“We are getting more and more requests from patients who say, ’I want to avoid sedation if it’s not necessary,’” said Dr. Mike Ford, an anesthesiologist at UW Health. “Some patients don’t like the idea of losing complete control.”
Category: Health
New UV light procedure now becoming available for Wisconsinites with cornea condition
Noted: UW Health plans to start offering corneal cross-linking by July, spokeswoman Emily Kumlien said. Unity Health Insurance will cover it there, spokeswoman Jennifer Dinehart said.
Called to the White House, Business Leaders Attest to NIH’s Value
Not even two months ago, the Trump administration shocked the biomedical research community by proposing an 18-percent cut to the budget of the National Institutes of Health.
Wisconsin lawmakers toe party lines on historic health care vote, advocates express concern
While Wisconsin had the second-highest per-capita participation among 35 states with high-risk pools, HIRSP was too expensive for many people and left more than half a million residents uninsured, said Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at UW-Madison’s Population Health Institute.
Ants could someday save your life
A medical breakthrough that might save millions of lives could be crawling in your backyard.AdvertisementWISN 12 News’ Kent Wainscott investigates the groundbreaking research in Wisconsin aimed at stopping deadly, antibiotic-resistant superbugs with actual bugs.
UW-Madison study confirms women and girls twice as likely to have depression
A new UW-Madison study found women are twice as likely to have depression, and the gap in mental health between genders begins at age 12. UW professor Janet Hyde said a gender gap in mental health has been known in the scientific community for decades but had not been confirmed on a scale as large as this study.
Mexican rats, serendipity help UW-Madison scientist study new human disease
A UW-Madison scientist’s chance opportunity to study a curious colony of rats in Mexico nearly three decades ago has resulted in an animal model for a newly discovered human disease related to multiple sclerosis.
Medicaid, health care system confronting high cost of specialty drugs
The event was sponsored by the Evidence-Based Health Policy Project, part of UW-Madison’s Population Health Institute.
As Mifflin Street party approaches, UW-Madison binge drinking may be declining
As the nation’s top party school prepares for its annual spring bash, with no campus-sanctioned alternative event this year, there are signs that heavy drinking among UW-Madison students may be declining.
UW professor named head of state hygiene lab
An engineering professor who has been at UW-Madison for almost 20 years has been selected as the new director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.
Learn how to discuss important health decisions
The UW is hosting two events to teach people how to talk about important health decisions such as feeding tubes, Power of Attorney, and other health care values and goals.
State Rep. Andre Jacque: UW accreditation would not be threatened by abortion law
Letter to the editor: The state of Arizona has a statutory prohibition very similar to my bill which has been in place since 2011. Neither of Arizona’s state medical schools have lost their accreditation, despite the same sort of claims to that end as made by Dean Golden.
Dr. Robert N. Golden: Option of abortion training required to maintain accreditation
Letter to the editor from Robert Golden, dean UW School of Medicine and Public Health and chair of the board, UW Health.
Why female surgeons are posing like this New Yorker cover
Malika Favre has designed several covers for the New Yorker. But she’s never seen any take off like her latest one.
UW Health, UnityPoint Health-Meriter move toward operating agreement, health plan merger
Nine months after UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter announced plans for a joint operating agreement and a merger of health insurance plans, the organizations have signed formal agreements and been cleared by the Federal Trade Commission, they said Monday.
UW Health, Meriter reach collaborative agreement
UW Health, UnityPoint Health and three insurance companies have reached a joint operating agreement that will lead to UW Health working more closely with UnityPoint Health Meriter Hospital in Madison.
High death rate for black babies in Dane County frustrates health officials
UW Health started Centering Pregnancy, a program offering group prenatal visits in an effort to reduce preterm births, in 2014. The program, at a UW clinic on South Park Street, is expanding to UW’s clinic near West Towne Mall.
UW Health nurse works with HIV-positive kids in Africa
For her work, Susan Gold was awarded the first-ever Nelson Mandela Fellowship.
County health ranking slips one, to 16th, helping set goals to improve
La Crosse County’s 2017 state health ranking dropped a notch — to 16th among Wisconsin’s 72 counties from last year — but more important are the targets the measures set for improvement, county Health Director Jen Rombalski said.
The new face of suburbia: economic woes and early death
Getting lost in suburbia is taking on a grim new meaning in the U.S.
Suburban drug overdoses fuel spike in premature death rate
These young people are a “largely invisible” population that represent an “untapped social and economic opportunity,” says Marjory Givens, an associate scientist with RWJF’s county health program at the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.
Wisconsin doctors must check patient history before prescribing opioids, other drugs
Dr. Alaa Abd-Elsayed, director of UW Health’s pain management clinic, plans to use a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to educate primary care doctors about appropriate use of opioids and alternatives such as other medications, steroid injections, nerve blocks and surgeries.
Wisconsin health care providers, experts ‘uncertain’ about new health care proposal
Noted: Joshua Salazar with UW Hospital has concerns for those he helps get into Medicare. “Not knowing what’s coming can be unsettling, but being prepared for what can happen is always a better position to be in,” Salazar said.
Report: Wisconsin’s older adults would pay thousands more under Republican health plan
Wisconsin residents who are 64 years old, make $26,500 a year and buy health insurance individually would pay $5,300 to $13,000 a year more in premiums under the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, depending on where they live, a liberal watchdog group says.
La Crosse considers banning ‘all you can drink’ specials at bars
Noted: According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Population Health Institute, 26% of La Crosse County adults report excess drinking. That’s one of the highest percentages in Wisconsin.
Borrowing from nature: UW-Madison scientists use plants to grow stem cells
To grow clusters of human stem cells that mimic organs in the lab and might be used someday in tissue implants, Bill Murphy, a UW-Madison professor of biomedical engineering, creates tiny scaffolds made of plastic or rubber.
Match day makes its way to UW Madison
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) — As most people were looking for luck on St. Patrick’s Day, the students at the University of Wisconsin Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health found it on Match Day.
Science advocates dismayed by size of cuts proposed for NIH and other agencies
The White House budget proposal released last week would have devastating effects on science and technology in the United States as well as the education of the next generation of researchers, say organizations representing scientists and research institutions.
UW Health hosts job fair Thursday
The event is at the Best Western Inntowner at 2424 University Avenue. It goes from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. March 16.
Trump’s budget calls for seismic disruption in medical and science research
President Trump’s budget calls for a seismic disruption in government-funded medical and scientific research. The cuts are deep and broad.
UW TRIUMPH program looks to trump urban physician shortage
TRIUMPH has recruited 69 students between 2010 and 2016. Out of these, 50 have graduated and worked in areas where at least 50 percent of urban patients live in poverty, Haq said. An additional 40 former students are now pursuing primary care specialities.
Bill Banning Aborted Fetal Tissue Research Resurfaces At State Capitol
A proposal to ban research using aborted fetal tissue in Wisconsin is being reintroduced at the state Capitol. Under the bill, researchers would be prohibited from using fetal tissue gathered during abortions.
As transgender students’ mental health services expand, obstacles in care remain
At UW-Madison, the LGBT CC works in junction with University Health Services to provide LGBT-identifying students with increasing support, especially for transgender persons. While services expand, some find help. But others are still waiting.
Segregation’s Impact on Metro Milwaukee’s Health Disparities
Segregation can impact a person’s body, mind and health. Not everyone has the same opportunity to be healthy in a city like Milwaukee.
Bowlin’ for Colons raises money for UW cancer research
The UW Carbone Cancer Center hosted its annual Bowlin’ for Colons at nine different bowling alleys, to raise money for colon cancer research at the cancer center.
Catching up with little girl who needed a kidney and her teacher who gave the life-saving gift
Video story about living donor donation at UW Health.
Funky headbands for Onalaska girls soccer team part of concussion study
They’ll be wearing headbands, but it won’t be a fashion statement. Half the Onalaska High School girls soccer team will wear the equipment as part of a concussion study. The headbands – which look more like ankle braces but on one’s head – were made to absorb contact, hopefully lessening the impact that leads to concussions. All of it as part of a study being performed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison panel seeks coverage for transgender healthcare
A commitment to equity demands that insurance for University of Wisconsin-Madison employees cover transgender health care, said a special campus committee earlier this month.
An operation to turn waste into art
Every time a patient comes out of an operating room at UW Hospital, so does a lot of used-up stuff.
What happened when UW Hospital cafeteria made eating healthy easier?
It started with the removal of sugar-sweetened drinks and deep-fat fryers back in 2014.Poof! They were gone. But the culinary staff for the University of Wisconsin Hospital system were just getting started. By the time they were done with a major overhaul of their cafeterias’ food offerings, healthy salads, alternative grains, ethnic specialties and local farm-fresh fruits and vegetables would rule the day, and the plate, for the system’s nearly 15,000 employees and other diners.
Student group aims to increase access to menstrual products
What started last year as a feminine product collection drive is now one of UW-Madison’s newest student organizations: Accessible Reproductive Healthcare Initiative.
Tired of the Ups and Downs of Yo-Yo Dieting?
Anyone who has been on a diet knows the real challenge comes later, when you’ve got to fight tooth and nail to keep from regaining the lost weight. Now, a new trial finds that regular “diet coaching” may help keep the weight off. People were more likely to maintain successful weight loss if they took part in a series of post-diet coaching sessions conducted mostly by phone, said study author Corrine Voils. She is scientific director of the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program at the University of Wisconsin.
Youth soccer concussions on the rise
Noted: The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is conducting a study of up to 3,000 high school soccer players to determine whether headgear can help reduce the number of concussions in soccer. It’s the first scientific study of its kind.
Eating pâté and soft cheese is ‘MORE dangerous in pregnancy than experts once thought – causing early miscarriage’
Noted: A team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have warned the bacteria poses a “severe risk in early pregnancy”.
New study suggests strategies for keeping off pounds
Noted: “We went into this study unsure what to expect,” said Corinne Voils, who is also a professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Maternal Health Care Is Disappearing in Rural America
Noted: The blueprint for addressing the situation remains obtuse at best. Some medical schools think part of the solution is to train more doctors for rural work. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is launching the nation’s first official obstetrics–gynecology residency program for “very rural” areas, with the first resident slated to be selected next month. “Increasing the physician workforce is important,” says Ellen Hartenbach, residency program director for the school’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “A large percentage of people practice in the same area after residency, so the theory behind our new training track is to get people training in the smaller communities and increase their exposure,” she says. (ACOG says about half of all residents practice in the state where they trained.)
Human Gene Editing Receives Science Panel’s Support
Noted: “It is essential for public discussions to precede any decisions about whether or how to pursue clinical trials of such applications,” said R. Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a leader of the panel that wrote the report. “And we need to have them now.”
Ethicists advise caution in applying CRISPR gene editing to humans
Ethicists have been working overtime to figure out how to handle CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing technique that could potentially prevent congenital diseases but could also be used for cosmetic enhancements and lead to permanent, heritable changes in the human species.
Science panel okays one day editing human embryos
Noted: “It is not ready now, but it might be safe enough to try in the future,” R. Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who co-chaired the committee, told NPR. “And if certain conditions are met, it might be permissible to try it.”
CRISPR should be used to combat disease, not make designer babies (yet)
Noted: Trials on genes in the lab, and on mice, have been successful, but editing the human genome is a further step that bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-chair of the committee, Alta Charo, says “is not ready.” But, “if certain conditions are met, it might be permissible to try it.”
Human Gene Editing Receives Science Panel’s Support
Noted: “It is essential for public discussions to precede any decisions about whether or how to pursue clinical trials of such applications,” said R. Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a leader of the panel that wrote the report. “And we need to have them now.”
UW Medical Students Address Urban Doctor Shortage
There’s a shortfall of doctors in urban communities. The University of Wisconsin has diagnosed the problem, and is working to fill the gap with a program sending medical students to under-served cities.
UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s works toward cure
In research labs, work is being done to make the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s a realization. For the man who directs that research, finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is personal. Dr. Sanjay Asthana lost his father to Alzheimer’s.“I’m absolutely sure that one day we will get there and the amount of research that’s going on right here at UW-Madison actually is making some very important contributions,” says Dr. Asthana, associate dean of gerontology at UW-Madison.
From Wisconsin to Africa, UW nurse changes classrooms, but not curriculum
Spending time in Nairobi, Kenya teaching young adolescents about the importance of reproductive health care may not seem like a typical day for most, but for Susan Gold, it’s just that. Gold, who works at University of Wisconsin as an HIV nurse, recently received the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders for her work in with reproductive health.
Communication between cancer patients, doctors is key
Interviewed: Toby Campbel, chief of palliative care.
Students, mental health experts discuss what a healthy relationship looks like
While all relationships are different, fostering healthy communication is an important step to creating a healthy one, according University Health Services mental health experts at a student discussion Thursday.
Cardinal View: Campus health services vital in light of threats to Planned Parenthood
Among a myriad of other injustices, the overall health of our nation faces stomach-sinking danger, and the threats to U.S. sexual, reproductive and women’s health are substantial. But we, as students at UW-Madison, are in a privileged position to access services and education to protect our minds and bodies and it will become increasingly important to protect and support them as threats to public health rise.
Testing Paul Ryan’s damning attack on the Affordable Care Act: ‘Obamacare has failed’
Rated “Mostly False”: “There were things that succeeded and there things that didn’t go as planned,” said Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
New Center at UW-Madison To Research Emerging Vector-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin
A new center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be researching the spread of new diseases in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest region carried by ticks and mosquitoes.
UW to lead center to stop insect-borne diseases from spreading
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will lead a new center designed to stop insects from spreading diseases.