health

The death of a loved one is one of the hardest things for people to go through.  For expecting parents, the loss of an unborn child through miscarriage brings with it the pain of loss – and also dozens of other tough emotions.

A Milwaukee woman is working not to make the loss easier, per se, but to help women work through their grief.

A lot has changed in the last 27 years since the first AIDS Walk Wisconsin. The AIDS epidemic was still relatively new, and people around the country were being ravaged by the disease. Since then, more effective treatments have made HIV/AIDS much more manageable.

We all hold our fair share of stress – work, family matters, keeping a social calendar.

For high school students, that list also includes homework, thinking about college and a host of other “teenage” worries.

One all-girls high school in Milwaukee is trying to give its students the tools to manage stress – and take responsibility for their own well-being.

This isn’t your average gym class. In fact, it’s not gym class at all.

Originally aired July 11, 2016.

For many, summertime means beach trips, boating and a slew of outdoor activities. It’s a time to get outside and take in the fresh air, but it also means more sun exposure. 

Millions of Americans remember actress Vicki Lawrence for the many characters she played on The Carol Burnett Show, and the spin-off, Mama’s Family. They may also know her as a recording artist and the host of her own talk show back in the 1990s.

Now, Lawrence has become the public face of a campaign to bring attention and empathy for people suffering from a skin condition called Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria, or CIU.

If you’re trying to eat healthier, you might find yourself switching out butter for olive oil. Many believe that plant-based fats, rich in linoelic acid, are healthier than saturated fats like lard or butter. Saturated fats raise your cholesterol, and that supposedly raises your risk of dying from a heart attack. 

The CDC confirmed this week that Zika virus does, indeed, cause severe brain damage in infants. 

The type of mosquito that can carry the virus is not expected to travel as far north as Wisconsin. Yet, blood centers here are helping regions where Zika exists.

The BloodCenter of Wisconsin has been sending shipments of blood to Puerto Rico.

"The blacksmith in times of antiquity was the person who could fix anything, or make anything for the community," says Dr. Ramel Smith, a Milwaukee psychologist whose private practice is called BLAQUESMITH Psychological Consultative Services. "The blacksmith could fix anything, and so I tried to look at myself as an emotional blacksmith for the community." 

They were once called “health classes.” But for the past few decades, it’s simply been called sex education. And depending on where you live, it’s an often politically charged topic, especially when it’s part of the curriculum in K-12 schools.

But there’s a case to be made that all of us could use a refresher course, particularly as our situations change over the course of our lives. We get older. We could have a chronic illness that affects our sexual expression. And then, there are the people who don’t fall into the traditional sexual paradigm.

During WUWM's Project Milwaukee series on innovation, we discovered that the research that led to the development of side airbags in vehicles took place right here in Milwaukee. Now, researchers in the same lab are trying to figure out how to protect your lower spine in a car accident.

When a car crashes, the newer the car, the less likely it is those inside will suffer devastating head and chest injuries.