ADRC News

Prior to a 2003 study, scientists believed estrogen therapy was protective for both the brain and the heart. The results of the 2003 study, the Women’s Health Initiative Memory study, however, suggested that women were at increased risk for dementia if they participated in estrogen therapy. This led to questions in the medical field regarding the use of menopausal hormone replacement therapy.

This led Dr. Carey Gleason to review three studies, one of which she...

How tired are you?

This is the question asked of a group of people participating in a WRAP, or Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention, study. These people, aged 40-65 years old, did not have symptoms of dementia when they volunteered for the registry, but there is a strong prevalence of a family history of Alzheimer’s disease—occurring in 70% of the group.

Dr. Bendlin’s sleep study consisted of participants regularly being tested for memory loss, the...

Azura Memory Care recently helped Alzheimer's disease patient Bob Nolan enjoy a good day on the golf course, as part of the Azura MOSAIC Dreams "Best Day" program. The outing was highlighted in The Journal Times, where Dr. Nathaniel Chin comments on the importance of helping people with Alzheimer's disease live an active life and participate in activities such as golf, as one thing Chin and his fellow researchers have discovered is that staying physically active can delay...

Drs. Barbara Bendlin and Nathaniel Chin recently joined NBC15 Madison to talk about and explain Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. They also emphasized the importance of the center's need for volunteers for Alzheimer's disease studies; "we really appreciate when people volunteer for research because we can't really understand the disease—we can't understand mild cognitive impairment—unless people volunteer for research studies," said Dr. Bendlin. 

"Researchers ask for volunteers for Alzheimer's disease studies"...

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, led ADRC investigator Dr. Amy Kind, recently debuted a new, innovative tool to visualize neighborhood disadvantage. This tool is called the Neighborhood Atlas. It is free, accessible, and interactive, displaying a map of over 70 million Zip+4 zip codes. The tool quantifies the degree of disadvantage at the neighborhood level for all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, which will be critical in assessing...

A new study by Dr. Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing and ADRC investigator and pilot grant recipient (2017-2018), was published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The recently published study was covered by the University of Wisconsin News, explaining how her research is giving healthcare providers better tools to recognize undiagnosed dementia in hospital patients. She identified certain keywords and phrases in patients' electronic health records, such as "forgetful at...

Dr. Nathaniel Chin, director of medical services at the Wisconsin ADRC, was a guest on Being Patient: Brain Talks, discussing the latest research on genetics and Alzheimer’s disease. His conversation with Being Patient founder, Deborah Kan, covered a wide range of topics, including genetic testing, personalized risk reports, protective genes, and the importance of a healthy lifestyle in reducing Alzheimer’s disease risk. 

Dr. Chin explained that while tests can identifying genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease, they do not necessarily mean a person will definitively...

Lingjun Li, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy and 2011-2012 ADRC pilot grant recipient, was recently awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling $2.4 million. With this grant, Li and a team of collaborators, including researchers with the ADRC—Cynthia Carlsson and Ozioma Okonkwo—aim to develop technology to further identify biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in order to improve early detection, diagnosis, predicting progression...

The UW Initiative to End Alzheimer's and the American Family Insurance Championship are partnering to raise money for Alzheimer's disease research through the Birdies to End Alzheimer's fundraiser. The event will take place June 22-24, 2018, at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wisconsin. People making donations can pledge a certain amount of money toward each birdie made during the three-day golf tournament. All funds raised through Birdies to End Alzheimer's will support the UW...

Results from a recent study showed middle-aged women with high cardiovascular fitness developed dementia later and much less frequently than unfit women. Dr. Nathaniel Chin, a geriatrician at UW Health and director of medical services for the Wisconsin ADRC, was asked to comment on this University of Gothenburg research for Everyday Health. “This study reaffirms this belief that physical activity has the ability to modify a person’s cognitive health and potentially prevent or delay...