Latest Northwestern Memorial Hospital Stories

Variant of obesity gene may increase breast cancer risk by 30 percent CHICAGO, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- New research aimed to better identify the genetic factors that lead to breast cancer has uncovered a link between the fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO) and a higher incidence of breast cancer. According to the study conducted at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, people who possess a variant of the FTO gene have up to a 30 percent greater chance of developing breast cancer....

Northwestern Memorial, the Feinberg School and RIC continue to forge collaborative strides in an effort to help people with severe spinal cord injuries CHICAGO, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) recently enrolled their first subject in a national clinical research trial of a human embryonic stem cell-based therapy for participants with a...

Implantable device monitors heart activity and signals impending heart attackCHICAGO, April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When a heart attack begins, a stopwatch starts. With each passing minute heart tissue is deprived of blood, causing it to deteriorate or die. In order to minimize damage to the heart, blood flow must be restored promptly, or the effects can be serious, often even fatal. Research shows that the length of time between when a heart attack starts and when treatment...

Puppy love helps improve quality of life CHICAGO, March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lexi trots down the hall of the inpatient oncology unit at Northwestern Memorial's Prentice Women's Hospital and is greeted with smiles, cheers, and even a few tears. The anticipated visitors sense the excitement, but understand Lexi is there to do her job and she gets right to work visiting 54 year old cancer patient Leonard Pal. Lexi is not your typical visitor; she's a Golden Retriever bringing...

Study finds women who suffer from hot flashes when they begin menopause are at lower risk for cardiovascular events CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- You are enjoying a night out with friends when it starts; first you feel flush, then a sensation of warmth crawls down your body. Soon you begin perspiring and you feel as if everyone around you can tell what is happening - another hot flash. An estimated three out of four women experience hot flashes associated with...

Hospital partners with CeaseFire to prevent violence in Chicago CHICAGO, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Memorial Hospital's emergency department treats approximately 1,000 traumas annually, one third of which are related to shooting or stabbing incidents. In response, Northwestern Memorial has become a CeaseFire site and has staffed its emergency department with violence interrupters who are specially trained to intervene and minimize the risk of retaliation or repeat...

AHA Immediate-Past President Clyde W. Yancy, MD tapped to lead cardiology CHICAGO, Jan. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Medicine(TM) announced today that Clyde W. Yancy, MD, has been named the Magerstadt professor and chief of the division of cardiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Yancy's medical appointment includes serving as associate director of clinical programs for Northwestern's Bluhm Cardiovascular...

Gregory Dumanian, M.D., noted researcher and clinician will lead division CHICAGO, Jan. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Medicine today announced the installation of Gregory A. Dumanian, MD, as the new chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Dumanian, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery, neurological and orthopaedic surgery, has been a Feinberg faculty...

Northwestern physician gives new meaning to tireless energy CHICAGO, Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As a medical student in the 1980s, Joe DiCara saw firsthand the disparities that existed in Chicago's Cabrini Green neighborhood. Time and time again, he would see children and young adults in his clinic that had poor access to basic healthcare, little interest in school and high exposure to violence, which, sadly, led to a bleak outlook for their futures. DiCara, along with some of...

Routine screenings and preventative care improve the health of underinsured communities' CHICAGO, Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For more than 55 years Chicago resident Ronald Seals has laced up his roller skates hitting the hard wood to perform spins, dances and the most difficult move of all, the "Big Wheel" -- all with his family skating by his side. Seals' eight wheels have rolled with four generations including his mother and father, ten brothers and sisters, children and...