Health News
- Health Issues Facing Appalachia, Focus Of Cdc Director's Tour, Could Be A Forewarning Of Where The Country Is Heading
The chronic health issues of Appalachia, the focus of a recent tour by the head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are really no different than the chronic health issues the entire country faces; they are simply more concentrated...
- 'superbug' Considered The Worst One Yet Is Still Not Widespread In Kentucky Hospitals, But Officials Predict It Is Coming
A new deadly superbug that is almost totally resistant to antibiotics and kills about half who get bloodstream infections has found its way to community hospitals in the Southeastern United States, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal. "We...
- Louisville Ranks Next To Last In Fitness Among 50 Largest Metros
The Louisville metropolitan area ranks 49th for fitness among the nation's 50 largest metro areas in the newly released 2014 American Fitness Index, reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal. The ranking is published by the American...
- U Of L Researchers Develop Simple Cervical-cancer Blood Test That Could Be More Accurate And Cheaper Than Pap Smears
A simple blood test can tell whether a woman has cervical cancer and, if she does, "how far it's spread," writes Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal, reporting on research findings from the University of Louisville. The test "a heat profile from a...
- Uk, With Magnet Of National Cancer Institute Designation, Attracts 4 Researchers And Their $17 Million In Funding From U Of L
"A month after the University of Kentucky announced it is home to the state?s first National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, an internationally recognized research team studying the role metabolism plays in cancer is leaving the University...
Health News
Health reform law drives a trend to include lifestyle changes in a patient's health care plan, alongside traditional medicine
Lifestyle changes can play a huge role in treating and warding off many health conditions and thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act there is now a shift to include helping people make these changes part of their health care plan, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal and USA Today.
In the first of an occasional series called "HealthVoices" that focuses on "areas where policy, public health and people intersect," Ungar tells the story of Kevin French, who self-describes himself as "the quintessential unhealthy Kentuckian" and how lifestyle changes have made a difference in his health.
French tells Ungar that with the help of medical professionals and The KentuckyOne Healthy Lifestyle Center in Louisville he has "learned how to eat well, handle stress, exercise and "basically change everything."
"My medicine usage has declined somewhat. I'm still on medicines but not the dramatic type like I was. Some of them's been cut in half," French told Ungar. "Several costs of medicines have declined dramatically."
The center provides "medically supervised exercise, nutrition counseling, stress management and classes in disciplines such as yoga" and is the third such facility the medical system has opened in Louisville, Ungar writes.
Experts say that the ACA is driving this "colossal shift" in health care away from the "traditional reliance on pills and procedures by patients as well as the American medical system," Ungar writes, but she also notes that the patient must also make a commitment to these lifestyle changes if it is to work, as French has.
A cardiologist at the center, Paul Rogers, told Ungar about the importance of lifestyle changes, especially exercise. in warding off cardiovascular disease, one of the state's biggest killers.
"Compared to even the best medical therapy, we can decrease heart attacks, strokes and deaths by between 35 and 45 percent by changing lifestyle. The thing I see that holds people back most probably is effort and fear," Rogers told Ungar. "The recommendations these days are 30 minutes of?aerobic activity six times a week. I think if people started devoting themselves to that, that would change the health of our state dramatically."
In the first of an occasional series called "HealthVoices" that focuses on "areas where policy, public health and people intersect," Ungar tells the story of Kevin French, who self-describes himself as "the quintessential unhealthy Kentuckian" and how lifestyle changes have made a difference in his health.
French tells Ungar that with the help of medical professionals and The KentuckyOne Healthy Lifestyle Center in Louisville he has "learned how to eat well, handle stress, exercise and "basically change everything."
"My medicine usage has declined somewhat. I'm still on medicines but not the dramatic type like I was. Some of them's been cut in half," French told Ungar. "Several costs of medicines have declined dramatically."
The center provides "medically supervised exercise, nutrition counseling, stress management and classes in disciplines such as yoga" and is the third such facility the medical system has opened in Louisville, Ungar writes.
Experts say that the ACA is driving this "colossal shift" in health care away from the "traditional reliance on pills and procedures by patients as well as the American medical system," Ungar writes, but she also notes that the patient must also make a commitment to these lifestyle changes if it is to work, as French has.
A cardiologist at the center, Paul Rogers, told Ungar about the importance of lifestyle changes, especially exercise. in warding off cardiovascular disease, one of the state's biggest killers.
"Compared to even the best medical therapy, we can decrease heart attacks, strokes and deaths by between 35 and 45 percent by changing lifestyle. The thing I see that holds people back most probably is effort and fear," Rogers told Ungar. "The recommendations these days are 30 minutes of?aerobic activity six times a week. I think if people started devoting themselves to that, that would change the health of our state dramatically."
- Health Issues Facing Appalachia, Focus Of Cdc Director's Tour, Could Be A Forewarning Of Where The Country Is Heading
The chronic health issues of Appalachia, the focus of a recent tour by the head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are really no different than the chronic health issues the entire country faces; they are simply more concentrated...
- 'superbug' Considered The Worst One Yet Is Still Not Widespread In Kentucky Hospitals, But Officials Predict It Is Coming
A new deadly superbug that is almost totally resistant to antibiotics and kills about half who get bloodstream infections has found its way to community hospitals in the Southeastern United States, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal. "We...
- Louisville Ranks Next To Last In Fitness Among 50 Largest Metros
The Louisville metropolitan area ranks 49th for fitness among the nation's 50 largest metro areas in the newly released 2014 American Fitness Index, reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal. The ranking is published by the American...
- U Of L Researchers Develop Simple Cervical-cancer Blood Test That Could Be More Accurate And Cheaper Than Pap Smears
A simple blood test can tell whether a woman has cervical cancer and, if she does, "how far it's spread," writes Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal, reporting on research findings from the University of Louisville. The test "a heat profile from a...
- Uk, With Magnet Of National Cancer Institute Designation, Attracts 4 Researchers And Their $17 Million In Funding From U Of L
"A month after the University of Kentucky announced it is home to the state?s first National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, an internationally recognized research team studying the role metabolism plays in cancer is leaving the University...