Friday, 13 June 2014
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Princess Health and Princess Health andLexington auto mechanic becomes neurosurgeon; now researching traumatic brain injury diagnosis and treatment.Princessiccia
research traumatic brain injuries University of KentuckyIn the early 1980s, Geoff Manley was a mechanic, and some of his clients were University of Kentucky faculty. That is how he met microbiology professor Shelly Steiner and started on the road to a new career: neurosurgery and a multi-million-dollar research project.
"Some kids are polite�you know, 'Yes, yes, sir'�but disengaged. Geoff was clearly intelligent and focused," Steiner told Laura Dawahare of UKNow. "You can talk to someone for just a few minutes and know right away how bright they are. Geoff was like that."
Because no one in Manley's family had gone to college, Steiner's suggestion that he finish his GED and attend UK, was a "transformative moment," Manley said. He graduated in 1988 then earned his MD-PhD at Cornell University. Now he is the vice chair of neurosurery at the University of California-San Francisco.
"Manley's earlier work with Steiner and a colleague in the lab influenced his decision to pursue a career in the neurosciences; his particular interest is in traumatic brain injury, or TBI," Dawahare writes.
Though the public often hears about athletes' concussions, TBI results even more often from auto accidents or slips-and-falls. Every year at least 1.7 million people in the U.S. get medical attention for TBI. "I did a lot of bench work earlier in my career, but I was torn between my interest in the basic sciences and my desire to do something directly relevant for TBI patients," Manley said. "So I began to explore a new translational research approach to TBI."
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave him $18.8 million over five years to do worldwide research about concussion and traumatic brain injury. TBI is complex, which makes diagnosis and therapy development difficult. Dr. Manley and his colleagues want to change the current TBI measures. "Here we are in the 21st Century, and we classify TBI in one of three ways: mild, moderate or severe," Manley said. "Cancer, by comparison, can be characterized in a very precise way, and treatments are customized to each patient's needs." Therefore, Dr. Manley wants to establish a set of classifications for TBI that are as detailed as the ones used for cancer.
"We expect that our approach will permit researchers to characterize and stratify patients more effectively, will allow meaningful comparisons of treatments and outcomes and will improve the next generation of clinical trials," Manley said. "Advancing our understand of TBI will ultimately lead to successful, patient-specific treatments."
Manley said that Steiner's encouragement helped him not only finish his GED and college but also get where he is today. Steiner said, "Geoff would have made it anyway�he had the intellectual octane and the motivation. He may think others helped him, but it really was his trip." (Read more)
"Some kids are polite�you know, 'Yes, yes, sir'�but disengaged. Geoff was clearly intelligent and focused," Steiner told Laura Dawahare of UKNow. "You can talk to someone for just a few minutes and know right away how bright they are. Geoff was like that."
Because no one in Manley's family had gone to college, Steiner's suggestion that he finish his GED and attend UK, was a "transformative moment," Manley said. He graduated in 1988 then earned his MD-PhD at Cornell University. Now he is the vice chair of neurosurery at the University of California-San Francisco.
"Manley's earlier work with Steiner and a colleague in the lab influenced his decision to pursue a career in the neurosciences; his particular interest is in traumatic brain injury, or TBI," Dawahare writes.
Though the public often hears about athletes' concussions, TBI results even more often from auto accidents or slips-and-falls. Every year at least 1.7 million people in the U.S. get medical attention for TBI. "I did a lot of bench work earlier in my career, but I was torn between my interest in the basic sciences and my desire to do something directly relevant for TBI patients," Manley said. "So I began to explore a new translational research approach to TBI."
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave him $18.8 million over five years to do worldwide research about concussion and traumatic brain injury. TBI is complex, which makes diagnosis and therapy development difficult. Dr. Manley and his colleagues want to change the current TBI measures. "Here we are in the 21st Century, and we classify TBI in one of three ways: mild, moderate or severe," Manley said. "Cancer, by comparison, can be characterized in a very precise way, and treatments are customized to each patient's needs." Therefore, Dr. Manley wants to establish a set of classifications for TBI that are as detailed as the ones used for cancer.
"We expect that our approach will permit researchers to characterize and stratify patients more effectively, will allow meaningful comparisons of treatments and outcomes and will improve the next generation of clinical trials," Manley said. "Advancing our understand of TBI will ultimately lead to successful, patient-specific treatments."
Manley said that Steiner's encouragement helped him not only finish his GED and college but also get where he is today. Steiner said, "Geoff would have made it anyway�he had the intellectual octane and the motivation. He may think others helped him, but it really was his trip." (Read more)
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Princess Health and Princess Health andWellCare of Kentucky removes co-pays for most Medicaid members and offers to pay for GED course for many.Princessiccia
education health insurance insurance coverage managed care Medicaid
WellCare Health Plans Inc. is improving its Medicaid benefits in Kentucky by removing most members' co-pays and covering the cost of the General Educational Development test and its corresponding coursework for eligible members.The co-pay and GED benefits will become available on July 1 and continue through the end of the year, except in Medicaid Region 3, comprising 16 Kentucky counties near Louisville. Region 3�s benefits will be determined in fall 2014 to align with its open enrollment. Region 3 is Breckinridge, Bullitt, Carroll, Grayson, Hardin, Henry, Jefferson, LaRue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble and Washington counties.
Open enrollment for the rest of the state ends Wednesday, June 18, so WellCare is offering the new benefits as an incentive for Medicaid recipients to switch form other managed-care companies.
All WellCare of Kentucky Medicaid members will have no co-pays except for non-emergency visits to the emergency room and, only in the Louisville region, a $4 co-pay for preferred-brand medications.
Recipients of the GED benefits must be at least 16 years old, must not be currently enrolled in high school, cannot be graduates from an accredited high school and cannot have received a high school equivalency certificate or diploma. Members need to complete the required GED coursework at an adult testing center.
For more information about these and other WellCare Medicaid benefits in Kentucky, please visit http://kentucky.wellcare.com/member or call 1-877-389-9457.
Princess Health and Princess Health andStudy finds personalized text messages helps some quit smoking.Princessiccia
research smoking textingSmoking is a hard habit to break. A recent study, reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that sending smokers personalized text messages was twice as effective as giving them self-help materials, Valerie DeBenedette writes for Health Behavior News Service.
Participants chose a date to quit smoking and received five text messages during that day and two per day for the rest of the week. Then the text messages decreased to three per week, then to one per week. "Encouraging texts included top health reasons to quit smoking and the amount of money saved by quitting," DeBenedette writes.
"Previously, phone texting programs to help people quit smoking have been shown to be effective in other countries, said Lorien C. Abroms, Sc.D., the lead author of the study and associate professor of prevention and community health at The George Washington University. "This is the first long-term study in the United States."
More than 500 smokers were placed in one of two groups: the group that received text messages and the group that received self-help materials. They were then surveyed about their experience with the program one, three and six months afterward. Researchers tested mailed saliva samples for cotinine to determine if participants had stopped smoking.
Of those who received texts, 11.1 percent stayed off tobacco, compared to 5 percent in the control group. When asked to self-report, "nearly 20 percent of the texting group said they had quit, compared to 10 percent of the control group," DeBenedette writes.
Abroms said texting is cost-effective. Some programs offer it along with telephone counseling. "The potential for reach is wide, and they are fairly low cost compared to more traditional types of therapy," she said.
Chris Bostic, J.D., deputy director for policy at Action on Smoking and Health, an advocacy group in Washington, told DeBenedette, "Even if something like texting only has a marginal effect on the quit rate, it should be added to [the] menu of options available to smokers who want to quit." (Read more)
Participants chose a date to quit smoking and received five text messages during that day and two per day for the rest of the week. Then the text messages decreased to three per week, then to one per week. "Encouraging texts included top health reasons to quit smoking and the amount of money saved by quitting," DeBenedette writes.
"Previously, phone texting programs to help people quit smoking have been shown to be effective in other countries, said Lorien C. Abroms, Sc.D., the lead author of the study and associate professor of prevention and community health at The George Washington University. "This is the first long-term study in the United States."
More than 500 smokers were placed in one of two groups: the group that received text messages and the group that received self-help materials. They were then surveyed about their experience with the program one, three and six months afterward. Researchers tested mailed saliva samples for cotinine to determine if participants had stopped smoking.
Of those who received texts, 11.1 percent stayed off tobacco, compared to 5 percent in the control group. When asked to self-report, "nearly 20 percent of the texting group said they had quit, compared to 10 percent of the control group," DeBenedette writes.
Abroms said texting is cost-effective. Some programs offer it along with telephone counseling. "The potential for reach is wide, and they are fairly low cost compared to more traditional types of therapy," she said.
Chris Bostic, J.D., deputy director for policy at Action on Smoking and Health, an advocacy group in Washington, told DeBenedette, "Even if something like texting only has a marginal effect on the quit rate, it should be added to [the] menu of options available to smokers who want to quit." (Read more)
Princess Health and#TeamMike and #TeamDave complete rosters.Princessiccia
Well, the day we all have been waiting for is ALMOST here. The Waterloo Classic is only four days away, and the team couldn't more more excited.
There is a lot riding on this race for a number of different reasons. First, we have the epic battle of #MikeVsDave. For those of you who don't know, there is a team component to this battle. Here is a break down of inter-team race, and the team draft results. Today, we are very excited to announce the complete team rosters for #TeamMike and #TeamDave. Here they are:
Finally, we can't forget that the 10K is the 2nd of 3 stages of the Battle of Waterloo. Click here to see the recap of Stage 1. H+P has a number of runners in contention for the OA podium. After stage one, we have six runners (Sean, Dave, Mike, Greg, Brendan, Pat) all in the top 11 OA. Vicki Z is also in contention for the OA podium on the women's side as she now sits in 4th OA.
There is a lot riding on this race for a number of different reasons. First, we have the epic battle of #MikeVsDave. For those of you who don't know, there is a team component to this battle. Here is a break down of inter-team race, and the team draft results. Today, we are very excited to announce the complete team rosters for #TeamMike and #TeamDave. Here they are:
H+P Team Mike
Mike Piazza
Mike Piazza
Sean Delanghe
Brendan Hancock
Luke Ehgoetz
Pat Mulherin
Nick Burt
Sam Lalonde
Harold OKrafka
Vicki Zandbergen
Emily Hunter
Cari Rastas Howard
Mark Potvin
H+P Team Dave
Dave Rutherford
Rob Brouillette
Ahmed Ahmed
Greg Dyce
Chris Goldworthy
Daniel Cook
Manuel Jones
Jessica Kuepfer
Justin Buis
Will Spaetzel
Dragan Zubac
5K Team
With so much focus being put in this 10K, we can't forget about our 5K team. We have a solid contingent being entered in the Open 5K Team category with heavy reliance on some of our fastest female runners. Here's how the team shapes up:
Kailey Haddock
Payton Thiel
Aron Mailman
Holger Kleinke
Derek Hergott
Tammy Hergott
Stephaney Hortian
Gillian Willard
Battle of Waterloo
Finally, we can't forget that the 10K is the 2nd of 3 stages of the Battle of Waterloo. Click here to see the recap of Stage 1. H+P has a number of runners in contention for the OA podium. After stage one, we have six runners (Sean, Dave, Mike, Greg, Brendan, Pat) all in the top 11 OA. Vicki Z is also in contention for the OA podium on the women's side as she now sits in 4th OA.
Princess Health and Has Obesity Research Failed?. Princessiccia
overweightI frequently encounter the argument that obesity research has failed because it hasn't stopped the global increase in obesity rates. According to this argument, we need to re-think our approach to obesity research because the current approach just isn't working.
Grant funding for obesity research keeps increasing in the US, and the prevalence of obesity also keeps increasing*. What gives? Maybe if we just scrapped the whole endeavor we'd be better off.
Let's take a closer look at this argument and see how it holds up.
Why Do Research?
There are two fundamental reasons why we do research:
Read more �
Grant funding for obesity research keeps increasing in the US, and the prevalence of obesity also keeps increasing*. What gives? Maybe if we just scrapped the whole endeavor we'd be better off.
Let's take a closer look at this argument and see how it holds up.
Why Do Research?
There are two fundamental reasons why we do research:
- To gather accurate information about the natural world. This information is intrinsically valuable because we like knowing how the world works, and it may eventually have practical value that's not immediately obvious.
- Practical applications. We want to solve problems and improve our lives.
If we want to determine whether or not obesity research has failed, we should evaluate it using those two metrics.
Has Obesity Research Gathered Accurate Information?
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Princess Health and Princess Health andSteven J. Stack will be second Lexington physician in three years to lead the American Medical Association.Princessiccia
Affordable Care Act physiciansDr. Steven J. Stack, an emergency physician in Lexington, is the new president-elect of the American Medical Association, the nation�s largest organization for physicians
Stack, at 43, is the youngest president of the organization in a century, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal. He is the first board-certified emergency physician elected to the post, which he will fill in June 2015.
�It�s an immense honor and a total joy and a thrill,� Stack told Ungar.
Stack will be the second Lexington doctor in three years to hold the office. AMA's immdiate past president is Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven, an infectious disease specialist.
�It�s a fluke of history,� Stack told Ungar.
Stack is a practicing physician and former medical director for emergency departments at St. Joseph East in Lexington and St. Joseph Mt. Sterling.
Stack's experience as the chair of the AMA�s Health Information Technology Advisory Group from 2007 to 2013 and also as a member of the federal advisory groups for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology puts him in a position to help further one of the many goals of the Affordable Care Act�to expand information technology.
Stack told Ungar he also plans "to work on improving medical education, reducing diabetes and pre-diabetes in the population and helping ensure doctors are satisfied with their jobs so they can better help patients."
Stack came to Lexington with his wife Tracie, a pediatric allergist, and their 9-year-old daughter in 2006, Ungar writes. He has been active in the AMA for years and has held several offices. He has also been a legislative voice for local Kentucky issues, such as prescription drug abuse and medical liability reform. (Read more)
Stack, at 43, is the youngest president of the organization in a century, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal. He is the first board-certified emergency physician elected to the post, which he will fill in June 2015.
�It�s an immense honor and a total joy and a thrill,� Stack told Ungar.
Stack will be the second Lexington doctor in three years to hold the office. AMA's immdiate past president is Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven, an infectious disease specialist.
�It�s a fluke of history,� Stack told Ungar.
Stack is a practicing physician and former medical director for emergency departments at St. Joseph East in Lexington and St. Joseph Mt. Sterling.
Stack's experience as the chair of the AMA�s Health Information Technology Advisory Group from 2007 to 2013 and also as a member of the federal advisory groups for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology puts him in a position to help further one of the many goals of the Affordable Care Act�to expand information technology.
Stack told Ungar he also plans "to work on improving medical education, reducing diabetes and pre-diabetes in the population and helping ensure doctors are satisfied with their jobs so they can better help patients."
Stack came to Lexington with his wife Tracie, a pediatric allergist, and their 9-year-old daughter in 2006, Ungar writes. He has been active in the AMA for years and has held several offices. He has also been a legislative voice for local Kentucky issues, such as prescription drug abuse and medical liability reform. (Read more)
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