Princess Health andMount Sterling follows lead of another KentuckyOne Health hospital, in Bardstown, to host monthly 'Walk With a Doc'.Princessiccia

Princess Health andMount Sterling follows lead of another KentuckyOne Health hospital, in Bardstown, to host monthly 'Walk With a Doc'.Princessiccia

exercise health literacy physical activity physical fitness physical inactivity physicians walking

Gusty 18:33 Add Comment

Saint Joseph Mount Sterling is the second KentuckyOne Health hospital to host monthly "Walk With a Doc" events as part of a nationwide program that promotes walking as a great way to improve your health, while at the same time offering a place to get to know your local physicians in an informal setting as you walk together. The program also offers a complimentary health screenings at the event, says a news release from KentuckyOne Health.

Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown, also part of KentuckyOne Health, began its "Walk With a Doc" program in March.

"According to America Walks, brisk walking has been shown to reduce body fat, lower blood pressure, increase high-density lipoprotein and even reduce risks of bone fracture. Not only that, it is also associated with lower mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer," says the release.

The Mount Sterling walks begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 25 at Easy Walker Park, located at 1395 Osborne Rd. For more information call 859-497-5556.

Princess Health andStranger donates kidney after knowing recipient 5 minutes; could boost living kidney donations, which have better odds.Princessiccia

Princess Health andStranger donates kidney after knowing recipient 5 minutes; could boost living kidney donations, which have better odds.Princessiccia

kidney transplant organ donation

Gusty 09:06 Add Comment

Two strangers were randomly asked to take part in a five-minute demonstration of living art. It led to one of them donating a kidney to the other, Bailey Loosemore reports for The Courier-Journal.

The  idea of the demonstration, produced by Transylvania University faculty members for the 2013 IdeaFestival, was to ask two strangers to talk for five minutes, and then post a "burning question" on Twitter.

After five minutes of discussion, a University of Louisville employee, identified only as Kathy, told Loosemore that she thought about how she wanted to do something important and  decided her burning question was, "What's next?"

Jackie Thomas (C-J photo by Alton Strupp)

Jackie Thomas, a retired teacher and dialysis patient since 2011, was also wondering "What's next?" She had recently been placed on a kidney transplant list, but had already started looking into living donations, in which a healthy person volunteers to donate one of their organs, because the wait is so long to get a kidney from a deceased donor, Loosemore writes.

But Thomas said she wasn't sure how she was going to ask someone for a kidney until Kathy asked, "What's next?" She thought "Wow, that is really a powerful question," and replied with a burning question for Kathy's Twitter feed: "Would you like to donate a kidney to me?"

Kathy said yes. "I think my question about what's next was kind of in my head, and this was kind of an answer. OK, I can donate a kidney," she told Loosemore. She asked that her last name not be revealed because she did not want the focus to be on her.

The offer left Thomas speechless, Loosemore reports: "I said to her, 'I've only known you for five minutes, and you're going to give me a kidney?' She said 'Yeah,' and she looked really serious. ... So I thought, 'Here is the answer to my prayers, maybe.'"

Because living donations are all voluntary, Thomas did not know for certain if the transplant was really going to happen until the day of the surgery, April 8, 2014.

Kathy, who told Loosemore that she meets Thomas for lunch at least once a month, said she has no regrets.

"It's a really personal decision," she told Loosemore. "I'm not going to go out and say everybody should donate a kidney, but I think people should know for a healthy person, it's relatively risk-free and it's not that painful. And if they're really interested in doing something that makes a big difference in someone's life, educate themselves, but definitely think about donating a kidney, because it's not that bad."

Loosemore reports that more than 100,000 Americans are on waiting lists for kidneys and that in 2014, living donations made up only 32 percent of transplanted kidneys -- and only 25 percent in Kentucky, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. So far in Kentucky this year, there have been 13 kidney transplants, eight from deceased donors and five from living donors; last year, there were 109 from deceased donors and 36 from living.

"The benefits of living kidney donations far outweigh the risks, with living kidneys lasting twice as long as those from deceased donors and the surgeries causing little pain," Loosemore writes, quoting Dr. Mike Hughes, a transplant surgeon who works for University of Louisville Physicians and operates at Jewish Hospital � the only one in Louisville that does transplants.

Jewish Hospital continues to promote its donor champion program, in which family members are asked to request kidneys for recipients who may feel too uncomfortable to do so, and plans to hold an informational forum later this year, in an effort to raise awareness, Loosemore reports.

The forum and the donor-champion program "will help identify barriers that lead to fewer donations and will help encourage those who want to take the next step," Loosemore writes. Jewish Hospital's transplant director, Laurie Oliver, told her that living donations will become "the standard of care at some point in the future, if we can do that."

Click here to learn more about living kidney donation from the National Kidney Foundation. To learn how to donate a kidney through Jewish Hospital, call 502-586-4900.

Princess Health andBurgin, in heart of Kentucky, is state's 40th school district to go tobacco-free; ban, won by students, applies to vapor products.Princessiccia

Princess Health andBurgin, in heart of Kentucky, is state's 40th school district to go tobacco-free; ban, won by students, applies to vapor products.Princessiccia

newspapers school health schools smoking smoking ban smoking bans tobacco tobacco prevention tobacco-free youth

Gusty 07:20 Add Comment

Burgin Independent Schools, in the heart of Kentucky, will be the latest 100 percent tobacco-free schools in the state, and the first in Mercer County, which has a strong tobacco heritage.

The Burgin Board of Education voted April 8 to ban all tobacco use, including vapor products, on school grounds and during school-related student trips, Robert Moore reports for The Harrodsburg Herald. The policy becomes effective July 1 and includes any building or vehicle owned or operated by the board and applies to any renters of school property.

Burgin will be the 40th Kentucky school district to become fully tobacco-free. Kentucky has 173 public- school districts, with 1,233 public schools, according to the state Department of Education.

The Kentucky 100 percent Tobacco-Free Schools website says, "Studies show that schools with 100 percent tobacco-free school policies for three years of more have 40 percent fewer smokers than those in non-tobacco free school districts." The 2013 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 18 percent of Kentucky youth smoke, and 47 percent of them have smoked at least once.

"I�m really proud we�re going to be a tobacco free campus," board member Priscilla Harris told the Herald after the meeting. "We want to set a good example." The independently owned weekly newspaper recently did a three-part series on tobacco in the county, including Burgin students' efforts to get tobacco banned.

Kentucky 100 percent Tobacco Free Schools map, with Burgin added

Princess Health andSchool nutritionists' lobbying group, freshly funded by grocery makers, wants more funding and flexibility with school-lunch rules.Princessiccia

Princess Health andSchool nutritionists' lobbying group, freshly funded by grocery makers, wants more funding and flexibility with school-lunch rules.Princessiccia

agriculture child obesity childhood obesity education hunger nutrition poverty

Gusty 07:14 Add Comment

School nutrition officials want more flexibility with new school lunch rules to cut down on the waste of unwanted food, Spencer Chase reports for Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. Julia Bauscher, president of the School Nutrition Association, told the House Education and Workforce Committee that the organization supports the rules, but needs more funding to enforce them  and more flexbility to serve foods students will eat. (USDA graphic)

"SNA is requesting 35 cents more in federal funding for each lunch and breakfast that is served in the school lunch program, up from the additional six cents the government provided when the new standards were put in place," Chase writes. Bauscher told the committee, �That will help school food authorities afford the foods that we must serve, but unfortunately that won't make students consume it.�

Bauscher, who said SNA wants Congress "to soften the bill's target levels for more whole grains and less sodium in school meals," said that "in many cases, the new requirements have forced school lunch programs outside of budgetary constraints, forcing them to ask school districts to make up the difference. According to SNA, school districts will absorb $1.2 billion in new food and labor costs in 2010," Agri-Pulse reports. SNA has drawn major funding from some food manufacturers.

Chase writes that 51 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches, the first time the number has topped 50 percent in at least 50 years.

Princess Health andFate of rural hospitals rests in the hands of community members, writes publisher of weekly Crittenden Press in Marion.Princessiccia

Princess Health andFate of rural hospitals rests in the hands of community members, writes publisher of weekly Crittenden Press in Marion.Princessiccia

business health health care access hospitals newspapers rural health rural hospitals rural-urban disparities

Gusty 13:22 Add Comment

Just like country grocery stores in rural areas often have to close because community members drive past them to chain stores to save a few cents, rural hospitals will also suffer and eventually disappear if citizens do not use them, Publisher Chris Evans writes for The Crittenden Press in Marion.

When Evans was growing up in northwest Tennessee, his grandparents had to close their grocery store, which had been the center of the community, because too many people chose to purchase their food and other items from the new Walmart eight miles down the road. "Our rural hospitals are headed down the same path of extinction unless we recognize and reverse the trend," Evans writes.

Charlie Hunt, volunteer chairman of Crittenden Health Systems, which owns the local hospital, told Evans, "The only way for rural hospitals to survive is through community support."

In Kentucky, one-quarter of the 66 rural hospitals are in danger of closing, according to state Auditor Adam Edelen. In general, "Country hospitals do not have a good record for making money or breaking even, for that matter," Evans writes in a front-page column for the weekly he and his wife own.

Based on the results of Obamacare, Evans opines, it appears that America is moving toward a single-payer health care system like Canada's. Then instead of the government paying for 85 percent of Crittenden Hospital's services, it will pay for 100 percent. "When that happens, hospitals will have to play solely by government rules or get completely out of the game," Evans writes. Most of the 50 rural hospitals that have been shuttered in the past few years have been in the rural South.

"Hunt, who chairs the board, said that approximately 10 percent of the future of this hospital rests in the hands of its leaders. The other 90 percent falls squarely on the shoulders of this community," Evans writes. The column is not online, but PDFs of the pages on which it appears are posted here.

Princess Health andChiropractors cite research recommending 'conservative treatments' for low-back pain before prescribing painkillers.Princessiccia

Princess Health andChiropractors cite research recommending 'conservative treatments' for low-back pain before prescribing painkillers.Princessiccia

chiropractors exercise pain pain management research

Gusty 09:07 Add Comment

Recent research has questioned the effectiveness of acetaminophen for the treatment of spinal pain. In response, the American Chiropractic Association recommends that patients and health-care providers take a conservative approach to back pain. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, the commonly administered painkiller isn't helpful for diminishing low-back pain.

According to a report released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kentucky ranks among the top five states for opiate painkiller prescriptions written per 100 people, Deborah Highland reports for the Bowling Green Daily News.

"Research supports the use of more conservative treatments as a first-line defense against pain," said ACA President Anthony Hamm. "This sensible approach not only reduces healthcare costs but may also help some patients avoid riskier treatments altogether," he said in a news release that has exercise tips, posture recommendations and injury prevention techniques to help people maintain healthy backs throughout life.

Princess Health andPain and fever reducer acetaminophen, most-used drug in U.S., is found to reduce positive emotions and reduce psychological pain.Princessiccia

Princess Health andPain and fever reducer acetaminophen, most-used drug in U.S., is found to reduce positive emotions and reduce psychological pain.Princessiccia

behavioral health drugs mental health pain pain management pharmaceuticals research

Gusty 19:56 Add Comment

Ohio State University researchers discovered a new side effect of acetaminophen, a leading over-the-counter pain reliever: it also blunts positive emotions. Other research revealed that it helps reduce psychological pain. The drug has been used in the U.S. for more than 70 years and is best known by the brand name Tylenol.

In the Ohio study, participants took Tylenol or a placebo, then looked at very pleasant or very disturbing photos. Those in the experimental group reported weaker emotions than those in the control group. On average, those who took the placebo rated their level of emotion when viewing the photos at 6.76 on a scale of 10, while people who took the pain reliever averaged 5.85.

"Rather than just being a pain reliever, acetaminophen can be seen as an all-purpose emotion reliever," said Geoffrey Durso, the lead author of the study and a doctoral student in social psychology.

Balwin Way, an assistant psychology professor who conducted the study with Durso, said those who took Tylenol didn't seem to be aware they were reacting differently. "Most people probably aren't aware of how their emotions may be impacted when they take acetaminophen," he said.

Acetaminophen, found in more than 600 medicines, is the most common drug in the U.S., according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. Every week approximately 52 million American adults, 23 percent of the population, use a medicine with acetaminophen in it. Durso said researchers don't know if other pain relievers like ibuprofen and aspirin have similar effects, but they plan to study that question.