Category Health & Wellness
Can ‘smart toilets’ be the next health data wellspring?
Wearable, smart technologies are transforming the ability to monitor and improve health, but a decidedly low-tech commodity — the humble toilet — may have potential to outperform them all.
Injectable, flexible electrode could replace rigid nerve-stimulating implants
Neuromodulation therapies can reduce epileptic seizures, soothe chronic pain and treat depression. Now, a significant advance could dramatically reduce their cost, increase their reliability and make them much less invasive.
UW–Madison chemist searches for ways to bioengineer proteins within cells
Chemistry Professor Andrew Buller wants to add more building blocks to the body’s protein-making kit, making it easier and less expensive to create the new molecules for research and medicine.
In Wisconsin, 3 in 5 people with Down syndrome diagnosed with dementia by age 55
A UW–Madison researcher says the findings "show us areas where we need to invest resources in services, treatment and research.”
UW–Madison’s Jonathan Patz elected to National Academy of Medicine
Patz, professor and director of the Global Health Institute at UW–Madison, was chosen in recognition of his pioneering research showing the risk global climate change poses for human health.
Researchers may have found a new way to fight skin-burrowing schistosomiasis parasite
Scientists led by Morgridge Institute for Research investigator Phillip Newmark have isolated a potent kryptonite against the parasitic worms, which cause devastating health problems.
21st century medicine helps Amish deal with rare, inherited illnesses
A rural doctor has a close collaboration with specialists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who have developed tests, and suggested treatments, for several rare genetic conditions in the Amish and Mennonites communities.
Chancellor Blank addresses new AAU sexual assault survey results
Sexual assault and misconduct remain serious problems on every campus across the country. Ensuring the safety of our students is a fundamental priority for all of us at UW–Madison.
Go Big Read book ‘The Poison Squad’ offers food for thought
Would you like a little cinnamon with your brick dust? Wait. You didn’t know you were eating brick dust? Such was the case before the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, banning adulterated or misbranded food and drugs. You can thank Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, a man you likely haven’t heard of.
UW–Madison, local startup testing a one-two punch against hard-to-heal wounds
Millions of people with severe burns or diabetic skin ulcers could benefit from an experimental enhancement to a next-generation covering that is already healing difficult wounds.
Detailed PICture reveals how tooth enamel is strong enough to last a lifetime
Physicist Pupa Gilbert used PIC mapping to find that the way enamel crystals are misoriented likely deflects cracks, leading to teeth’s lifelong strength.
Remembering Heidi Dvinge
On Sept. 20, Professor Heidi Dvinge passed away unexpectedly. Her colleagues describe her tragic loss as “devastating.”
Affordable Care Act slashed uninsured rate among people with diabetes
In 2009 and 2010, 17 percent of adults who were under age 65 and had diabetes were uninsured. After the ACA took effect, that percentage declined by 12 percentage points and by 27 percentage points among those with low income.
For football-loving students, ‘Mocktailgate’ will offer all the fun, none of the hangover
Students who want to get their Badger spirit on this weekend but not be around alcohol have another option: a “Mocktailgate” on Library Mall from 9 to 11 a.m. Sept. 21.
Tiny capsules packed with gene-editing tools offer alternative to viral delivery of gene therapy
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have packed a gene-editing payload into a customizable, synthetic nanocapsule.
New nursing immersion program offers students meaningful, hands-on experience at respite camp
Nursing students in a new summer respite camp immersion course provided services for people with a broad spectrum of disabilities and practiced new nursing skills.
Videos, music on tablets boost moods of dementia patients and caregivers
A pilot study analyzed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy finds that dementia patients given access to tablets loaded with apps for photos and music, and common apps such as YouTube, experience more positive moods.
Electronic records pin broad set of health risks on genetic premutation
UW–Madison's Marsha Mailick led researchers from the Waisman Center and Marshfield Clinic in a study that employed machine learning to mine decades of electronic health records of nearly 20,000 individuals.
Single protein plays important dual transport roles in the brain
A wide range of neurological conditions could benefit from the growth of axons — the telephone wires of the nervous system — including spinal cord injuries and some neurodegenerative diseases, says researcher Edwin Chapman.
Two different equine diseases detected in Wisconsin in recent weeks
Following news in early August that 2019’s first case of Eastern equine encephalitis was detected in Wisconsin, another horse in Wisconsin was diagnosed with a separate disease called equine infectious anemia.