Category: Health

The number of Wisconsin residents with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple to 348,000 within 50 years, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

University of Wisconsin researchers who think they may be able to slow that increase appeared Monday at a press conference at the State Capitol, calling for legislative support of a proposal in the governor’s budget that would provide $3 million for Alzheimer’s research during the next two-year budget period.

It has been more than 30 years since Richard Nixon declared war on cancer, an enemy that has proved far more wily and intractable than anyone thought.

Although not every patient would jump at the chance, several doctors across the country are warming up to the notion of treating hard-to-heal infections with an age-old nemesis: maggots.

This treatment has been used, perhaps unintentionally, for thousands of years. During wartimes, soldiers have sometimes been left for days with infected wounds that became infested with maggots. Doctors would later be surprised to learn that the patients remained healthy despite a lack of medical attention.

WASHINGTON – The House leadership has agreed to allow a floor vote on a bill that would loosen the restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research imposed by President Bush in 2001, according to members of Congress and others privy to the arrangement.

The vote, expected to take place within the next two to three months, would be the first of its kind on the politically charged topic since Bush declared much of the research off-limits to federal funding.

(Reprinted in the 3/25/05 Capital Times)

Gov. Jim Doyle will seek $187.5 million in state funds to build a research institute that could keep Wisconsin on the leading edge of biotechnology and biomedical research.

In December, Doyle proposed the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, which would bring together biochemists, nanotechnologists and computer engineers at UW-Madison. Doyle said today he would call on the state Building Commission to approve the first phase of funding for the institute at its meeting Friday. The project will also require legislative approval.

Autistic youngsters may shy away from eye contact because they see even familiar faces as uncomfortable threats, according to brain tests at the University of Wisconsin.

The research deepens understanding of an autistic brain’s function and may lead to new treatment and teaching approaches.

Autistic children and adults are typically reluctant to make and keep eye contact with others — part of their general lack of social or emotional connection. A new study suggests a basic reason for this: The eye contact overstimulates a part of the brain that processes fear and emotion, and people with autism learn to limit their eye- and face-tracking as a result.

(This article from The Washington Post is about research done by professor Richard Davidson. It was published in the 3/9/05 Capital Times print edition.)

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Good relationships and a sense of purpose may help women over age 60 fend off heart disease, arthritis and other illnesses by reducing the inflammation that promotes them, according to a new study conducted by psychologist Elliot Friedman of the University of Wisconsin.

Researchers in Wisconsin have come a step closer to developing a culture for human embryonic stem (ES) cells that is free of animal products–a recipe that is essential for growing any cells that would be used for therapy in humans.

University of Wisconsin researchers have confirmed the usefulness of a non-invasive test that identifies people at increased risk for heart disease.

James M. Stein, co-director of UW Health Preventive Cardiology, presented the study results Sunday at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation is giving $15 million to help build a research complex on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Gov. Jim Doyle was planning to announce the donation today at the university.

Officials at UW-Madison’s School of Medicine are nearing acceptance into a late-stage clinical trial that would allow them to test a promising new drug for stroke victims.