Health News
- As National Smoking Rate Has Declined, Kentucky's Has Gone Up
Randy Jackson, 50, of Louisville, said he's smoked for 20 years. (Photo by Aaron Borton, special to The Courier-Journal)"Kentucky has failed to keep up with the nation?s gains in limiting tobacco use, outlined in the U.S. Surgeon General?s just-released...
- 'faces Of Lung Cancer' Photo Exhibit At Markey Cancer Center Is Meant To Spread Awareness About Disease And Its Prevention
Lung cancer survivor Juanita Meade"Faces of Lung Cancer," a photo exhibit with portraits and inspirational messages from nine lung cancer survivors in Kentucky, is on display at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center on the 1st floor atrium of...
- Uk Nanotechnology Study Shows Promise For More Effective Cancer Treatment Compared To Chemotherapy
Dr. Peixuan Guo, one of the three top nanobiotechnology experts in the worldA new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows promise for developing ultrastable RNA nanoparticles that may help treat cancer and viral infections by regulating cell...
- State Health Commissioner Encourages Smoke-free Ordinances
Kentucky's public health commissioner said communities are moving in the right direction by enacting smoke-free ordinances and hopes Kentucky can become a smoke-free state. "We have communities in Letcher County, as well as areas in far Eastern Kentucky,...
- Kentucky Continues To Lead Nation In Cancer Death Rate
Though cancer deaths rates are falling nationwide, Kentucky continues to rank worst in the country for its number of cancer deaths, The Courier-Journal's Laura Ungar has determined. (C-J graphic shows rates for the nation, Kentucky and Indiana, the...
Health News
UK cancer-center director urges lawmakers to raise cigarette tax and pass a statewide smoking ban to reduce cancer deaths
The Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky supports a statewide smoking ban and an increase in the state cigarette tax to significantly reduce cancer deaths in the state, the center's director told a legislative committee Sept. 3.
?We are highly supportive, and we hope that you will be supportive as well, of (these) initiatives that we think will improve the overall health of Kentuckians,? Dr. B. Mark Evers told the state legislative Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee.
A news release from the Legislative Research Commission said Evers presented the numbers to back up his advice: Kentucky is first nationally in percentage of people who get cancer, and in overall cancer mortality. Lung cancer alone accounts for about 35 percent of Kentucky cancer deaths; nationally, lung cancer's share is 28 percent.
Twenty-eight percent of adult Kentuckians smoke, with approximately 8,000 deaths each year from smoking-related illnesses. The greatest incidence of tobacco-related cancers is in Eastern Kentucky.
That is the highest percentage in the U.S., Evers notes, adding that there is an indirect relationship between cigarette taxes and smoking rates. Kentucky has the 12th lowest cigarette tax among the states.
"Raising the cost of cigarettes and a statewide smoking ban could help cut Kentucky cancer deaths by 50 percent," Evers said. That is the Markey Cancer Center's goal over the next five years.
The center has a new strategic plan, "Conquering Cancer in the Commonwealth," that focuses on the state's "major cancer killers" -- lung, head and neck, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer.
In response to a question about how to decrease the number of smokers in Kentucky, Evers pointed to local smoke-free policies and increased efforts in Appalachia toward smoking cessation.
When asked what it will take to lower the percentage of Kentucky smokers to less than 10 percent, Evers recommended three things: increasing the cigarette excise tax, a statewide smoking ban, and instituting lung-cancer screening projects like those in place at UK and the University of Louisville.
?Those three things are really going to help drive down those numbers,? he said.
?We are highly supportive, and we hope that you will be supportive as well, of (these) initiatives that we think will improve the overall health of Kentuckians,? Dr. B. Mark Evers told the state legislative Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee.
A news release from the Legislative Research Commission said Evers presented the numbers to back up his advice: Kentucky is first nationally in percentage of people who get cancer, and in overall cancer mortality. Lung cancer alone accounts for about 35 percent of Kentucky cancer deaths; nationally, lung cancer's share is 28 percent.
Twenty-eight percent of adult Kentuckians smoke, with approximately 8,000 deaths each year from smoking-related illnesses. The greatest incidence of tobacco-related cancers is in Eastern Kentucky.
That is the highest percentage in the U.S., Evers notes, adding that there is an indirect relationship between cigarette taxes and smoking rates. Kentucky has the 12th lowest cigarette tax among the states.
"Raising the cost of cigarettes and a statewide smoking ban could help cut Kentucky cancer deaths by 50 percent," Evers said. That is the Markey Cancer Center's goal over the next five years.
The center has a new strategic plan, "Conquering Cancer in the Commonwealth," that focuses on the state's "major cancer killers" -- lung, head and neck, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer.
In response to a question about how to decrease the number of smokers in Kentucky, Evers pointed to local smoke-free policies and increased efforts in Appalachia toward smoking cessation.
When asked what it will take to lower the percentage of Kentucky smokers to less than 10 percent, Evers recommended three things: increasing the cigarette excise tax, a statewide smoking ban, and instituting lung-cancer screening projects like those in place at UK and the University of Louisville.
?Those three things are really going to help drive down those numbers,? he said.
- As National Smoking Rate Has Declined, Kentucky's Has Gone Up
Randy Jackson, 50, of Louisville, said he's smoked for 20 years. (Photo by Aaron Borton, special to The Courier-Journal)"Kentucky has failed to keep up with the nation?s gains in limiting tobacco use, outlined in the U.S. Surgeon General?s just-released...
- 'faces Of Lung Cancer' Photo Exhibit At Markey Cancer Center Is Meant To Spread Awareness About Disease And Its Prevention
Lung cancer survivor Juanita Meade"Faces of Lung Cancer," a photo exhibit with portraits and inspirational messages from nine lung cancer survivors in Kentucky, is on display at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center on the 1st floor atrium of...
- Uk Nanotechnology Study Shows Promise For More Effective Cancer Treatment Compared To Chemotherapy
Dr. Peixuan Guo, one of the three top nanobiotechnology experts in the worldA new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows promise for developing ultrastable RNA nanoparticles that may help treat cancer and viral infections by regulating cell...
- State Health Commissioner Encourages Smoke-free Ordinances
Kentucky's public health commissioner said communities are moving in the right direction by enacting smoke-free ordinances and hopes Kentucky can become a smoke-free state. "We have communities in Letcher County, as well as areas in far Eastern Kentucky,...
- Kentucky Continues To Lead Nation In Cancer Death Rate
Though cancer deaths rates are falling nationwide, Kentucky continues to rank worst in the country for its number of cancer deaths, The Courier-Journal's Laura Ungar has determined. (C-J graphic shows rates for the nation, Kentucky and Indiana, the...