Princess Health and Princess Health andStudy in Ky., 3 other states indicates exposure to secondhand smoke in vehicles can cause asthma attacks in non-smokers.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andStudy in Ky., 3 other states indicates exposure to secondhand smoke in vehicles can cause asthma attacks in non-smokers.Princessiccia

asthma research smoking tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 08:06 Add Comment

Kentucky adults who have never smoked are more likely to have an asthma attack when exposed to secondhand smoke in a vehicle than those who are not exposed, according to a research paper recently published in Tobacco Control, an international, peer-reviewed journal.

The study looked at 17,863 adults in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi who said they had never smoked; 7.4 percent reported having asthma, and 12.3 percent reported exposure to secondhand smoke in a vehicle in the past seven days.

As expected, the study found that adults with asthma in vehicles in which smoking was voluntarily prohibited had less exposure to secondhand smoke, 9.5 percent, than those in vehicles without such a prohibition, 56.7 percent.

The conclusion was that adults exposed to secondhand smoke in a vehicle had a higher odds of having current asthma compared to unexposed adults, says the study's lead author, Kimberly Nguyen of the Office on Smoking and Health in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Data for the research came from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and was restricted to states that offered information on secondhand smoke. The data, from 2011, was gathered via telephone from adults aged 18 or older. The article is available for purchase here.

Princess Health andMay 3rd-4th, 2014.Princessiccia

Princess Health andMay 3rd-4th, 2014.Princessiccia

Gusty 16:39 Add Comment

There wasn't a specific race targeted as a team this weekend...but there were still plenty of H+P-ers in action in a variety of races.  Here is how we did:

Mississauga Half:

Holger Kleinke has ANOTHER PB, coming in with a time of 1:26:14 (4th in AG)

Mississauga Full:

Mike Piazza battled hard and finished with a final time 3:11:22.  This time was good enough for 2nd in his AG!

Mississauga 10k:

Rob Brouillette ran another very sold 10K.  He finished with a time of 33:44, winning his AG and placing 4th OA.  

Half Marathon in Vermont:

Chris Goldsworthy crushed his half with a new PB, hitting 1:25 low!

Goodlife Half:

Pat had a massive PB, running 1:25! This was good enough to place him 4th out of over 200 runners in his AG!

Katelyn also had an amazing result.  She wanted to break 2 hours...and she did that by over 10 minutes, coming in with a time of 1:49!

Goodlife Full:
Tracey finished with a VERY strong time of 3:46! Nice work!

Mudpuppy 3 and 5K

New H+P-er, Nicole Green had an awesome race.  After taking some time away from running, she still managed an excellent time, running 23-low!

Luke and his little future H+Pers had awesome races.  Here's what Luke had to say:

Taters ran his first ever 3K, in 15:50 and came in 20/148 in AG 5-9 (not bad given he's only 6) and Holden ran his 2nd ever 5K in a good time of 23:21 and came in 13/46 in AG 10-14 (and he's only 10). Good results for a cool and windy day!

Princess Health and2014 Waterloo Marathon.Princessiccia

Princess Health and2014 Waterloo Marathon.Princessiccia

Gusty 16:14 Add Comment

Less than 24 hours after we raced the ENDURrace 8K the team was back in action trying to conquer the 2014 Waterloo Half and Full Marathon.

We were treated to perfect race conditions, and an overall outstanding race experience.  Here is how we did as a team:

Half Marathon

Luke had an awesome race.  Despite just racing the 8K the night before, he still manged to run under 1:24 and finish 3rd OA!

Coach Dyce was in next for the team.  Despite limitted training because of travelling, he still pulled off a 1:26 half and placed 6th OA.

Adam Dixon had an outstanding race.  He had a massive PB, running 1:29, and just cracked the top-10 OA!

Vicki, like Luke, had just raced the 8K the night before.  Despite that, she still crushed a 1:41minute PB, bringing her in 11th OA!

Will had an awesome half.  Running much of the race by himself, he still finished with a very respectable time just over 2:10.

Also we have to say congrats to Ed, who trained with us last summer, on his OA win!

Full Marathon

We only had ONE H+Per in the full.  Despite just racing a 50K the day before, Steve still crushed a sub 3:30 marathon, placing him comfortably in the top 15 OA!

Princess Health and Princess Health andBeshear says statewide smoking ban 'just a matter of time' .Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andBeshear says statewide smoking ban 'just a matter of time' .Princessiccia

drug abuse drugs General Assembly heroin legislation legislature smoking smoking ban smoking bans smoking ordinances tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 08:54 Add Comment

Gov. Steve Beshear said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Kentucky will have a statewide smoking ban once Kentuckians get more comfortable with the idea, but he didn't say how comfortable. A poll last fall showed Kentucky adults favor a ban on smoking in most public places, including restaurants and bars, by more than 2 to 1.

Beshear supported a smoking ban in the recent legislative session, but it never came to a floor vote in the House and didn't get out of committee in the Senate. Asked on WKYT-TV's "Newsmakers" program if a ban would eventually pass, Beshear said, "I think it will pass at some point in the future. This is one of those issues that takes time. People have to get comfortable with this."

Beshear noted that when Lexington passed the state's first local ban, there were fears about its effect on business, but "Now everybody knows it doesn't put you out of business." He said a statewide ban "is just a matter of time, but it's just one of those thing you've got to build a comfortable feeling about."

On another topic, Beshear said he would not call a special session to pass anti-heroin legislation without an advance agreement among legislators, to keep the session short and limit costs. He said that if he did call a session, he would probably include other topics, such as state help for redevelopment of Rupp Arena and its surroundings. Both proposals failed in the recent session.

Princess Health and Princess Health andKentucky leads nation in percentage of children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andKentucky leads nation in percentage of children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder.Princessiccia

ADHD attention deficit children disabilities hyperactivity pediatrics poverty research

Gusty 05:55 Add Comment

Kentucky leads the nation in the percentage of children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, according to the latest available data, which "showed that ADHD levels have risen steeply in the past decade across the nation," Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal.

Ungar writes that "19 percent of Kentucky children ages 4-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD at some point, compared with 11 percent nationally and 16 percent in Indiana." Almost 15 percent of Kentucky children had the diagnosis in 2011, based on polling by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We're probably over-diagnosing it to a certain extent," Dr. Christopher Peters, a psychiatrist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Louisville, told Ungar. "But these numbers indicate a problem. There are many kids in need."

The high numbers could "reflect the state's rampant poverty, since ADHD is identified more frequently in the poor," Ungar writes. "Others say more children here may be genetically prone to the disorder or face other risk factors. . . . Studies show that at least a third of parents who had ADHD as children have kids with the diagnosis."

Any over-diagnosis may stem from "overworked primary care doctors who aren't experts in the disorder" and may be over-diagnosing � and possibly over-prescribing � both locally and nationwide," Ungar writes. "Roughly 8 percent of of school-aged boys nationally and nearly 4 percent of girls took ADHD medications in 2012, according to data from the pharmacy benefit management firm Express Scripts."

There are "financial incentives" for an ADHD diagnosis, Ungar notes. "A diagnosis may translate into disability payments if a child has measurable and serious problems, and students with ADHD can get extra help in school. . . . Experts say the higher numbers may also indicate greater awareness of the disorder, meaning the truly needy are getting the medication, therapy and support they deserve."

However, Dr. Carmel Wallace, pediatrics chairman at the University of Kentucky, "said parents rarely push for a diagnosis to get a disability check," Ungar reports. "And the threshold for disability is high."

Still Kentucky has high rates of children and adults getting Social Security disability payments, and ranks high in some risk factors for ADHD.

"Scientists also have linked ADHD to alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy � although doctors said it's unclear whether smoking is a cause or simply occurs more often in families with afflicted children," Ungar reports. "Kentuckians smoke at the nation's highest rate and also have high rates of substance abuse overall."

Ungar's example of an ADHD child was, in preschool, "a tiny tempest � at times defiant, other times bouncing distractedly from toy to toy at daycare, while other children were absorbed in play," but as a second-grader "is doing well . . . with a mild stimulant and counseling." Here's a C-J video of another ADHD child and her mother discussing how they deal with it:

Princess Health and2014 H+P ENDURrace 8K and Combined.Princessiccia

Princess Health and2014 H+P ENDURrace 8K and Combined.Princessiccia

Gusty 11:41 Add Comment

It's hard to believe that yet another ENDURrace has come and gone.  Two weeks ago we had an amazing experience at the ENDURrace 5K, with outstanding team results.  It was going to be tough to top that effort, but we gave it out best shot.

Also, thanks again to Julie from the WRS for the great photography!

Here is how we did in the 2014 ENDURrace 8K:

8K  Team Results:

As a team, we had better than anticipated result!  Despite missing many of our key members, we still managed to have the top 4 finishers in the race overall, and the 2nd and 5th place females overall.  Our open team finished with an outstanding average time of 30:34!  RESULTS.

Individual 8K Results CLICK:

Brendan Hancock had an excellent race.  Running alone for the duration of the 8K, he managed to take 1.5mins of his 8K time from Feb, running a mid-28, and winning the race OA.

Luke Ehgoetz had yet another awesome performance.  He came in second overall, well under 30 minutes, and first in his AG.

Nick Burt was the next runner to come in.  He completed the podium sweep for H+P, finishing in 3rd place after just barely edging out Aaron Mailman in an epic sprint finish.

Aaron Mailman came in next with a huge PB of 30:44, good enough for 4th OA and 1st in his AG.

Jessica was next for the team and our first female.  She had an excellent performance, finishing in 33-low, and placing 2nd OA for females!

Vicki was our second female across the finish line.  She has yet another PB, and handily won her AG!

Dave Rutherford showed true determination and grit.  Doing nothing but recovering from injury and run walking over the last 2 months, he had a great, controlled effort.  While it was supposed to be a rehab run, he still manged to walk away with a 33 minute 8K that was good enough for the AG win!

Daniel Cook had an awesome first H+P race.  He had a massive PB, and placed first in his category!

Cari also had an awesome race.  She had a huge PB, coming in well under 46 minutes!

Shantell had a great return to action as well with the team!  As did Jeremy Tracey.  The momentum is starting to build with both of them again!

Combined Results RESULTS:

With so many runners having run both races, it was exciting to see how we stacked up once the 5K and 8K times were combined.  Here is how it looked for the team:

• Luke WON with a combined time of just under 48 minutes
  
• Mailman was 2nd OA as be banked more than enough time in the 5K to beat Nick with the combined time
• Nick battled back from a tough post-exam 5K, making up time on the 2nd and 3rd place runners in the 8K.  He ended up finishing only seconds off the podium, bringing him in 4th place OA
• Vicki took care of things in the women's race, winning the combined title in her AG in a great time of well under 1 hour
• Daniel Cook finished strong with a combined time of 1 hour which got him the win in his category
• Cari came in top 10 in her AG when her two PB's were combined!

Princess Health and Princess Health andLess than 60% of Kentuckians say they visited a dentist in the past year, ranking the state 43rd in the nation.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andLess than 60% of Kentuckians say they visited a dentist in the past year, ranking the state 43rd in the nation.Princessiccia

dental care dental health dentistry health insurance income oral health poll poverty

Gusty 15:04 Add Comment

Kentucky ranked 43rd among the 50 states in percentage of people who told pollsters that they had visited a dentist in the past 12 months. The rankings in the annual Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index appeared to be driven largely by income and insurance.

"Residents of the 10 states with the highest dental-visit rates are somewhat more likely to say they have enough money to pay for healthcare than residents in the 10 states with the lowest dental visit rates, 84.8 percent vs. 77.6 percent," Lindsey Sharpe of Gallup reported. "Further, the bottom 10 states for dental visits have a significantly higher average uninsured rate, at 20.5 percent, than the top 10 states for dental visits (12.6 percent). Previous Gallup research shows that the likelihood of visiting the dentist annually increases with income."

Kentucky's 58.6 percent rate of reported visits in the past year ranked just below Missouri, at 59 percent, and ahead of Tennessee and West Virginia, with 56.9 and 56.6 percent, respectively. Figures for other adjoining states were Illinois, 66%; Indiana, 61.8%; Ohio, 63.6%; and Virginia, 67.5%.

Ranking below West Virginia were Texas, 56.3%; Arkansas, 56,1%; Louisiana, 55.3%; Oklahoma, 55.2%; and Mississippi, 53 percent. The top state was Connecticut at 74.9 percent, followed by Massachusetts at 74.5 percent and Rhode Island at 73.8 percent.