Bugs That Just Say No
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are spreading steadily Antibiotics have dramatically changed human health, effectively treating once-menacing infections. Unfortunately, in many instances, we have been overexposed to these drugs, weakening their impact and creating an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.“The development of antibiotics was one of the greatest advances in human medicine,” says Sameer Patel, MD, MPH, an infectious disease specialist […]
Drug Prices In Flight
Cost of prescription drug$$$ The skyrocketing price of prescription drugs has been the subject of presidential debates and the scorn of patients across the country. Costs continue to rise for a host of reasons, including competition and consolidation among drugmakers. Also, as some companies have bought up old drugs, they have raised prices. Such was the […]
Needles in the Cornfields
Heroin deaths are rising as state-funded treatment falls in Illinois Nick Gore is sick. It’s like the flu, multiplied. His stomach is near eruption. Muscles and bones ache deeply. Tears stream down the 27-year-old’s face. He’s sneezing, dizzy, light-headed. Traffic on I-290 only makes it worse, as he drives the daily (or more) 30-mile trip […]
A Medication Vacation
Should you leave room in the suitcase for your child’s ADHD meds? It wasn’t until her son Francisco turned 3 that Chicago resident Maggi Steib began noticing behavior issues. “He was impulsive,” she remembers. “If it was time to put blocks away, he would start throwing the blocks instead.” Francisco’s behavior grew worse as he grew older. He […]
The Need For Addiction Medicine
At age 13, Michael* started drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. “A lot of my friends who were already in high school had been experimenting, but it wasn’t peer pressure for me; it was just curiosity,” he says. “I noticed that it helped me with my social anxiety because it was easier to talk to people and make […]
In Brief
Don’t Just Stand There; Move! We’ve long known that sitting all day is bad for our health. But since most of us can’t escape the cubicle farms and the sit-down culture they’ve created, we’ve instead turned to standing desks. And while standing is much better for us than sitting, it should not be mistaken as […]
Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts
Day in and day out, for years on end, millions of people with diabetes prick their fingers to test their blood sugar level. And many may wonder if all the careful eating, exercise and medication it takes to keep those levels under control is really worth it. A recent study should encourage them to keep […]
Getting By: Private Patient Advocates Help Navigate Care
Private patient advocates act as personal assistants, navigating care “Healthcare is complicated,” says Dan Polk, MD, neonatal physician turned private patient advocate. “It’s difficult because there is a lot of information that needs to be processed by people who don’t deal with medical stuff on a daily basis.” While Polk is referring to babies when […]
The Future of Medicine Is Spelled Y-O-U
Photo above: Mark Dunnenberger, PharmD. Courtesy of Jonathan Hillenbrand, Media Production and Photography, NorthShore University HealthSystem Genetic testing drives decision-making in personalized medicine The future of medicine is personalized. Personalized medicine uses information about a patient’s genetics, lifestyle and environment to manage his or her healthcare. From genetic testing to determining which drugs work best, this approach […]
The Science of Sciatica Pain
A few years ago, I suffered from a herniated disc. The pain in my lower back was horrible, misery-inducing and relentless. And then the sciatica started. A pulsing shot of pain traveled down the back of my leg. I couldn’t sit comfortably. I couldn’t stand comfortably. The sciatica only lasted one week—compared to the years it took for […]
Home Grown: Growing Cartilage for Knee Repair
Increased innovation in growing cartilage is slowly changing knee repair Our knees are undoubtedly the most important joints in the human body. They connect the upper and lower leg together and make it possible to bend and rotate our legs, allowing agility, mobility and functionality. They also happen to be the body’s largest joint, if […]
Care Quandary: Quality Rating Systems Can Help You Make the Best Decisions
When your aging parent or loved one starts forgetting to take medications, lets unopened bills pile up, becomes agitated or aggressive, has trouble driving and struggles getting up and down the stairs, they’re showing some of the telltale signs that it’s time to start looking for a health and rehabilitation community (HRC). For many of us, […]
Defending Yourself Against Ovarian Cancer, The Silent Killer
When Angelina Jolie Pitt had a double mastectomy in 2013 to prevent breast cancer, Chicagoan Carolyn Kirschner, MD, watched with concern. “I was like, ‘Angelina, when are you going to have your ovaries out?’ Because actually that’s a more scary problem.” Kirschner, a gynecologic oncologist with NorthShore University HealthSystem, knows too well the risks of […]
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
The social and cognitive importance of hearing well Our hearing, they say, is the first thing to go as we age. And it seems to be something we don’t care much about. “Typically, people think, ‘Oh, Grandma can’t hear. She needs a hearing aid, but she’s stubborn and won’t get one. So be it,’” says […]
Young and Transgender
Supporting youth to be their true selves You think of Caitlyn Jenner in a white corset on the cover of Vanity Fair or Laverne Cox’s struggles with one of her on-screen inmates in the Netflix hit series Orange Is the New Black. The problem is that the vast majority of Americans do not personally know, […]
Go with Your Gut
The bacteria within us can affect everything from food allergies to autoimmune disease Within us, there is a world of microorganisms; a biome of bacteria. For every cell in the human body, there are about 10 nonhuman cells. Which is to say that we are about 90 percent bacteria. The 100 trillion bacteria living within […]
Mobile Care Chicago: Hitting the Road for Health
Photo above: Courtesy of Mobile Care Chicago Healthcare in a van? Many low-income children and families in Chicago get just that—high-quality, no-cost medical care through mobile clinics on wheels. For the city’s families in need, healthcare is not as easy as a call to a regular pediatrician. Mobile Care Chicago reaches kids who otherwise might […]
