Investigators led by Issam Ben-Sahra, PhD, have discovered how cellular metabolism fluctuates in response to changes in levels of pyrimidines, metabolites used by cells to make DNA and RNA, according to a recent study published in Science.
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More NewsA model can accurately predict the risk of bloodstream infections in a subset of children with cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Northwestern Medicine investigators have identified a metabolism-related gene that may play a role in recruiting immune cells to support the growth of aggressive brain tumors, according to a study recently published in Nature Communications.
Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a method to identify and characterize microproteins, a development which opens the door for understanding physiology and disease at a molecular level not possible until now, according to findings published in Nature Communications.
Scientists have characterized how non-muscle myosin assembles in cells using the latest advances in technology only available at Northwestern and a handful of institutions worldwide, according to a study published in the Journal of Cell Biology.
U.S. adults with certain socio-demographic and clinical characteristics may have weaker antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.
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More Media CoverageChoosing to Skip Sex and Go Straight to I.V.F.
In February, in vitro fertilization, or I.V.F., was thrown into the spotlight when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos in the state should be considered children. The decision led to a pause on I.V.F. procedures in parts of the state, and even a pause on shipping embryos out of state, to avoid potential criminal liability. I.V.F., however, is hardly guaranteed to be successful: The procedure still has a risk of miscarriage, though the likelihood is lower because the embryos have been genetically tested and only the most viable are typically implanted. “The vast majority of people who are doing it are truly desperate and have a medical reason for doing it,” said Tarun Jain, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University. “It is a very challenging, time-consuming, physically and emotionally draining process, and a big financial burden if your insurance doesn’t cover it.”
Doctor offers insight on Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis: Findings, treatment, prognosis and more
Kate, the Princess of Wales, revealed Friday she had been diagnosed with cancer in a stunning announcement following weeks of speculation about her health and whereabouts. Following news of the cancer diagnosis, NBC Chicago talked to Yazan Numan, MD, an oncologist with Northwestern Medicine, who touched on the likelihood of cancer being found during surgery, cancer treatment and a possible prognosis. Numan explained that getting diagnosed with cancer at an early age — like 42 years old in Kate’s case — is not very common but does happen. While it’s unclear where cancer was discovered, similar findings have been made during gallbladder surgeries for cystitis and appendectomies, the doctor said. “…She did say it’s a major abdominal surgery, so hard to speculate, but sometimes it could be due to some sort of a complication that was happening… Whether it’s like an interrupted infection or a bleeding, because of some sort of a perforation in her bowels or her stomach,” Numan said. “And once they went into operate, they did find the cancer and they had to deal with it after the fact.”
You’ve started taking an antidepressant, and it’s helping you to finally feel like life is worth living or that you can stop avoiding your friends’ texts. All seems right in the world — until the moment you realize your sex life has taken a hit. Some people lose their libido or ability to become aroused, while others have problems with genital sensitivity, genital lubrication, reaching orgasm or having satisfying orgasms, or ejaculation. Others experience more than one symptom, said Lauren Streicher, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Streicher is also the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause. “The ripple effect is very, very significant,” Streicher said, sometimes causing low self-esteem, more depression or anxiety, anger or frustration. The science behind antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction boils down to a few things: your neurotransmitters, blood flow and muscular system, all of which are controlled by the brain — “the most important sex organ,” Streicher said.
This phenomenon is so universal that there’s a scientific name for it: “bedtime procrastination.” According to the researchers who coined it in a 2014 study, bedtime procrastination is “failing to go to bed at the intended time, while no external circumstances prevent a person from doing so.” We often delay sleep because we want to regain the control—and time—we lost during the day. But here’s the paradox: Instead of getting more control over our days, bedtime procrastinators end up sabotaging them. Using something that gives us a little hit of dopamine, like our phones, makes us (falsely) feel like we’re delaying the stress of the following day, says Sheehan Fisher, PhD, a perinatal clinical psychologist at Northwestern Medicine who works primarily with new parents. “One thing about sleep is that once you’re unconscious, you wake up to the next day,” he says.