CLE refractory to antimalarial therapy.

Dr. Michael Terry, orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and team physician for Northwestern University athletics, said the law's education part is key.

Dr. Teepu Siddique led the research team at Northwestern University. He says as the disease progresses, the patient eventually becomes trapped in his own body, unable to swallow, speak or breathe. "From a human point of view, it's a very degrading experience, besides being fatal," he said.

"Currently, there is no reliable screening test to identify early ovarian cancer. Women need to focus on good health habits, listen to their bodies and tell their doctor if a change occurs," said Diljeet Singh, MD, gynecological oncologist and co-director of the Ovarian Cancer Early Detection and Prevention Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. 

Sandra Weintraub, professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Alzheimer's center of the Northwestern University school of medicine, said that many people develop new relationships while caring for a spouse in the last stages of Alzheimer's, but that advising them to seek a divorce "strikes me as ludicrous."

"There are many spouses who are devoted to the affected person with Alzheimer's, and yet form new relationships as they also care for their spouse," said Sandra Weintraub, professor of neurology and a neuropsychologist at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"We really don't have any information on patients until they actually get to our emergency department. We do not have electrocardiograms we may have a symptom history, but its not enough to activate a cardiac cath lab," said Dr. Charles Davidson, interventional cardiologist, Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"It's potentially harmful," said Northwestern pulmonologist Dr. Lewis Smith. "People with respiratory diseases, when they breathe smog or material like this, can see a worsening of their symptoms: more cough, more sputum, more shortness of breath. Hopefully, if this only lasts a short period of time, the overall harm is small."

Eric Hungness, MD, GI endocrine surgery, was interviewed on WGN-TV regarding an incisionless surgery technique to treat an esophageal disorder that uses the body's natural orifices to reduce pain for patients. 

It's often referred to as a silent killer, but doctors say ovarian cancer can be detected early if women are aware of its subtle symptoms. Dr. Diljeet Singh, a gynecologic oncologist at Northwestern Medicine, joined us with details.

According to cardiologist, Bradley Knight, MD, the switch from "hot" to "cold" has been good for patients. 

"Sharp underwent an emergent surgical appendectomy (Monday) evening after experiencing some abnormal abdominal discomfort," team physician Michael Terry said in a statement.

I sought the opinion of Dr. Charles Zugerman, associate professor of clinical dermatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University and on the staff of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"You get much higher antibody [counts] when you vaccinate individuals who are younger, compared to a person vaccinated in their late teens or older," explains Dr. Tina Tan, Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending physician at Children's Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Martha Daviglus of Northwestern University, who led a panel last year that assessed published papers on preventing and treating Alzheimer's, wants to test insulin again in a much more extensive study, according to the New York Times.

The study tracked the careers of 99 NFL players who had such injuries, and was conducted by Dr. Wellington K. Hsu, an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"We are long overdue for a change in our model of inpatient psychiatric care," said John Csernansky, MD, chair of psychiatry at Northwestern Memorial's Stone Institute of Psychiatry.

Dr. Wellington K. Hsu, an assistant professor at Northwestern University with a joint appointment in the department of orthopaedic surgery and department of neurological surgery, spoke with NFL.com on Thursday to shed light on the path facing Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who's recovering from his third neck procedure in 19 months.

"National studies show there are higher rates of allergic antibodies to food in African American individuals," Dr. Rajesh Kumar, an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatric allergist at Children's Memorial Hospital, said in a news release.

The report is a "valuable snapshot" even if it likely misses some of the instructional time spent on those issues, according to Raymond Curry, MD, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

It's difficult to determine how much of the relevant information on LGBT-issues is threaded into other lectures and discussions, says Dr. Raymond Curry, Vice Dean for Education at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Pediatricians at Northwestern University have shed new light on why some children develop sensitivities to foods such as eggs, peanuts and milk. Their reason? Race and ancestry.

In an associated report Raymond H. Curry, M.D., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, writes that the discoveries of this investigation on the need for educating LGBT issues can be viewed in connection to evidence for disparities in health care.

Linda Van Horn, professor of preventive medicine, comments on efforts by the food industry to put vegetables into their products.

Dr. Richard G. Wunderink of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, published a comment on van der Sluijs' paper. It is difficult to determine how many deaths are due to viral infection alone, bacterial infection alone, or a combination, he reported. He recommended more use of vaccinations and antiviral drugs, as well as antibiotic treatment.

Northwestern Medicine pediatrician Dr. Anjali Rao joined us with ways you can help you child shift from summertime to school time.

That is incredibly concerning," said Dorothy Dunlop, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern and a lead author of the study. "Being overweight is certainly common in people with osteoarthritis, and if these people are inactive that complicates their ability to lose weight, as well as denies them the benefits of physical activity," she said.
Also appeared in the Chicago Tribune , Hartford Courant

"Added sugars have become such a predominant feature of the American diet, the average person swallows 350 to 475 calories' worth of sugar each day," says Linda Van Horn, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

However, Dorothy Dunlop, an associate professor of medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and an author of a recent study on physical activity and osteoarthritis, commended the new campaign for focusing on "everyday activity."

"Most people think of the Plague as a historic disease, but it's still a public health issue today, both in the human population and in animals," said Wyndham Lathem, lead author of the study and assistant professor of microbiology-immunology at Northwestern's Feinberg School.
Also appeared on LabSpaces.net , GenEngNews.com

In the early 1990s, Dr. Siddique helped to discover mutations in a gene called SOD1 associated with some inherited forms of the disease. He and other researchers have since identified a variety of other mutations relevant to A.L.S. "The problem is that these mutations pertain to a very small number of patients," he said in an interview.

"If we knew what components [exerted the healthy effects], we would package them in a pill," says past American Heart Association president Robert Bonow, MD, of Northwestern University in Chicago. He was not involved with the study.

Last year, researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine discovered that the gene BOULE is not only responsible for sperm production, it's actually the first known gene to be required for sperm production in species ranging from insects to mammals.

"The scan by itself does not make the diagnosis of Parkinson's but it allows us to identify patients who have loss of dopamine, the major chemical responsible for the symptoms, from those who have no dopamine deficiency," said Tanya Simuni, MD, a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial and director of Northwestern's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center.

"Age in and of itself is relatively meaningless," said gerontologist Celia Berdes of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "You just have to be aware and responsible in evaluating your own ability to function."

There should be no question about that, said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an associate professor of pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago who studies food allergies.

Phyllis Zee, neuroscience professor at Northwestern University in Chicago, said: "It could affect your circadian rhythm - the clock in your brain that determines when you sleep and when you wake up."

When Joe DiCara left home to attend the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in the early '80s he assured his parents he'd be back home in New Jersey four years later. That was before the kids in the Cabrini Green projects touched his heart.

Dr. Jose Dutra, Head & Neck Surgeon, Northwestern Memorial Hospital: "Most of the time those nodules are benign, and the price of finding out is a large scar on the neck." 

"This is the first time we have some evidence about a neurodegenerative condition where we have an idea about mechanism. When you have some idea about mechanism of disease, then you can start to straighten that pathway out and find drugs that would affect or normalize that pathway," lead author Teepu Siddique, a professor of neurology, said in an interview.

"We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimize it, so it functions as it should in a normal state," study researcher Dr. Teepu Siddique, M.D., professor of neurology and clinical neurosciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement.

"The ear is a sensitive organ," says Gordon Siegel, M.D., associate professor of clinical otolaryngology head and neck surgery at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "I don't think that I would trust any sensitive organ to a salon."

"Eating more of these simple, inexpensive ingredients such as oatmeal, barley and beans, peas and lentils can have a significant impact on lowering blood cholesterol and risk for a heart attack -- one forkful at a time," Dr. Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, told USA Today.

Nutrition researcher Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, says the study shows that "eating more of these simple, inexpensive ingredients such as oatmeal, barley and beans, peas and lentils can have a significant impact on lowering blood cholesterol and risk for a heart attack - one forkful at a time."
Also appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times

Even patients without the UBQLN2 mutation had features of the disrupted pathway, suggesting that it is a "common pathological feature in a wide spectrum of ALS and ALS/dementia," according to Dr. Teepu Siddique of Northwestern University in Chicago and coauthors.

"We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimize it, so it functions as it should in a normal state," Dr. Teepu Siddique, a professor of neurology at Northwestern University in Chicago, said in a news release.

"This opens up a whole new field for finding an effective treatment for ALS," study senior author Dr. Teepu Siddique, of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

I think this pathway is the key," said Teepu Siddique, lead author of the study and the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C. Wenske Foundation professor in the department of neurology and clinical neurosciences at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Lead author Teepu Siddique said: "This opens up a whole new field for finding an effective treatment for ALS. We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimise it, so it functions as it should in a normal state."

"This opens up a whole new field for finding an effective treatment for ALS," said senior author Teepu Siddique, M.D., the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C. Wenske Professor of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School and a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Also appeared on ScienceCodex.com , TopNews.in , EBioNews.com , News-Medical.net , MedicalXPress.com

The report's findings reflect the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the field, said Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. At any meeting of scientists "you can identify very quickly that there is a dearth of diversity among the audience and in particular those presenting the important information," he said in a telephone interview.

Dr. Eric Neilson has been named the new dean of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Neilson has also been appointed chairman of the board of the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation.

Cardiologist Robert Bonow, MD, who is a past president of the American Heart Association (AHA), says until such a trial is done it will not be clear if coronary calcium screening influences treatment and changes outcomes.

Some studies indicate exercise may delay or even prevent disability in people with arthritis, said Dorothy Dunlop, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study.

"With the growth of the Internet, patients have better access to information about alternative products and often turn to dietary and herbal supplements to treat their illness because they think they're natural and safe," June M. McKoy, MD, geriatric oncology director at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University said in a written statement.

Eric Neilson, 61, was also appointed chairman of the board of Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation. He takes both jobs beginning Sept. 1.

Lauren Streicher, MD, gynecology, was interviewed live on ABC's Windy City Live! regarding questions a male would like to ask a gynecologist.  Streicher answered questions live from male viewers and commented that if a male over the age of 50 suddenly has issues with erection, they should get checked for cardiovascular disease.

"The only way to improve quality is to measure quality," said Dr. Abel Kho, a physician and professor at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. Last year, he received federal stimulus money to help Chicago area doctors make the switchover.

David Liebovitz, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, discusses electronic medical records.

Lee A. Lindquist, MD, a geriatrician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said she frequently asks her patients' caregivers about their own health.

So now people are looking for alternative acne treatments, says Amy Forman Taub, MD, the medical director of Advanced Dermatology and an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Medical School both in Chicago.

"We gave you some toxic things, which were good and they cured your cancer, but they affected normal cells as well. So what we need to do is make sure you stay healthy for as long as possible," said Dr. Aarati Didwania, internist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Every Thursday, Laboratory Equipment features a Scientist of the Week, chosen from the science industry's latest headlines. This week's scientist is Jack Kessler from Northwestern Univ. Kessler's research was on fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a genetic disease wherein connective tissue begins to ossify and turn into bone. 

There is a new and improved way to give CPR in emergency situations. Dr. Amer Aldeen, an emergency room physician with Northwestern Medicine, joined us to explain hands-only CPR.

Kim Lebowitz Feingold, lead author of the study, performed the research for her psychology Ph.D. dissertation at Ohio State. Now director of Cardiac Behavioral Medicine at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lebowitz Feingold said the project grew from her interest in the field of positive psychology.
Also appeared on MedCompare.com , Health24.com (South Africa)

But these replacements are expensive - from $60,000 to $80,000, according to Dr. Victoria Brander, associate clinical professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and co-director of Operation Walk Chicago.

One of the main things to remember, said Dr. Hunt Batjer, chair of neurosurgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago in an AP story on concussion awareness, is that any blow to the head must be treated as "a traumatic brain injury."

It's hard to put Alice Dreger in a box. Part historian, part columnist, part advocate, part educator and mother of one, Dreger works to improve social and medical treatment for people with norm-challenging bodies, including conjoined twins and intersexed individuals.

"Concussions aren't discriminatory; they affect people of all ages and all activities, even in non-contact sports such as gymnastics or cheerleading," Dr. Hunt Batjer of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "In fact, young girls may be at a higher risk than boys when it comes to concussions."

Professor of chemistry and materials science Samuel I. Stupp and his colleagues have designed an artificial nanostructure that mimics a natural protein to trigger a cascade of complex events that promote the growth of new blood vessels, a university release reported Monday.

"One of the major challenges in the field of ischemic tissue repair is sustained delivery of therapeutic agents to target tissue," said Douglas W. Losordo, M.D., a co-author of the paper and director of Northwestern's Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute.

Also participating in the calls with the 32 teams were NFL doctors Hunt Batjer and Richard Ellenbogen, who primarily addressed head injuries. 

Unlike donation of organs from the deceased, living donation was not regulated until 2006. Among the safeguards are requirements that centers establish separate transplant teams for donors that include an independent donor advocate, said Dr. John Friedewald, a transplant nephrologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Carrie Jaworski, head team physician for Northwestern University Athletics, says a concussion can occur anytime there's a hit to the head causing jarring or shaking that disturbs brain function.

"[People] don't think they have to stick to the recommended daily dose," Dr. Michael Wolf, associate division chief of General Internal Medicine at Northwestern University, told ABC News.

Researchers from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine recruited 40 acute back pain patients and 37 with chronic back pain for the study.

Quinn hopes increased awareness at the grassroots level affects Illinois the way it did the NFL. Teams reported 25 percent more concussions last year, according to Hunt Batjer, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and co-chairman of the league's head, neck and spine committee.

Dr. Michael Wolf, the associate division chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern, said Johnson & Johson was moving in a good direction.

Participating were NFL doctors Hunt Batjer and Richard Ellenbogen, who primarily addressed head injuries. Also updating the 32 teams were Dr. Douglas Casa, chief scientist at the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, and Dr. Margaret Kolka, former head of the Army's environmental medicine division. Casa and Kolka spoke about heat-related injuries.
Also appeared on NFL.com , CBSSports.com , ESPN.com , WashingtonPost.com ,

But Dr. John Kessler, director of the Neuroscience Institute at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, rejects the claims of adipose stem cells as a "miracle drug" without the proper testing and trials and adds that the sudden growth of companies such as IntelliCell will hurt the field even before it gets off the ground.

"Ding" is a misnomer; "it's a traumatic brain injury," Dr. Hunt Batjer said at the meeting. Batjer is chair of neurosurgery at Northwestern and co-chair of the National Football League's head, neck and spine committee.
Also appeared in the QCTimes.com , Daily Herald ,

Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have now found the mechanism behind the abnormal bone growth known as heterotopic ossification.

With athlete safety paramount, the IHSA, in conjunction with the Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and Northwestern University Feinberg School, will host a free seminar.

Dr. David Zich, an emergency medicine specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said he has colleagues in medicine that age who shun being thought of as "elderly." But those heat warnings apply to them, too.

The clinic is named after the father of the man who donated the 50 acres for the project and is run by Drs. Susan Hou and Mark Molitch. Hou, 64, is a kidney specialist and the medical director of Loyola University Medical Center's Renal Transplant Program. Molitch, 67, is an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, an associate professor at Northwestern University and codirector of the Cancer Genetics Program, said that while there was no harm in a woman receiving genetic counseling, testing could be harmful because unnecessary test could just lead to increased anxieties in a patient.

Michael Terry, MD, orthopaedics, was interviewed live during Chicago Tribune Live on Comcast Sports Net regarding concussion safety and the upcoming "Playing It Safe:  Changing the Mindset Around Concussion Safety" symposium taking place Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. 

Lauren Streicher, M.D.,assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, discusses specialized hospital programs

In a study in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine found high levels of a neuropeptide called "Substance P," or SP, in both FOP patients and individuals who developed heterotopic ossification.

Our virtual panel includes Dr. Ronald Moy, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, UCLA professor and past editor in chief of the Dermatologic Surgery journal; Dr. Edmond R. Hewlett, DDS, UCLA professor and consumer advisor for the American Dental Assn.; Kate Somerville, founder of the skin-care line that bears her name; and Dr. Carolyn Jacob, a cosmetic and laser surgeon, Northwestern University Medical School clinical instructor and director of Chicago Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology.
Also appeared in the Los Angeles Times

More than 200 Northwestern Memorial Hospital doctors are listed on the U.S. News & World Report website in the list of U.S. News Top Doctors. The doctors span 46 specialty areas and were selected based on a peer nomination process.

It's one of the mysteries of medicine: why do some injured muscles grow bone? Now researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found an answer, a neuropeptide called substance P.

"Patients who have it become very uncomfortable, and there is no way to make it go away," said Dr. Jack Kessler, chair of neurology at Northwestern's Feinberg School and the senior author of the paper, which was published in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. "This explains why it happens and gives us a way to develop a therapy to potentially treat it."

Dr. David Zich, an emergency medicine specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said he has colleagues in medicine that age who shun being thought of as "elderly." But those heat warnings apply to them, too.
Also appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times

The federal Affordable Care Act does not include any provisions to ensure that what is served does adhere to posted calorie counts, said Linda Van Horn, a research nutritionist and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

This study "provides a wake-up call to the restaurant industry, that there's still a long way to go before there is standardization," Dr. Linda Van Horn, author of an accompanying JAMA commentary and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, told HealthDay.

Northwestern Medicine's Dr. Jeff Sieracki from the Family Institute at Northwestern joined us with some advice to remain relaxed while traveling with kids.

"The good news here is that there are efforts being made and things are moving in the right direction," said Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Van Horn also wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal.

Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who also wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal, said today's study puts a spotlight on accuracy in labeling so people can make informed choices about their food intake.

 Northwestern Memorial Hospital physician Eytan Szmuilowicz, M.D., remembers the first time he had to tell a patient they were dying. The test results indicated end stage lymphoma, and Szmuilowicz, who was a resident at the time, let youth and nerves overpower his delivery of the news.

"The good news here is that there are efforts being made and things are moving in the right direction," said Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Van Horn also wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal.

 Also appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

Participants in Northwestern's eight-week project reported feeling more confident and able to cope with their diagnoses, as well as less isolated and depressed, according to Darby Morhardt, an associate professor and director of education at the medical school, who co-founded the project with Christine Mary Dunworth of Lookingglass.

 Also appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

Dr. Scott Goldstein of the Northwestern Children's Practice in Streeterville said there's no link between vaccines and autism, and he's not going to risk other patients' lives by allowing unvaccinated kids in his office.

About one third of the population under 45 has a tattoo, according to Dr. Anne Laumann, a dermatologist from Northwestern Medicine.

Dr. Michael Fleming at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago says despite being fully conscious during such blackouts, students could not recall specific events, such as how they got to a bar, party or their own front door.

College drinkers may amaze friends with tales of forgotten nights and sloshy parties, but research from Northwestern University shows those who can't remember how the night ended are almost twice as likely to receive injuries in the future.

The early-stage research suggests that the cells were able to help heal tiny, damaged blood vessels that are often untouched by procedures like stents and angioplasty, says lead researcher Douglas Losordo of Northwestern University.

Murad Alam, M.D., from Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues examined the incidence of skin cancer following cardiac transplantation in the United States.

The therapy, carried out by Chicago's Northwestern University, halved the number of bouts of angina chest pain.

Lead author Dr. Douglas Losordo has this to say in a news release: "While we need to validate these results in phase III studies before definitive conclusions can be drawn, we believe this is an important milestone in considering whether the body's own stem cells may one day be used to treat chronic cardiovascular conditions.

Though still in early research stages, the work of Dr. Douglas Losordo of Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, using technology developed by Deerfield-based Baxter, continues to show progress

The phase II prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted at 26 centers in the United States, and is part of a long-term collaboration between researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Baxter International Inc.

The new treatment came from the discovery about a decade ago that CD34+ stem cells stimulate the formation of new blood vessels, study researcher Douglas W. Losordo, MD, of Chicago's Northwestern University tells WebMD.

"We believe this is an important milestone in considering whether the body's own stem cells may one day be used to treat chronic cardiovascular conditions," study author Dr. Douglas W. Losordo said in a written statement.

"It translates as going from being able to watch television to being able to walk at a normal pace or going from being able to walk slowly to being able to ride a bike," Dr. Douglas Losordo, lead researcher and professor of medicine and director of the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute at Northwestern University in Chicago, said in a release.

A decade ago, these cells were proven to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels, said Douglas W. Losordo, MD, of Chicago's Northwestern University, reported WebMD.

Dr. Clyde Yancy, chief of the Division of Cardiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said prior research does support the conclusion that restricting sodium can lead to "fewer deaths and much less money spent on health care for blood pressure-related diseases."

"I think the problem is that for such a long time, people have believed if you were vaccinated as a child or if you had had pertussis, you were protected," said Dr. Tina Tan, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and an infectious disease physician at Children's Memorial Hospital.

"All of the available research shows that the safest and most effective way to vaccinate children is on the schedule set by the CDC and AAP," said Dr. Scott Goldstein, one of the pediatricians. "To go against that schedule goes against proven scientific research and puts patients who do follow the schedule at risk."

Dr. Fred Levin is an Associate Professor of Clinicial Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University. He's also Rebecca's prescribing physician, and for the past several months, he's coached her and others through the recovery process.

"I'm more likely to be able to sustain a medication regimen if I only have to take it three or four times a day," said Michael Wolf, an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University who studies drug safety. "Seven or eight times a day is complicated to fit into your daily schedule."

Chicago internist Eric Christoff, MD, however, considers primary care an appropriate place for HIV/AIDS care. He said HIV-positive patients struggle with chronic diseases, medication adherence and mental illness, all of which are regularly addressed in primary care.

"[They] can have [health] issues that run the spectrum of all the disorders we learn how to manage capably," said Dr. Christoff, an internal medicine physician with the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group and an HIV/AIDS specialist. Treating these patients "fits into our specialty quite well."

A pilot program with Northwestern Memorial Physician Group in Chicago, which has about 90 doctors, focuses on more timely communication and increased cooperation between Walgreens pharmacists and the physicians. The program is only for Walgreens and Northwestern Memorial employees who have NMPG as their primary doctors and have hypertension, diabetes, asthma or hyperlipidemia. These patients will receive on-site, confidential counseling and intervention from the pharmacist, who will relay the information to the doctor. (See clarification)

"The average person with a chronic illness is taking their medications 60% to 70% of the time," said Daniel Derman, MD, president of the NWM Physicians Group. "We can get it up to 90% with a coordinated approach between doctor and pharmacist. This program is looking at doing just that."

Yet as Amy Paller, the AAP report's lead author and the chair of the dermatology department at Northwestern University, noted...

Led by Murad Alam, Northwestern University researchers studied 10 years of patient information regarding 6,271 heart transplants at 32 US transplant centres, according to a Northwestern statement.

Dr. Murad Alam, a dermatologist at Northwestern University in Chicago, and his colleagues studied 6,271 heart transplant patients at 32 U.S. centers who underwent the surgery between 1990 and 2003, using data from the Cardiac Transplant Research Database maintained at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

"There are a number of good reasons to practice improved dietary habits -- not just for cancer prevention," said Dr. Al Benson, a cancer specialist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

"There are a number of good reasons to practice improved dietary habits -- not just for cancer prevention," said Dr. Al Benson, a cancer specialist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

"It will really give us the statistical power we need for analysis of ethnic differences," said Candace Tingen, director of research programs at Northwestern's Institute of Women's Health Research.

Article also appeared in the Los Angeles Times

Amy Paller, M.D., professor of dermatology, discusses protecting children from sun damage.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago represents the partnership between Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Near North Health Services Corporation.

Checklists are central to airplane safety, and pilots are taught from day one to be disciplined in using them. Now researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago have suggested that doctors adopt something else from the cockpit: a copilot.

"Nobody has done research on this," Dr. Alan Peaceman, chief of maternal fetal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, says.

"We found that using the gel alone to illustrate the areas of hands that may not be getting clean, even without verbal education, improves children's hand hygiene," Mary Groll, MD, of Northwestern University's Children's Memorial Hospital and the study's principal investigator, said in a news release. "Considering the importance of hand hygiene in disease prevention, the implications of this study will have lasting impact in this community's effort to decrease the spread of illness.

Holly Herrington, MS, RD, LDN, Center for Lifestyle Medicine, in an interview regarding a new study that examined which foods can make a person gain or lose weight.

Instead, with this study,  "you have to look at the big picture," Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, tells the Health Blog.

But an infectious disease specialist from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago said skipping HIV medications for a week can have "devastating consequences for the individual" and make the person more contagious to others "so it's a public health issue. When the virus comes back, it's like getting infected all over again," said Dr. Robert Murphy of Northwestern.

Former Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (pictured right), whose career was cut short by concussions, is one of the guest speakers at a symposium July 27 co-sponsored by the IHSA at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

A new Northwestern Medicine study shows the attending physician in the intensive care unit could use a copilot, too.
Article also appeared on ScienceDaily.com , ScienceCodex.com , News-Medical.net

But Holly Herrington, a registered dietitian at Northwestern University, urges caution in interpreting the studies, and said, "So far, there is not a lot of research to support these findings.
Article also appeared in the Chicago Tribune  and WGNTV.com

Rahul Khare, MD, emergency medicine, was interviewed on FOX Chicago regarding ways to prevent heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

"Based on our data, about 1 in every 13 children has a food allergy," said lead author and pediatrician Ruchi Gupta of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"What I hope this paper will do is open this awareness to how common (food allergy) is and how severe it can be, and develop policies for schools and sporting events and any activities that kids participate in to make it clear that everybody is looking out for these kids," says lead author Ruchi Gupta, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Darby Morhardt is a director of education for the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

"Based on our data, about one in 13 children has a food allergy," says Dr. Ruchi Gupta, assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and lead author of the report.

Carol Southard, RN, MSN, tobacco treatment specialist, Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, was interviewed on FOX Chicago regarding new warning labels that will appear on cigarette packs.

In the current study, researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine surveyed parents of more than 38,000 children about whether their child had been diagnosed with a food allergy and had one or more of a number of symptoms, including anaphylaxis; swelling of the lips, eyes or face and skin rashes or hives.

"What I hope this paper will do is open this awareness to how common (food allergy) is and how severe it can be, and develop policies for schools and sporting events and any activities that kids participate in to make it clear that everybody is looking out for these kids," said lead author Ruchi Gupta, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Allergies are a particularly difficult chronic condition because kids can't escape food in any part of their daily lives, said lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Dr. Ruchi Gupta of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital shows food allergy affects about 5.9 million U.S. children, and of those, 38.7 percent had a history of severe reactions and 30.4 percent had multiple food allergies.

In the current study, led by researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, parents of more than 38,000 children were surveyed about whether their child had been diagnosed with a food allergy and had one or more of a number of symptoms, including anaphylaxis; swelling of the lips, eyes or face and skin rashes or hives.

"For these children [with severe allergies], accidental ingestion of an allergenic food may lead to difficulty breathing, a sharp drop in blood pressure, and even death," said lead study author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital.

Steve Rosen encourages patients to become advocates. "The vast majority who get involved do feel it's part of a healing process," says Dr. Rosen, director of Northwestern University's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society board member. "The more open you are about issues, the less personal trauma you experience. It's difficult to keep things to oneself."

"We as a society have a very short memory," said Dr. Evan Anderson, a pediatrician and assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "We forget these life-threatening diseases because we don't see them and haven't seen them in years or potentially during a lifetime."

Teresa Woodruff heads the Northwestern Oncofertility Consortium. She says deciding how to protect fertility should be part of doctors' discussions with newly diagnosed cancer patients.

"Sometimes when people think of food (allergies), they think of rash or stomach ache. What I don't think people understand is that it can be life-threatening. You can have a severe reaction and end up in the hospital and even die of food allergy," said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study.

"Understanding how common it is and how severe it is, that's important to note," said Dr. Ruchi S. Gupta, lead author of a study published in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics. "It's very important that people understand that this is very real."

The findings suggest that food allergies affect two kids per classroom, said lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician and researcher with Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital.

A new study out Monday find that children's food allergies are now more common, and more severe. Gwen Ifill discusses the findings with Dr. Ruchi Gupta, the lead author of the study.

"I don't think people quite understand food allergy," says study researcher Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

The study was led by Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital.

"We as a society have a very short memory," said Dr. Evan Anderson, a pediatrician and assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "We forget these life-threatening diseases because we don't see them and haven't seen them in years or potentially during a lifetime." 

"We as a society have a very short memory," said Dr. Evan Anderson, a pediatrician and assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "We forget these life-threatening diseases because we don't see them and haven't seen them in years or potentially during a lifetime."

Physicians removed most of the orange-sized, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor, and have since provided chemotherapy, two different types of radiation and two surgeries to Keating, said her physician, Dr. James Chandler, surgical director of the Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute.

Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician with Children's Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medicine and lead author of the study, said some 2.5 million children - including her own daughter - have severe allergies.

The second annual Comics & Medicine conference took place the weekend of June 9-11 in Chicago, bringing together a host of speakers and cartoonists, among them Scott McCloud, John Porcellino, David Small and Hillary Chute, on the beautiful and historic campus of Northwestern University to focus on the conferences theme of "The Sequential Art of Illness." The lectures and panels focused on the melding of graphic illustration in the field of healthcare both as a teaching tool and as a means of healing.

"We found that using the gel alone to illustrate the areas of hands that may not be getting clean, even without verbal education, improves children's hand hygiene," said the study's principal investigator, Dr. Mary Groll of Northwestern University Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, in a journal news release.

One of the options he discovered was Dr. John Hairston, an associate professor of urology at Northwestern who pioneered using a robot in a procedure that eliminated the need for Baniecki to take medication. 

Dr. Eric M. Ruderman, rheumatologist and associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois had stated that he and his associates recommend the early use of biological drugs to fend off joint damage which hinders quality of life and leads to disability. These medications include Enbrel, Rituxan and Aceteme.

Although that study also is aimed mostly at assessing the therapy's safety, researchers are checking to see whether the cells restore any feeling or movement. A second patient was subsequently treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Can smartphones help diagnose disease? Yes, according to Konrad Körding, one of the developers of an Android app being used to track the movement of Parkinson's patients. The app uses the phone's sensory capabilities to evaluate a user's patterns of movement, such as if walking is unstable or if a fall occurs.

"The goal of therapy these days is remission of disease, it's not just making people feel better," said Dr. Eric M. Ruderman, a rheumatologist and associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Interview with Northwestern Neurologist Dr. Andrew Naidech regarding stroke treatments.

"Heart failure is appropriately on everybody's radar screen; at the nexus of care for the patient with heart failure is the heart failure nurse - a talented caring professional with unique expertise. Certification makes it clear; heart failure nurses are essential health care providers and their work makes a difference", says Clyde W. Yancy, M.D., Magerstadt professor of medicine and chief of the division of cardiology at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Past President of The American Heart Association.

"Patient care is much more than just medical; it's caring for the whole person," said Tanya Simuni, MD, a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and director of the Parkinson 's Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Simuni is also an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Article also appeared on MedicalNewsToday.com

"Your first priority has to be comfort - how your shoe feels on each foot," stresses Dr. Renee Scola, who specializes in internal medicine for Chicago Lake Shore Medical Associates (CLSMA), a private medical practice affiliated with Northwestern Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital.

"In many cases, bystanders are afraid to help. We want to show people how easy it is to learn hands-only CPR and empower them to act in an emergency," said Dr. George Chiampas, assistant professor and attending physician in emergency and sports medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and director of Chicago Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Education Service.

Her new physician removed about 15 lymph nodes, approximately one-third of which were cancerous, Walsh said. Dr. Jeffrey Wayne, associate professor of surgery at Northwestern University and chief of melanoma and soft tissue surgical oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, performed the surgery.

"Our findings suggest that moderate to severe sleep-disordered breathing may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, particularly gestational diabetes and preterm birth," said principal investigator Dr. Francesca L. Facco, assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Nina Kraus, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University who studies the human auditory system, explains how sound triggers responses like fear in the human brain.

"Patient care is much more than just medical; it's caring for the whole person," said Tanya Simuni, MD, a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and director of the Parkinson 's Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Simuni is also an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Scott Goldstein, clinical instructor at Northwestern University and pediatrician with Northwestern Children's Practice, along with Dr. Alvia Siddiqi, family practice physician with the Alexian Brothers Medical Group in Elk Grove, weigh the pros and the cons of each type of doctor.

"It's scary, just to think about the number of patients who are coming in with adverse drug events -- and it could be the tip of the iceberg because there is a whole group of patients with problems who are not coming in," said Lee A. Lindquist, MD, MPH, a geriatrician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She was not involved in the study.

"There's no quick fix, but there are things that can help gear you in the right direction," said Dr. Julie Roth, an internal medicine/wellness physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Change your diet, exercise and reduce stress, she said.

Alice Dreger works with people at the edge of anatomy, such as conjoined twins and intersexed people. In her observation, it's often a fuzzy line between male and female, among other anatomical distinctions. Which brings up a huge question: Why do we let our anatomy determine our fate?

A new Northwestern Medicine study, one of the largest survivor studies ever conducted, shows many survivors of cancer still suffer moderate to severe problems with pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and concentration three to five years after treatment has ended.

Dr. Martha Daviglus of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago wrote, "Although numerous studies have investigated risk factors and potential therapies for Alzheimer's disease, significant gaps in scientific knowledge exist."

Alice Dreger is a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago. She's also a frequent and valued guest expert for "Savage Love," a lurker here on Slog, and a kick-ass human being.

"There's definitely a new norm," said Dr. Robert Kushner, clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity at Northwestern University in Illinois. "It's a norm that, 'My entire family and my community is overweight, and that's what I am.' "
Article also appeared in the Los Angeles Times , WNEP.com , WTVR.com

"In my opinion, a woman under thirty-five should try to conceive for that amount of time before she seeks medical help to find out why she's not getting pregnant," says Magdy Milad, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist and an associate professor of obstetrics/gynecology at Northwestern University Medical School, in Chicago.

Mention of Northwestern Medicine as the largest team to participate in the Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon.

As a result, pediatricians need to emphasize the importance of staying safe in the sun to new parents. "We need to recalibrate our thinking," says Amy Paller, the AAP report's lead author and a professor of pediatrics and dermatology who is chair of the dermatology department at Northwestern University.

Listen to Dr. Robert Kushner, professor of medicine at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine: "These are kids in school falling asleep because of sleep apnea. They're on insulin for diabetes. They're having difficulty with activities because of arthritis."

As a patient navigator at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Kristin Smith guides newly diagnosed cancer patients through a hopeful process - preserving their future ability to have children in the face of life-saving, fertility-threatening treatments.

"We do not see a lot of hot people but rather people with diseases, alcohol, drugs, old age and disability whose conditions are worsened by the heat," said Dr. James Adams, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"Even though summer is a time to enjoy the weather outside, people often underestimate the risks that come with the heat," said Rahul Khare, MD, a Northwestern Memorial emergency department physician. "It's important to take the necessary steps that will keep you safe and healthy this season."

"Our mission in developing this registry is threefold," said Dr. Jack Kessler, FPN board member and chairman of the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

But they can improve quality of sleep and life in insomnia patients," says Phyllis C. Zee, M.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Well, Northwestern scientist Dr. Jelena Radulovic thinks the key to preventing PTSD may lie in understanding the emotion of fear on a molecular level. She runs what they call the fear lab at Northwestern's medical school.

Dr. Mark Reinecke, professor of psychiatry, discusses strategies for keeping calm.

Being in a serious relationship is not enough to protect young gay men from infection with HIV, new research suggests. In fact, a study by researchers at Northwestern University found that young gay couples are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than casual partners.

"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy, regardless of pre-pregnancy weight, is an important risk factor for newborn obesity," said the study's principal investigator, Dr. Jami Josefson, a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in a news release from The Endocrine Society.

But such somber statistics were not the focus of the Cancer Survivors' Celebration and Walk organized by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The walk, which began with games and music in Grant Park, was a tribute to cancer survivors and the strides made in cancer treatment and research.

"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is certainly a factor that contributes to the childhood obesity epidemic, but it's just one factor," says study researcher Jami Josefson, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy, regardless of pre-pregnancy weight, is an important risk factor for newborn obesity," said the study's principal investigator, Dr. Jami Josefson, a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in a news release from The Endocrine Society.

"Accumulating evidence suggests not only that the skin's barrier protection remains immature throughout at least the first two years of life but also that accumulation of UVR-induced changes in the skin may begin as early as the first summer of life," wrote Amy S. Paller and her colleagues of Northwestern University in Chicago. 

The Illinois Republican spoke at a Northwestern University facility in Chicago, where he toured a stem cell research lab and hosted a symposium on the search for medical breakthroughs using stem cells.
 Article also appeared in the Daily Herald

Paralyzed from a spinal cord injury since he was shot in the neck almost two decades ago, he was recently fitted with a magnetic stud that allows him to steer his wheelchair with his tongue. Now he is helping researchers at the Northwestern University School of Medicine here in a clinical trial of the technology, being financed with almost $1 million in federal stimulus funds.

"What we have to realize is how little we really know about babies' skin, in terms of its responses to UV exposure, and also what's out there and on the market for sun protection," Dr. Amy Paller, chairman and professor of dermatology and professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, tells Shots.

"The ultimate goal of sun protection is to protect all parts of the skin exposed to the sun by using a variety of techniques, including sunscreen in infants older than 6 months," write researchers led by Amy S. Paller, MD, a dermatologist at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago.

The authors, including doctors from Northwestern University in Chicago and St. Thomas Hospital in London, say epidemiological studies link both intense and intermittent exposure to ultraviolet radiation and sunburn during childhood to increased risk of skin cancer later in life.

Mention of Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University

Feature on the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Walk with an interview with cancer survivor Jenna Benn

In the 10-year study, researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago used data from 84,493 postmenopausal women, who were involved in US-wide Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

When people finish treatment for cancer, they want to bounce back to their former vital selves as quickly as possible. But a new Northwestern Medicine study -- one of the largest survivor studies ever conducted -- shows many survivors still suffer moderate to severe problems with pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and concentration three to five years after treatment has ended.

A new Northwestern Medicine study has found that many cancer survivors suffer moderate to severe problems with pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and concentration even three to five years after treatment has ended.

The popular drugs, known as proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), "work much better for heartburn than for regurgitation," study author Dr. Peter Kahrilas of Northwestern University told Reuters Health.

"We were surprised to see how prevalent these symptoms still are," study co-investigator Lynne Wagner, an associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University, said in a university release Friday.

Dr. Ken Polin is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Andrea Garces educates communities on child safety issues at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

"It's a pretty simple idea," said medical geneticist Rex L. Chisholm, who is lead investigator of the project and vice dean for scientific affairs and graduate studies at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "In order to get to the next step after the Human Genome Project, what we need is lots of DNA samples and rich sets of information to allow researchers to do a large number of studies to identify the genetic basis of common diseases."

The early signs of Alzheimer's often include difficulty with short-term memory that interferes with a job, said Dr. Diana Kerwin, a geriatrics specialist teaching at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

The app and website were created by the Oncofertility Consortium of Northwestern University, a national group of physicians and scientists dedicated to saving the fertility of cancer patients through research and education.

Gay young men in serious relationships are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who hook up with casual partners, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. 

A study has found that gay young men, who are in a serious relationship, are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who hook up with casual partners. The findings by new Northwestern Medicine provide a new direction for prevention efforts in this population who account for nearly 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in adolescents and young adults.

Lead author Brian Mustanski of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine says about 80 percent of gay young men who are HIV positive don't know it, because they aren't being tested frequently enough.