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The eustachian tube (named after Italian physician Bartolomeo Eustachio) is a small passage extending from the back of the nose to the middle ear. You have one for each ear. Its function is to regulate pressure between your ear and the external environment. Ideally, the pressure is balanced. The eustachian tube opens when you swallow… Read More

Season 16 of The Voice has a winner, and her story might surprise you. Marlyn Jarmon, 26 of Frisco, TX blew everyone away with her performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the season finale. But her heavenly voice and pitch is even more spectacular when you consider that Marlyn is hearing impaired. Chronic ear infections… Read More

Let’s just say “ENT” Think about your routine interactions with the environment. Could you breathe easier today? Were you able to walk a straight line? Was it no trouble to talk with and listen to your friends? We usually don’t think about such things unless there’s a problem. Issues with our ears, nose, and throat,… Read More

Parasomnias can pose a real danger. A teenager is found sleeping in a tower crane 130 feet above the ground, having walked across a narrow metal beam to get there. A man gives his roommate a nightly play-by-play of his dreams as they occur. A sleeping man drives across town, chokes his stepfather and stabs… Read More

Romeo Shoshoo, a Chicago ENT patient, suffered through daily episodes of falling asleep suddenly, even while walking

Tertiary hyperparathyroidism occurs more than primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism but it is rare and is seen in patients with renal disease and post kidney transplant. Because it is a rare problem, guidelines for surgical treatment and prognosis have not been well repeated in the past. This study establishes guidelines for parathyroid surgical intervention. In a… Read More

Can an algorithm outperform an experienced physician? The answer might be, “yes,” but with a caveat. Findings from a recent study (Zhang, B, et al.) published in Thyroid suggest that a machine learning algorithm could be superior in specificity and accuracy than an experienced radiologist using ultrasound technology in diagnosing thyroid nodules in patients. Machine… Read More

When you suffer from allergies, the symptoms you experience are the result of your body’s immune system reacting to allergens in the environment. When you breathe in these allergens, your immune system forms antibodies that trigger a chemical response causing symptoms like stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing, or itchy eyes. These familiar allergy symptoms are… Read More

The second edition of the textbook, Sleep Apnea and Snoring: Surgical and Non-Surgical Therapy, edited by Chicago ENT medical director Dr. Michael Friedman and Dr. Ofer Jacobowitz is scheduled for release May 16, 2019.

Sleep apnea is more than just snoring and restless sleep. It has been tied to increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, weight gain, impotence, and more. Despite these health complications, many people are reluctant to take steps to treat it. First, denial that they have the disease interferes. And next, they are… Read More

While most everyone is familiar with kidney stones and gallstones, salivary stones (also called) sialoliths are also a real disorder. They are caused by a buildup of calcium in the salivary gland or duct Salivary stones may remain in the gland, unnoticed. They become problematic when they partially or totally block the natural flow of… Read More

The parathyroid glands are a small but mighty part of the endocrine system that are very important to your health. Typical people have four parathyroid glands, a pair on each side of the neck located behind the thyroid. The glands produce a substance called PTH, or parathyroid hormone. PTH is the most important regulator of… Read More

Romeo Shoshoo, a Chicago ENT patient, suffered through daily episodes of falling asleep suddenly, even while walking

For nearly two decades, Dr. Friedman has been consecutively named Castle Connolly’s Top Doctor. His exceptional patient care, gifted and pioneering approach to medicine, and commitment to continued cutting-edge research in otolaryngology and sleep medicine are well displayed in the presentation of this award. Dr. Friedman specializes in the treatment of tumors of the head… Read More

Frustrated with CPAP? Inspire can help. Inspire is a new sleep apnea treatment that does not require the tubes and breathing apparatus involved in using CPAP. Instead, during a small outpatient procedure, a small device is implanted that then works to open the airway whenever you sleep. You control the device using a remote, turning… Read More

You may have heard the recent story of a woman from Xiamen, China, who woke up one morning recently to find that she could not hear her boyfriend’s voice. In fact, she couldn’t hear any male voice—her ears suddenly could only register frequencies that were at a woman’s average pitch or higher. “Talk about selective… Read More

Chicago ENT is pleased to announce that we are expanding services at our Chicago – Halsted and Skokie locations in order to better serve our patients. We are also closing the Michigan Avenue office beginning January 1, 2019. The change will allow Chicago ENT to bring more expert doctors in the field of ENT to… Read More

Treat snoring and sleep apnea with a number of non-invasive and minimally invasive treatment options.

One of the biggest barriers in the treatment of sleep apnea is patients never taking the first step to be treated: acknowledging they might have a problem. “Sleep apnea is a disease complicated by denial,” says Michael Friedman, MD, Medical Director at Chicago ENT. “Since patients are asleep, they are often in denial about snoring… Read More

If your child suffer from food allergies, you are not alone. The prevalence of the “peanut table” in school cafeterias is not a new phenomenon simply because we are suddenly more sensitive to the problem—it’s a result of allergies becoming a problem more than ever before. According to one study, peanut allergies have risen more… Read More