Category Health & Wellness
Curiosities: Is it true that laughing is good for your health?
Indeed, says Robert McGrath, a clinical psychologist specializing in mind/body wellness at University Health Services at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and for many reasons. “Humor…
UW-Madison launches H1N1 study with asthma sufferers
The School of Medicine and Public Health is one of just seven research centers conducting the first clinical trial in the nation to determine the dose of H1N1 vaccine necessary to give immunity to people with asthma.
UW-Madison’s ‘good ideas’ get lift from stimulus funds
The university has drawn more than $38 million in funding for more than 120 research projects and programs from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The work is spread across the range of academic disciplines, including public health, computer science, psychology, economics and engineering. Funding comes from agencies such as NSF, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Doctor’s compassion may help cure colds faster
Some cold medicines will shave a day off your suffering from the common cold, but they often produce unpleasant side effects. A new study shows, for the first time, that the doctor's empathy may be an even better way to speed recovery.
Major study links malaria mosquitoes to Amazon deforestation
In one of the most field-intensive efforts to explore the connection between malaria and tropical deforestation, a team led by Jonathan Patz, a specialist in the link between environment and health at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW–Madison, has established a strong correlation between the extent of forest destruction and the incidence of the Amazon's most dangerous malaria vector, the mosquito Anopheles darlingi.
From the waiting room to the birthing room
Years ago, dads-to-be nervously paced the floor of hospital waiting rooms as they waited to hear that their child had been born. But during those countless hours of waiting, many wrote down their feelings in journals known as "father's books" or "stork room jottings." Frequently left in waiting rooms in the 1940s and '50s, the journals provided an outlet for the apprehensive, often exasperated men.
The healing game: How Nintendo’s Wii is making the hard work of physical therapy into child’s play
Pediatric physical therapists at American Family Children's Hospital have been introducing Wii video gaming techology into their patients' therapy programs with notable success.
Special protein helps maintain an efficient brain
The instruction manual for maintaining an efficient brain may soon include a section on synaptotagmin-IV (Syt-IV), a protein known to influence learning and memory, thanks to a study by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers.
Early Alzheimer’s diagnosis offers large social, fiscal benefits
Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease could save millions or even billions of dollars while simultaneously improving care, according to new work by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers.
UW-Madison cancels early summer Mexico programs
Based on the recommendations of the university’s International Emergency Response Committee, Chancellor Biddy Martin is instructing campus units to cancel student programs in Mexico that are scheduled to depart before June 1.
Researchers explore the broad-reaching effects of a pandemic in Wisconsin
If a pandemic hit Madison, canceling a football game at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Camp Randall would protect thousands from exposure to illness. However, the economic cost would be substantial for stadium workers and employees at nearby restaurants and businesses if widespread, prolonged illness forced officials to call off an entire season of Badger football.
As ticks expand, new areas may become prone to Lyme disease
Last summer, after returning home from a walk in Madison's Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood, Susan Paskewitz was astonished to find a deer tick crawling up her dog's hind leg. It was the first time Paskewitz, a University of Wisconsin–Madison entomologist, had collected a tick in the city. Within the month, she learned of two other such cases.
Sleep: Spring cleaning for the brain?
If you've ever been sleep-deprived, you know the feeling that your brain is full of wool.
Researcher uses GPS to find asthma causes
David Van Sickle is looking for a few pioneering asthmatics. He wants to attach a GPS device to their inhalers before they boldly go out into a spring world filled with allergens.
HealthDay writer named biomedical writer in residence
HealthDay writer Amanda Gardner has already made the transition many other journalists now face — from writing for the print media to the virtual world. Gardner will be the School of Medicine and Public Health’s biomedical writer in residence the week of March 30.
Predicting the future spread of infectious-disease vectors
As global warming raises concerns about potential spread of infectious diseases, a team of researchers has demonstrated a way to predict the expanding range of human disease vectors in a changing world.
Patient-derived induced stem cells retain disease traits
When neurons started dying in Clive Svendsen's lab dishes, he couldn't have been more pleased. The dying cells - the same type lost in patients with the devastating neurological disease spinal muscular atrophy - confirmed that the University of Wisconsin–Madison stem cell biologist had recreated the hallmarks of a genetic disorder in the lab, using stem cells derived from a patient.