Latest news with #WisconsinRegistryforAlzheimer'sPrevention
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wisconsin plays part in FDA-approved Alzheimer's blood testing
The Brief The FDA recently approved the first-ever blood test to help confirm Alzheimer's disease. Plasma samples that the FDA analyzed came from a pair of UW Health studies. The FDA only cleared this test for people ages 55 and older who are already showing signs of cognitive decline. MILWAUKEE - Doctors describe current tests for Alzheimer's disease as invasive and expensive. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared a new one: a blood test that looks to change that. What we know Before last week, those living with cognitive decline had two options: a spinal tap or a PET scan on the brain. There's a cheaper, low-barrier third option, thanks in a large part to willing Wisconsinites. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android It was the talk of the night at a Wednesday event for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. This group walks every year to end the disease. Dionne Ojeda joined a few years ago after her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Her dad's mother also died from it. It's why she signed up for a UW Health study, the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP), to get tested. "We don't know yet if it's hereditary — so I wanted to know," Ojeda said. "Oh, I just wanted to jump up and down. It's amazing." On Wednesday, the health provider shared that roughly 40% of the plasma samples that the FDA analyzed to clear this new blood test for Alzheimer's came from a pair of UW Health studies. What they're saying Dr. Nathaniel Chin is the medical director for both studies. He notes the blood test was 92% accurate when compared to the spinal tap. For samples with the Alzheimer's-related proteins, the accuracy jumped to 97% for negative samples. Chin said this will allow earlier testing, which leads to other benefits. "It's really because of the great Wisconsin participants that we now have something, that's pretty revolutionary," Chin said. "So, just earlier care, so people can make lifestyle interventions — that would be exercising, sleep, diet, social engagement." Though it's unclear if her data was used, Ojeda said she's excited for the results this test could bring down the road. "I am so elated, because I don't like doing things where I feel like it's not making a difference," she said. "We actually made a difference." SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News The FDA only cleared this test for people ages 55 and older who are already showing signs of cognitive decline. What you can do We talked about accuracy numbers, but the cost is impressive too. A PET scan can run up to $6,000 without insurance; it's around $1,000 with insurance and co-pay. The spinal tap is around $1,000, too. Chin estimates this blood test will be in the $100-200 range. The Source The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News with information from UW Health.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
He studies Alzheimer's. Federal cuts could cripple his search for treatments
University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Sterling Johnson leads one of the world's largest and longest-running studies of people at risk for Alzheimer's disease. His team aims to diagnose the disease years before people even develop symptoms and identify ways to slow its progression. He finds his work meaningful and rewarding. But over the past seven weeks, as President Donald Trump's administration proposes deep cuts to biomedical research, Johnson has encountered a new feeling. Something he's never felt since he started studying studying Alzheimer's in 1997. "It's a lot of uncertainty and wondering whether this work is valued at the national level," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Johnson was among a half-dozen UW officials and researchers at a Thursday news conference who spoke out against the potential slashing of funding. It was the university's most visible defense of science since Trump started his second term. The National Institutes of Health, a federal agency that awards billions of dollars annually to universities, plans to cut all new and existing grants to a 15% indirect cost rate, down from the 50% or more most institutions receive to fund the administrative overhead associated with research. The move would save $4 billion and ensure more money funds research instead of bloat, the NIH said. UW-Madison could stand to lose $65 million annually under the plan, which has been temporarily blocked by the courts after Wisconsin and 21 other states sued. "Indirect costs" may sound vague, but the money is essential for labs like the one Johnson leads. Indirect money pays facilities costs. Some of it covers the cost of compliance and regulation associated with the research, such as rules around hazardous waste disposal and animal research subjects. Indirect costs can also purchase medical equipment used in the research, like the MRI machines used to scan Sigrid Knuti. Knuti is one of 1,700 people participating in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study that Johnson leads. She joined the project in 2005 because of her family history. Her mother died from the disease. So did a cousin. Alzheimer's affects 7 million people nationally and about 120,000 in Wisconsin. The devastating disease is expected to double in prevalence by 2050. Knuti said she hopes she will be the last generation in her family to suffer and is counting on UW-Madison to get it done. Johnson's work is supported by a $150 million NIH grant, the largest UW-Madison has ever received from the agency. The money helps fund the roughly 60 people who work in his lab. "It's helping us train the next generation of scientists who will be facing the future iterations of this disease," he said. Johnson said his lab hasn't felt any financial effects so far. But there's anxiety about what could come. March 1 is when his funding is renewed. Notification of the renewal has not yet arrived, which he said is not atypical. Renewals can sometimes be delayed a month or two, so in the meantime the lab operates on existing funding. But other recent actions at the federal level are concerning, he said. Even with the courts offering a temporary reprieve, the Trump administration has found other ways to stall funding. Submissions to the Federal Register are on hold, halting grants from being funded because meetings to review grant proposals must be posted in the Federal Register 15 days in advance. It has also postponed existing meetings that would move grants forward in the funding process. Other UW-Madison researchers studying Alzheimer's have had new grants reviewed but not awarded, Johnson said. UW-Milwaukee psychology professor Karyn Frick studies how the loss of estrogen during menopause affects the development of Alzheimer's in women and develops new treatments to reduce memory loss. 'Simply put, these desperately needed treatments would not be possible without NIH funding," she said. Nicolas Paris chairs the board of directors of BioForward, a Madison-based association leading the way for Wisconsin to be designated as a biotech hub. He said NIH funding does more than drive research. It boosts the economy, leads to start-up business activity and lures scientists to the U.S. "Now is not the time to weaken (our) competitive advantage," he said. Wisconsin's Congressional delegation received a letter this week signed by universities, businesses, hospital systems and health organizations, urging them to oppose the NIH cuts. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Mark Pocan and Rep. Gwen Moore have already criticized the cuts. Aides for most of the state's Republican congressmen did not immediately respond Thursday to the Journal Sentinel asking whether they supported the cuts. Republican Rep. Tony Wied, who represents northeast Wisconsin, said in a statement he would work with Wisconsin universities to ensure they have the appropriate level of resources they need to be successful. Wied previously told WisPolitics he supported the cuts, as did Rep. Tom Tiffany and Rep. Derrick Van Orden. Sen. Ron Johnson's staff pointed to a tweet he sent last month, saying all federal spending should be scrutinized. Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@ or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW Alzheimer's researcher speaks out against NIH cuts
