Chicago Health’s Neighborhood Health Project
Welcome to Chicago Health magazine’s Neighborhood Health Project! Check back in early November for our series launch, where we’ll highlight each of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods individually. Chicago Health magazine will publish two neighborhood profiles every month in our newsletter (subscribe here for a first look) and online. This data-driven approach dives into Chicago’s health landscape […]
Understanding Gastroparesis
Hunting for a diagnosis — and treatment — when your stomach won’t empty The nightmare began each morning when Chris Drew woke up: vomiting and debilitating stomach pain. Staying home from her job as a paralegal offered no comfort; the stress of worrying about mounting tasks heightened the misery. After nearly three weeks, the Chicago […]
Rush and Endeavor Health Announce Plans to Merge
Rush University System for Health and Endeavor Health announced plans on Oct. 14 to merge, creating one of the Chicago area’s largest healthcare systems, with 12 hospitals, more than 400 care sites, and approximately 46,000 employees and clinicians. The proposed combined organization would operate under the Rush name and serve more than 2 million patients […]
Rethinking the Rules of Wellness
Ezekiel Emanuel opens up about his new book, Eat Your Ice Cream, and his fury at the wellness industrial complex Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Chicago native Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel, MD, PhD, an oncologist, bioethicist, and health policy expert, spoke with Chicago Health about his recent book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for […]
Letter from the Publisher
My grandmother Goldie lived to 102. My grandfather Louis died at 52. The math was easy. My dad figured he had a 50% chance of a very long life. Glass half full or half empty? Dad chose half empty and lived in fear of dying young. In retrospect, this had its advantages. He feared dying […]
From the Editor’s Desk
My family recently added an aquarium to the house, so I’ve been logging a lot of time watching tiny red cherry shrimp make their way among the plants and rocks. Their legs are constantly moving, doing whatever they do (cleaning? eating?) to keep themselves alive. In a way, these shrimp are true longevitymaxxers. Every ounce […]
Community Health
How one South Side clinic is chipping away at Chicago’s life expectancy gap Fact checked by Ros Lederman On Chicago’s South Side, a two-year-old health center is working to close the stark life expectancy gap between South Side communities and other areas of Chicago. In 2024, life expectancy in Englewood was 69.9 years, compared with […]
Biohacking for Better Health
From hyperbaric oxygen chambers to ozone therapy — what are your best chances for longevity? Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Biohacking has become increasingly trendy, with influencers and wellness resorts touting myriad high-tech tools and novel strategies to optimize physical and mental performance, well-being, and longevity. But will hyperbaric oxygen chambers, ozone therapy, IV nutrient […]
Blue Zone Eating
Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Blue zones are regions around the world known for their residents’ longevity, with many people living to age 100 and beyond. These places include Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California. People in blue zones tend to have lower rates of chronic disease, such as […]
Exercise Through the Ages
How to stay fit in every decade Fact checked by Shannon Sparks In your 20s, you feel unstoppable. In your 60s, not so much. As the decades pass, however, exercise becomes increasingly crucial to maintaining health and independence. A consistent fitness regimen can benefit your body and mind as you age, says strength and […]
Blue Zone Chicago
What would it take to make Chicago a longevity capital? Fact checked by Derick Wilder The term blue zone refers to regions around the world where people live exceptionally long, healthy lives. Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California are among them. Research over the past 20 years has suggested that residents of blue […]
Lifespan vs. Healthspan
Can a longevity coach help you live better, longer? Fact checked by Ros Lederman Darren Morris has had a personal interest in longevity for two decades. He even started a business to coach people on aging well. But only in the past three years, as interest in longevity has boomed, has he made longevity coaching […]
Can Longevity-maxxing Actually Lengthen My Life?
Fact checked by Derick Wilder Taking supplements galore, pushing your body to the limit, and monitoring every metric possible. And don’t forget to post about it! “Longevitymaxxing” promises to add years to your life and improve your health through extreme — though usually unscientific — methods. “Maxxing” trends — looksmaxxing, proteinmaxxing, sleepmaxxing — stem from […]
Looming Cardiologist Shortage
Fact checked by Derick Wilder Emotional patient videos across social media highlight the high-stakes decision-making required to access cardiac care. Among them is Leah Eva Smith, a Chicago comedian, who shares her recovery from sudden cardiac arrest. “My engine died, and they revived me,” Smith says in one post, praising her team at Northwestern […]
Hormone Therapy Fears
Views on hormone therapy for menopause have changed, but many women never got the message Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Linda Buckley endured debilitating menopause symptoms for years without relief. Insomnia, night sweats, and pain in her hips and back made sitting very difficult. Then she was diagnosed with osteopenia and osteoporosis. “It was horrible,” […]
More Than a Game
The recent surge in mahjong players holds promise for brain health, socialization Fact checked by Derick Wilder Click-clack. Click-clack. Click. Five dot,” says one of four women sitting around a table at the South Barrington Club in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. She puts down a white mahjong tile. “Eight dot,” says another, placing her own […]
Want to age like a SuperAger?
Biology plays a role in maintaining physical and mental acuity into your 90s, but it’s not the whole story Some people reach 90 with the memory of someone 40 years younger, and researchers are trying to figure out how. They’re finding that a meaningful piece of the puzzle may come from the daily choices people make. […]
100 and Beyond
What it really takes to live a long, healthy life My great-grandmother, Muriel Litzman, turned 101 in February. She’ll happily beat you at word games, canasta, and Rummikub. She’ll even FaceTime you and comment on your Facebook posts. When Muriel’s roommate at a rehabilitation facility learned her age, she seemed surprised. “She’s more lively than […]
Stay Healthy While Taking a GLP-1
Fact checked by Derick Wilder GLP-1 medications have become a mainstream treatment. Nearly 1 in 8 U.S. adults — 12% — report taking a GLP-1 medication to lose weight or treat a chronic condition, according to a 2025 KFF Health Tracking Poll. As medications such as Wegovy, Zepbound, and Ozempic grow in popularity, Disha Narang, […]
Teens and the Manosphere
Navigating the risks of toxic online masculinity Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Maybe you’ve heard the arguments in recent years seeping out of some corners of the internet: Women are taking over, becoming more powerful and demanding. They’re emasculating men; they’re pushing them out of their roles as heads of households and business leaders. That […]
Age Obsessed
You may know how many birthdays you’ve celebrated, but how old are you, really? The longest-living human ever recorded lived to 122 years. Is that age a fantasy for most of us, or an increasingly realistic possibility? And just because medicine may be extending our lifespan, is more always better? What does a longer life mean for […]
Access Support for Compulsive Gambling
Fact checked by Derick Wilder Illinois officially recognized gambling addiction as a disorder in 2026. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the bill into law a few days after an investigation found that gamblers in Illinois lost more than $7.7 billion on legal gambling in 2025 alone. This fall, the Chicago Casino opens and is expected […]
Trauma of Treatment
Body-based therapies can help cancer patients heal Fact checked by Derick Wilder Maryanne Hewitt was in the shower in 2014 when she noticed a lump in her breast. She was 43 years old and had no family history of breast cancer. She had just started a new career. Her children were in high school. A […]
Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s Connection
For people with Down syndrome, an anti-seizure medication may block early changes linked to Alzheimer’s At Quinlan Terrace, a residential home on Chicago’s North Side for aging adults with disabilities, about half of the 60 residents are people with Down syndrome who have developed Alzheimer’s disease. Director Susy Rivera says care needs vary from person […]
Ask the Doc: In the Dark
What causes under-eye circles? By Lauren Taglia, MD Interview by Stephanie Bouchard Fact checked by Derick Wilder Q: I feel a little foolish being so fixated on this, but when I see myself in the mirror, I think the darkness under my eyes makes me look like I’m on death’s door. Should I be concerned? […]
Spock’s Greeting is a Blessing To Us All
Fact checked by Ros Lederman The truth about life is that we are all going to die. So as Star Trek’s beloved Spock says, “Live long, and prosper.” To me, to prosper means creating a comfortably affordable lifestyle; nourishing a perspective of wonder, joy, and well-being; and knowing that my community is both micro […]
The Long Road Is a Short Trip
Fact checked by Ros Lederman My youngest son just turned 4, so, of course, I’m thinking about dying. In my brief experience as a living person, I’ve learned that the quickest way to feel old is to look at how old everyone else around you is. It’s a strange exercise because it’s a kind of […]
Patients’ Abortion Records Protected in Illinois
Fact checked by Derick Wilder Illinois has passed a law that will strengthen abortion privacy protections, potentially easing concerns about criminalization. The law prohibits the transfer of certain sensitive reproductive health information across state lines without the patient’s consent or another legal basis for disclosure. The Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act takes effect July […]
Childhood Nearsightedness on the Rise
Fact checked by Derick Wilder Myopia, the medical term for nearsightedness, has been on the rise in children in recent decades, growing steeply after the Covid-19 pandemic. One 2024 study found that among more than 2,000 Chicago-area children, myopia progression more than doubled from 2020 to 2021 compared to rates during 2019 and 2020. Nearsightedness […]
The Skin Care Long Game
Fact checked by Ros Lederman The billion-dollar skin care market continues to grow. Social media is a dominant source of information on the topic, but skin care content online is prone to misinformation. Maria Estela Martinez-Escala, MD, PhD, a dermatologist at the University of Chicago Medicine, says the most important step is to practice sun […]
Keeping (Peri)Menopausal Women in the Workforce
Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Approximately 75 million women in the United States are navigating the menopausal transition, according to advocacy group Let’s Talk Menopause. Menopause, defined as 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period or spotting, typically occurs between ages 45 and 55. Many women are actively working during those years, perhaps at […]
Supporting Violence Survivors Beyond the ER
Fact checked by Derick Wilder Chicago has long grappled with violence as a public health crisis. That includes domestic violence, sexual violence, gun violence, and more. Now, as research increasingly focuses on how survivors recover from and prevent future trauma, health systems are providing programs to help patients rebuild. As part of this effort, Endeavor […]
New Health Laws
Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Increasing Mental Health Providers Effective January 2027 Illinois has a shortage of mental healthcare providers, with more than half of the state’s population (51%) living in designated mental health professional shortage areas. House Bill 1085 seeks to increase access to care by improving insurance reimbursement rates for mental health providers, creating […]
Heart Health
What Cardiologists Want You to Know Chicago-area cardiologists weigh in on preventing heart disease, understanding your risk, and the advances and challenges shaping cardiovascular care Heart disease remains a major health concern, but there’s plenty people can do to reduce their risk. For this issue’s roundtable, local cardiologists share what they want people to know […]
Pushing Physicians to the Brink
Burnout and a strained healthcare system are forcing medicine to confront how it cares for its own Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Emergency medicine physician Nicholas Cozzi, MD, won’t say “the q-word” as he walks through an empty section of Rush University Medical Center’s emergency department. The ER this morning is what nobody on staff likes […]
Wildfire Smoke and Dementia
Chicago had the worst air quality in the world this past July. As extreme weather events become more common, researchers are exploring the long-term effects of poor air quality — including on dementia risk. Recent studies have shown a link between dementia and very fine particulate matter in wildfire smoke. This matter is called PM2.5 […]
Finding Hope in the Unexpected
For Barb Gargano, Walk for Hope is a chance to celebrate progress, reconnect with her care team, and help create possibilities for future patients At 53, Barb Gargano was balancing caring for her father, raising children, and working full time in a senior role at a global company. Then, during a weekend trip with her […]
Why Are So Many Pitchers Getting Hurt?
The answer starts long before the majors Chicago baseball fans don’t need a reminder of how brutal this year has been on pitching arms. The Cubs lost top starter Cade Horton to a season-ending torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) after just 7⅓ innings, and reliever Porter Hodge went down with a torn UCL after first […]
Seasonal Stress
Stop trying to maintain constant productivity: Your ability to cope with stress changes with the seasons and your own biological clocks Above photo: Stress resilience is a dynamic balance rather than a fixed trait. / Maskot via Getty Images By Masha Remskar, Arizona State University Do you feel like the same person in February as in […]
Inside Chicago’s Cyclospora Response
As the summer’s cyclosporiasis outbreak wanes, food safety experts warn of trickle-down impact of federal cuts This summer’s cyclospora outbreak led to two deaths in Michigan, tens of thousands of people becoming sick with the parasite, and millions of Americans swearing off lettuce. As of Sept. 8, 2026, there were 1,601 confirmed or probable cases […]
Cancer Vaccines on the Horizon
Cancer vaccines could transform treatment and prevention – but misinformation about mRNA vaccines threatens their potential Above photo: A cancer vaccine would only help patients if they were willing to take it. | Javier Zayas Photography/Moment via Getty Images By Dannell D. Boatman, West Virginia University For the first time, an mRNA cancer vaccine has succeeded […]
UI Health Helps Teens Take Charge of Their Sickle Cell Disease
Ryan Cooper knows firsthand how tough it is to be a teenager with sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder that can cause intense pain and organ damage. “Adolescence is already hard enough, and then you are adding a layer of having a chronic illness on top of it,” Cooper says. For more than 15 […]
Mamografías en el parque
Las pruebas gratuitas de detección de cáncer de mama acercan la atención médica a las personas, independientemente de su seguro médico Una madre y su hija viajaron ayer desde su hogar en el South Side de Chicago hasta Humboldt Park; no para pasear en los botes con forma de cisne por la laguna ni para […]
Mammograms at the Park
Free breast cancer screenings bring healthcare access to people, regardless of insurance status A mother and daughter traveled from their home on Chicago’s South Side to Humboldt Park earlier today — not to ride the swan boats in the lagoon or to go bird watching along the trails, but so that the mother could get […]
Power Down
Storm’s aftermath, power outages take a health toll in Northwest Indiana When a storm knocked out her power two weeks ago, Sabrina Scott-Jowers found herself in a stressful situation: figuring out how to get her dialysis treatments on time. “At home, my dialysis machine was out,” Scott-Jowers says. “I had to go into a center […]
The Chicago Room Where Medicine Gets Rebuilt
8th Annual Women in Medicine Summit™ returns to The Drake By Morgan Collier, Executive Director of Women in Medicine™ Most people have lived some version of this. The doctor who knew your whole history, who caught the thing three other people missed, and who you had finally come to trust, is one day just gone […]
Celebrating Our Latest Awards
Read our latest award-winning stories, plus special recognitions, fellowships, and grants We’re excited to share the honors that Caregiving and Chicago Health magazines have received this past year for outstanding work. Congratulations to all! Awards After the Darién By Clavel Rangel and Katie Scarlett Brandt American Psychoanalytic Association’s Special Recognition Award National Association of Hispanic […]
Community Health Worker Pipeline
Partnership between South Side clinic Friend Health and Malcolm X College grows Chicago’s community health workforce from within Victoria Bell of Washington Park, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, was navigating a painful divorce and supporting two children on her own when she resolved to build a better future for her family. “I was focused […]
When Surgery Doesn’t Work
At the Center for Reproductive Care, our mission is to provide you the best opportunity to create the family you dreamed of. Each patient is different and we do our best – using advanced science – to understand the unique circumstances of each patient and develop an individualized treatment plan suited to a patient’s needs.
The Trendiest Non-Diet
Intuitive eating encourages people to trust their bodies — not diet rules As a teenager, Angie Caruso struggled with restrictive eating, avoiding what she considered “fear foods” and underfeeding her body’s needs. In high school and college, she met with doctors and nutritionists who helped her develop daily meal plans and strategies to gain weight. […]