How To Avoid Self-Diagnosis
In an ideal world, if you notice something wrong with your body, you could immediately get a medical appointment — and answers — with no fear about the unknown. Strange or unexpected symptoms always carry a level of worry, though, and doctors are often booked months out. So where do we often turn while waiting […]
Research Hero: Richard Novak, MD
University of Illinois at Chicago Covid-19 is not the first pandemic go-around for Richard Novak, MD. For more than 30 years, he has worked closely with HIV-positive patients. Today, as head of infectious diseases at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he has been running several research studies trying to find a drug to treat […]
Hope for Huntington’s Disease?
A progressive and fatal neurological disease, Huntington’s disease affects the entire brain. It’s “a constellation of three types of issues: motor, cognitive and psychiatric,” says Danny Bega, MD, a neurologist and director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Huntington’s disease clinic. There are no curative or preventive therapies, but there has been “an explosion of research in […]
All of Us Research Aims to Reflect a Diverse Population
When Ambien was introduced to the market, the standard dose was a godsend for those needing a sleeping aid — unless you were a woman. Lipitor helped patients with high cholesterol — unless you were of Asian descent. Better access to research data could have mitigated these issues, and that’s one of the reasons the […]
The Future of Rehab: RIC’s Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
When the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago looks to the future, it sets its sights high. In this case, high is its impressive new home: the 27-story Shirley Ryan AbilityLab that aims to rethink the future of research and patient care. After eight years and $550 million, RIC will celebrate the grand opening of its new […]
Shoot for the Moon
Cancer initiative spurs research—and already advancements are happening In the 1960s, America channeled its scientific and engineering efforts into putting a man on the moon. It was a feat so large and an advancement so powerful that people were saying it couldn’t be done until the very moment that it was. With the same concentrated […]
High Frequency: The Connection Between Everyday Noise and Long-Term Hearing Loss
We’ve known for a long time that excessively loud noise can damage the human ear. During the 19th century, workers often lost their hearing because of the ear-splitting noises of the new machines ushered in by the Industrial Revolution. Today, you don’t have to be a factory worker to experience the dangers of deafening noises. […]
Funding the Cancer War
Despite the money spent on fighting the disease, we’re still searching for the cure to win by Alex Lubischer Bad news first: Cancer is still here, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars the United States government and its citizens have spent fighting it. And it’s not going away any time soon. The good news, […]
The Environmental Link to Autism and Intellectual Disability
By Tom Mullaney In the largest environmental study of its kind, scientists from the University of Chicago have found a geographic link between the incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). The seven-member research team, led by Andrey Rzhetsky, MD, at University of Chicago Medicine, analyzed more than 100 million U.S. medical […]
Being Cared For
Above photo: Daniel Johnson, MD, Comer Children’s Hospital at The University of Chicago Medicine Chicago boasts several nationally leading pediatric hospitals thanks to a holistic approach to healing By Rhonda Alexander Everyone needs healthcare, and for children—especially those with acute or chronic illnesses—reliable, quality holistic healthcare can mean the difference between simply managing […]
Not In Vain
Plastic surgery exists for those who don’t want the attention By Megy Karydes Not everyone who seeks out plastic surgery is looking for breast augmentation or rhinoplasty services. In fact, for wounded veterans or burn victims, just looking like themselves and being able to function in society are among the reasons they undergo hours of […]
Using Your Head
Mayo Clinic finding a way to diagnose concussions with more certainty By Riley Andersen At the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, neurologists are discovering new ways to diagnose concussions. Research shows that autonomic reflex testing, which measures involuntary changes in heart rate and blood pressure, consistently shows significant changes in those with concussions. The findings were […]
The Pap Education
Are women demanding unnecessary tests? By Megy Karydes A cancer that starts the day after a negative Papanicolaou (Pap) test, under the new guidelines, may have three years to develop before the next Pap test detects it. An annual Pap test for a healthy, sexually active woman used to be the norm as a preventive […]
Divided Attention
Kids with ADHD can become adults with ADHD and other problems By Nancy Maes A new study by researchers at Mayo Clinic reveals that there is no cutoff age for attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and describes the risks of this neurodevelopmental condition when it persists into adulthood. “In the past, we thought that ADHD was […]
Vitamin D Deficiency: How Common Is It?
By Karen Schwartz These dark and dreary winter months have many Chicagoans longing for warmer climates. But hot rays and relaxing days are not all that Chicagoans may miss by living in a colder and less sunny locale. Living in Chicago may predispose numerous Chicago residents to having a vitamin D deficiency. In fact, about […]
New Study by Chicago Doctor May Help With Complicated Pregnancies
A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Oklahoma, found that women whose water had broken prematurely, and whose babies were breech, had worse health outcomes for both the mother and child than those whose water broke prematurely but whose babies were not breech. This information could be crucial for doctors when they […]
Surprising Breast Cancer Research
Intriguing findings from this year’s breast cancer studies Researchers have been hard at work all year long, publishing a slew of breast cancer studies. We sifted through the pile and picked out the ones we found most interesting, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One study published in June in the journal Cancer […]
McShane: Agent of Change
New specialist at University of Chicago Medicine works to clear things up on lesser-known disease Dr. Pamela McShane has been on staff as a pulmonary and critical care physician at the University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) only since January 2011, but she already has made important discoveries about an uncommon and often misdiagnosed disease: bronchiectasis. […]
Researchers Develop New Potential Solutions to Concussions
A group of researchers has developed the first potential solution to reducing sports-related concussions that doesn’t involve helmets—a simple collar worn by athletes that compresses vessels in the neck to increase cranial blood volume, thereby reducing internal movement of the brain. The medical community has known for a while that helmets do not offer total […]
