Category: Health

Protein restriction, rather than higher-protein intake, could improve metabolic health in older adults and extend both healthy life expectancy and overall lifespan. This is the conclusion reached by Bailey Knopf, researcher, and Dudley Lamming, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in Cell Press Blue.

When we evaluate someone for concerns about memory or thinking, cognitive testing gives us an important snapshot of how the brain is functioning. But a snapshot has limitations. One of the most valuable pieces of information in a memory evaluation is not how a person performs on a single test but how that performance changes over time.

Could the key to understanding Alzheimer’s disease be hiding in your gut? In this fascinating conversation, Dr. Barbara Bendlin, PhD — Professor of Geriatrics and Gerontology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a member of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute — breaks down more than a decade of groundbreaking research on the gut-brain connection.

“We’ve long suspected that your living environment affects your brain, but until now it’s not been proven at scale in clinical populations,” John-Paul J. Yu, MD, PhD, associate professor of radiology, psychiatry, biomedical engineering, biostatistics and medical informatics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s school of medicine, said in an RSNA news release on the findings. “We’ve shown very robust, measurable metrics that our living environment has an outsized impact on the brain at the molecular and cellular level.”

“Constipation is one of the most common GI [gastrointestinal] symptoms people complain about, and it’s not uncommon for it to be related to a medication someone is taking,” says Mark Benson, MD, an associate professor of medicine and gastroenterologist at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin.

About 3 million people in the United States live with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF. Unlike better-known forms of heart failure, HFpEF does not necessarily prevent the heart from squeezing normally. Instead, the heart becomes too stiff to fill properly and supply the body with enough blood during activity.

Dr. Nathaniel Chin was in residency when his father, Dr. Moe Chin, a family physician in Watertown, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2012. The elder Chin retired the next day, ending a 40-year career as a doctor. He died in 2018.

“He saw everyone in his clinic, from young kids to the elderly,” Dr. Nathaniel Chin said recently of his father on WPR’s “The Lee Rayburn Show.” “He was my introduction to health, wellness and providing care for people.”

Approximately 3 million people in the United States are living with a condition called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF. The number of people with this form of heart failure, which is more common in women than men, is growing alongside a rise in risk factors like aging, hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Additionally, more than 80% of HFpEF patients also face pulmonary hypertension, or increased blood pressure in the vasculature of the lungs.

Violent outbursts are so common that they’ve been dramatized on the popular medical TV series The Pitt. “Emergency rooms right now are like a powder keg,” said Rachel Odes, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing.

Now is the perfect time for students to start adjusting their sleep schedules before heading back to the classroom.

Dr. Casey Freymiller with UW Health Kids recommends slowly moving up a child’s bedtime and wake-up time rather than making big changes all at once.

The final month of summer is here, which means many families will be getting into the back-to-school lists and shopping for supplies.

While we are providing physical tools to help kids with the new school year, are we spending enough time equipping our kids with strategies for their well-being so they can thrive this academic year?

Dr. Shilagh Mirgain, distinguished psychologist with UW Health, joined WMTV 15 to talk about the three “P’s” that families should try for the school year.

People generally assume that getting too much fat or carbohydrates is bad for health. But with protein, the general thinking is too much doesn’t matter. That may not be true, says aging biologist Dudley Lamming of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

“The exposome doesn’t work alone, but rather, it works in tandem with our genome,” Eleanna Melcher, an MD/PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said during her presentation. “Our genetic influences plus our environmental influences form the basis of our health.”

The United States has now recorded more cases of measles in 2026 than in any other year since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000, a grim sign that the country may be headed toward a new era in which the disease regularly sickens thousands every year.

Wildfire smoke moving into Wisconsin is bringing a surge of tiny particles that can travel deep into the lungs and cause irritation and inflammation, according to a UW Health allergist.

Dr. Mark Moss said the particles are a concern for anyone spending time outdoors, but pose a greater risk to certain populations.

People become infected with cyclospora by consuming contaminated fresh produce or untreated water. Cases pick up in warmer months, because more people are eating fresh fruits and vegetables, said Dr. Jim Conway, a UW Health Kids pediatric infectious disease doctor.

Early findings indicate Sen. Lindsey Graham died from an aortic dissection— a condition that UW Health researchers in Madison are actively studying.

An aortic dissection occurs when a layer of the body’s main artery separates, disrupting blood flow to vital organs.

Dr. Paul DiMusto, a UW Health vascular surgeon and co-director of the UW Health Aortic Center, said many patients have no symptoms until the event occurs, and it is often life-threatening.