Latest News

• share
• favorite_border

One of the global regions highly affected by hepatitis C is West Africa. In developed countries, hepatitis C, a blood-borne disease, is transmitted through intravenous (IV) drug use. “In West Africa, we believe that there are many transmission modes and they are not through IV drug use, but through cultural and every day practices,” says Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD principal investigator on a study recently published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

• share
• favorite_border

Blame and anger associated with the grief of caring for a loved one with a traumatic-brain injury (TBI) may be related to inflammation and certain chronic diseases, according to researchers from Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. These findings were published in the latest issue of Biological Research for Nursing.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences students, faculty and staff will participate in simulations to help them better understand what it is like to live in poverty. The simulations will take place on Saturday, Feb. 7, from 9 am to noon at St. Eulalia’s Church at 1851 S. 9th Ave. in Maywood and on Tuesday, Feb. 10, from 6 to 9 pm in Mundelein Auditorium located at 1020 W. Sheridan Road on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus.

• share
• favorite_border

Chicago celebrated the Super Bowl with a snow storm that dumped 14.2 inches of accumulation, putting it in a tie for the area’s 10th largest snowstorm in recorded history, according to the National Weather Service. Tips from Loyola's head of emergency medical services on how to correctly shovel snow to avoid injury.

• share
• favorite_border

Measles are becoming more commonplace, due to lack of vaccination, says Jorge Parada, MD, medical director of infectious disease at Loyola University Health System.

• share
• favorite_border

Ginger Hook, MSN, RN, has been named vice president and chief nursing officer of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, Melrose Park, which is part of Loyola University Health System. Ms. Hook will assume this role on Monday, March 9. In this position, she will implement initiatives to advance high-quality, patient-centered care across the hospital.

• share
• favorite_border

The festive atmosphere of many Super Bowl parties may make guests more likely to drink to excess during Sunday’s big game, according to primary care experts from Loyola University Health System (LUHS).

• share
• favorite_border

When the football season concludes with the final play of Sunday’s Super Bowl, some fans may begin to feel withdrawal symptoms. A psychiatrist explains how this affects brain chemistry.

• share
• favorite_border

“Gum health is measured by millimeters on a scale of 1 to about 9 with a calibrated dental instrument,” says Martin Hogan, DDS, Loyola University Medical Center. “The exposed space between the gum and the tooth or root is measured. The more space between the tooth and gum, the higher the number and the greater the likelihood of gum disease.”

• share
• favorite_border

“Think of your muscles as shoelaces,” advises Mike Ross, exercise physiologist, Gottlieb Center for Fitness. “If you have a knot in your muscle, stretching pulls it tighter.” The answer to eliminating the knots and restoring optimal flexibility is foam rollers. Ross offers tips.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC) has earned the coveted Baby-Friendly designation. This verifies that the hospital has implemented the ten steps to help new mothers successfully breastfeed.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Chicago and Loyola University Health System today presented their Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards to individuals on the Health Sciences Campus who provide inspirational service to others in the spirit of the late civil rights leader.

• share
• favorite_border

“Cold winter air can be drying and irritating to the nose and so can forms of indoor heat, such as forced air and fireplaces,” says James Stankiewicz, MD, Chair, Department of Otolaryngology at Loyola University Medical Center. “Blood flow from the nose can range from a few drops to a real gusher.”

• share
• favorite_border

A study in the journal Academic Medicine identifies the five main strategies researchers use in preparing and writing medical review articles. Review articles inform and enlighten physicians and other readers by summarizing the research on a given topic and setting the stage for further studies.

• share
• favorite_border

Two Loyola University Health System sports medicine physicians will be official team physicians for the men’s and women’s hockey teams during the 2015 Winter World University Games Feb. 4 – 14 in Granada, Spain.

• share
• favorite_border

Lung transplant patients who receive lungs from heavy drinkers are nearly nine times more likely to experience a life-threatening complication called primary graft dysfunction. The study raises the question whether a history of alcohol abuse should exclude use of donor lungs.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Chicago will unveil its new exercise science lab with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony from 3 to 5 p.m. Jan. 15 on the 11th floor of BVM Hall located on the Lake Shore Campus, 6364 N. Sheridan Rd.

• share
• favorite_border

Up to 8 percent of people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries carry a mutated gene that causes heart failure and potentially fatal heart attacks. A new study demonstrates how this gene mutation impairs the heart’s ability to pump blood.

• share
• favorite_border

Tips on handling icicles safely by Loyola ED. The arctic freeze followed by a warm-up have led to the accumulation of ice and snow on roofs, electrical wires and buildings. While it may be tempting to knock off the icicles, be very careful says a Loyola University Health System emergency medicine physician.

• share
• favorite_border

The 28th Annual Ruth K. Palmer Research Symposium will address “Inequities in Health: From Cells to Community.”

• share
• favorite_border

o your neighbors have their house lights on? Is their walk shoveled? Are the newspapers and mail piling up? You might want to knock on the door and check on them, says Debbie Jansky, assistant manager, Gottlieb Home Health & Hospice. “Winter is isolating for us all but when really bad weather hits, the chronically ill or elderly really suffer the most,” she says.

• share
• favorite_border

In the upcoming Race Across USA, ultra-endurance athletes will run a marathon a day as they cover 3,080 miles from California to Maryland. The event will offer researchers a unique opportunity to study the physical and psychological effects of ultra-endurance running.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center performed 51 lung transplants in 2014, the most ever by a single center in Illinois. The previous Illinois record for lung transplants performed in a single year, also set by Loyola, was 50 lung transplants in 1993.

• share
• favorite_border

The pancreas secretes enzymes to digest food and also hormones to regulate energy. Each year, an estimated 210,000 people are admitted to the hospital with acute pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is the inflammation or infection of the pancreas.

• share
• favorite_border

Tread lightly and don’t get too confident; winter is officially here and sidewalks are slippery. About 1 million people take a tumble every year and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 20,000 people die annually due to fall-related injuries.

• share
• favorite_border

Expectant parents should avoid the use of ultrasounds for nonmedical reasons, according to maternal-fetal medicine experts at Loyola University Health System. “Ultrasound is a valuable tool when done for medical purposes by trained professionals,” said Jean Goodman, MD, Loyola University Health System. “But this technology should not be used for entertainment purposes to see an image of a baby or to identify gender."

• share
• favorite_border

he Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that flu activity is “high” or “widespread” in 43 states and call it an epidemic this season. Most of the cases are caused by the H3N2 strain. “Nearly one-third of circulating H3N2 virus match the strain found in the current vaccine, meaning the vaccine is doing its job,” says Parada. “One hundred percent of the H1N1 circulating strain matches that in the current vaccine, earning a touchdown or a bull’s eye for those keeping score.” However, to date, only a small portion of the flu cases reported to date have been identified as H1N1.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center has launched the first clinical trial in the United States of a minimally invasive treatment designed to help relieve pain, heal spinal fractures and prevent new fractures in patients with metastatic cancer that has spread to the spine.

• share
• favorite_border

Chillin' is not cool in winter when temperatures drop dangerously low and frostbite cases rise, says Arthur Sanford, MD, burn surgeon at Loyola University Medical Center. Lose the texting gloves, leggings, short skirts and gym shoes, he says, or risk losing a finger, toe or tips of the ear.

• share
• favorite_border

For the first time, researchers have found that, in addition to gene mutations, environmental stress plays a key role in the development of the heart disease hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

• share
• favorite_border

Cirrhosis of the liver is more common than previously thought, affecting more than 633,000 adults yearly. And surprisingly, 69 percent of the adults identified as possibly having cirrhosis may not know they have this disease.

• share
• favorite_border

Penelope Emi Hermsdorf was born on New Year’s Day at 11:50 p.m. to Minelia and Robert Hermsdorf of Cicero. She was the first baby to be born at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in 2015.

• share
• favorite_border

Norah Hafdi was born on New Year’s Day at 3 am to Laura Myers, 38, and her husband Kamal Hafdi of Elmhurst. She was the first baby to be born at Loyola University Medical Center in 2015. The healthy baby girl weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces, and she was 19 inches long.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center will be included in the “Guinness World Records” 2015 edition for caring for the world’s smallest baby.

• share
• favorite_border

Early detection and treatment can decrease the risk of developing complications from diabetes. Loyola’s certified diabetes educators report that the new year is a good time to see a doctor if you think you have diabetes.

• share
• favorite_border

As the countdown for the new year begins, so does the race for the first baby of the new year. “The race to have the first baby is something all hospitals share enthusiasm for, especially in large cities like Chicago, and, unfortunately, not all hospitals play fair,” said Karen Deighan, MD, OB/GYN, director of OB/GYN at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of the Loyola University Health System.

• share
• favorite_border

Is your New Year’s resolution to lose weight? Here are five bad strategies to avoid, according to Dr. Aaron Michelfelder of Loyola University Health System.

• share
• favorite_border

Binge drinking in young, healthy adults significantly disrupts the immune system, a new study has found. While drinkers generally understand how binge drinking alters behavior, there is less awareness of alcohol’s harmful effects in other areas, such as the immune system.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Health System has now expanded free HIV testing to patients at the Loyola Center for Health at River Forest. “HIV affects people of all ages, all races and all economic backgrounds; it is not just an urban phenomenon but exists in the suburbs,” says Jerry Goldstein, research coordinator, Loyola University Health System. ”The more people tested, the earlier the detection and the faster treatment is offered to save lives and prevent the spread of infection.”

• share
• favorite_border

Chicago electrician sustained burns over 50% of his body after an electrical panel exploded in his face. For four months he stayed at Loyola burn center, during the long road back.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center will bring comfort and warmth to its patients this Christmas through the gift of a homemade blanket.

• share
• favorite_border

– Loyola University Medical Center orthopaedic surgeon Michael S. Bednar, MD, FAAOS has been elected to the board of directors of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS).

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center has implanted its 100th patient with a new artificial aortic heart valve that does not require open-heart surgery.

• share
• favorite_border

Doctors and nurses are traditionally thought to be the primary caretakers of patients in a typical hospital setting. But according to a study at the burn center intensive care unit at Loyola University Health System, three physicians, a social worker and a dietitian were documented as the most central communicators of the patient clinical team.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola University Medical Center orthopaedic surgeon Michael S. Bednar, MD, FAAOS has been elected to the board of directors of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

• share
• favorite_border

Among lung transplant patients, those with cystic fibrosis may be more likely to develop resistance to the antiviral drug ganciclovir.

• share
• favorite_border

Computerized brain games that are advertised as a way to help boost intelligence and prevent dementia will be popular Christmas gifts this year. But there’s little scientific evidence to support these industry claims.

• share
• favorite_border

“The envelope is always being pushed to create something new that will get attention, potentially create a druglike effect and can pass under the radar of law enforcers,” said Christina Hantsch, MD, toxicologist, Department of Emergency Medicine at Loyola University Health System.

• share
• favorite_border

A fancy department store box with pajamas, a robe or a sweater, gourmet treats or designer cologne are all traditional and thoughtful gifts. But if you want to really show someone with special needs that you are concerned about their well-being, check out your local pharmacy for gifts they’ll use every day,” said Debbie Jansky, assistant nurse manager, Home Health Services at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.

• share
• favorite_border

As a biomedical engineer, Lynn Anne Gantt always longed to work on the frontlines of patient care. After having four boys, she took a break from engineering before discovering an outlet that would allow her to pursue her dreams.