The Wisconsin Diabetes Registry Study (WDRS) is an observational, longitudinal study of persons with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Persons who were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during 1987-1992 were invited to participate if they lived within a 28-county area of central and southern Wisconsin (see link to the original Study Area). We have followed this amazing group of volunteers since then, making the WDRS and its companion studies very unique. The WDRS has been funded since 1987 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), specifically by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Our long-term goals have been to understand the complications that are associated with type 1 diabetes in order to suggest possible ways to prevent or delay the development of complications. We began the study by investigating conditions such as neuropathy (nerve disease), nephropathy (kidney disease) and retinopathy (eye disease). In The Healthy Kidney Study (1994-1998), we more closely examined your kidney health and blood pressure. In another ancillary study, The Cardiovascular Disease in Type 1 Diabetes (Cardio-Diab) Study (2002-2005), we began to study factors important to cardiovascular health. And, in 2005-2006, the Wisconsin Women & Diabetes Study began to study bone health.