Science and Tech

Over the next 50 years, a sociologist says America’s newest generation of veterans could be as influential as the World War Two generation.  For example, Veterans Administration researcher Neale Chumbler says today’s disabled veteran demands a normal lifestyle and looks to the VA for support.

In the smoker-heavy state of Kentucky, a cancer center is suggesting something that most health experts won't and the tobacco industry can't: If you really want to quit, switch to smoke-free tobacco. The James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the University of Louisville are aiming their new "Switch and Quit" campaign at the city of Owensboro. It urges smokers to swap their cigarettes for smokeless tobacco and other products that don’t deliver nicotine by smoke.

Kentucky Department for Public Health officials are urging Kentuckians to get a flu vaccination after the season’s first lab-confirmed case of influenza was reported this week. The case was from Jessamine County.
DPH is reporting the results to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of statewide flu surveillance efforts. Kentucky’s flu activity is currently classified as "sporadic," the lowest level of flu activity.

It’s been 20 years since N-B-A star Magic Johnson revealed he tested H-I-V positive.  Over those two decades, the HIV-AIDS landscape in Kentucky has changed greatly.   Magic Johnson was proof, in a high profile way, that an early diagnosis of H-I-V positive didn’t always end in disease and death.   In the early-1980s, when AIDS was first identified, the mortality rate was virtually 100 percent in Kentucky.  In 2009, Fayette County H-I-V coordinator Sarah Alleyne says the mortality rate stood at five percent.  Alleyne adds early diagnosis allows for early treatments that keep H-I-V in check.

The Louisville Board of Health is continuing its deliberations on the pending hospital merger. The board held a public forum with officials from University of Louisville Hospital, Jewish/St. Mary’s Healthcare and Catholic Health Initiatives last month to clear up concerns that Catholic-led supervision would affect access and availability of care.

 The state announced Thursday the planned installation of new weather detection technology – Automated Weather Observation Systems or AWOS – to improve safety at 14 Kentucky airports.  With AWOS, aircraft can receive weather information at altitudes up to 10,000 feet and distances up to 25 nautical miles from each installation. The airports were selected for AWOS upgrades based on recent inspections of existing airport weather observation systems.

Watermelon: It's not just for summer picnics any more. University of Kentucky researchers have been studying the fruit's juice, and results show that it might be good for keeping your weight down and your heart strong. Sibu Saha, lead investigator on UK's project, cautions that consumers should not storm grocery stores and start juicing watermelons but should continue to eat a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables.

Kentucky’s three new managed care operators, MCOs, say they’re ready for members to switch over to privatized Medicaid care this week.  The switch on Nov. 1 is expected to save the state around $375 million over the three year contracts while managing patient care more efficiently.

A cancer diagnosis can be devastating for the most world-weary adult. When it is a young child, it can be downright seismic for a family and an entire community. "You're going along and things seem perfectly fine and then something like this comes and tears your whole life up," said Vicki Ruiz. Her 3-year-old grandson, Bradlee Aguilar-Moreno of Perryville, has been at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis since Aug. 30 being treated for an aggressive form of cancer called anapestic ependymoma

Lexington's Urban County Council has approved spending $3.8 million to soften the increased health insurance costs for city workers.  The compromise came after several firefighters and other government employees protested outside City Hall and spoke at the Council's work session on Tuesday. Council member Kevin Stinnett spoke before a packed meeting Thursday night, saying the plan isn't perfect.

Staff at a Falmouth personal care home did not check on a brain-injured man for nearly three hours on the day he disappeared, according to documents from a state investigation. The man was found dead more than four weeks later. In addition, the investigation by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General into Larry Joe Lee's August disappearance revealed that Falmouth Nursing Home had no policy to ensure that residents had continuous supervision. And investigators determined "the facility failed to establish effective policies to ensure continuous supervision of residents."

More than 100 lawsuits filed by people from throughout the country — who claim they or their loved ones have been hurt by the pain relievers Darvon and Darvocet and other drugs containing propoxyphene — have poured into the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky since August. That's because U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, who holds court in Covington, has been selected by a federal panel to refine the issues and streamline pretrial proceedings.

A 5-year-old Lexington girl was the first child born from mixing frozen eggs with live sperm. Avery is the first child born of the world's first commercial egg bank. Nonetheless, making babies from frozen eggs is still a somewhat dicey business.

End of life care known as hospice has changed a great deal over the centuries.  The clinical type of caring for the dying and their families began in the 17th century.  Hospice relies on a team of care-givers and may include a doctor, nurse, social worker, and chaplain.  Hospice of the Bluegrass chief medical officer Todd Cote says the approach may seem simple, but can be complicated.

The University of Louisville’s Department of Pediatrics is joining an international research team to explore ways to treat and prevent Type 1 diabetes.  The department is a participant in TrialNet, which is made up of clinics throughout the world that study the disease. U of L will work with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, which acts as one of TrialNet’s 18 primary clinical centers.

Local officials and University of Kentucky representatives Thursday announced the expansion of an ovarian cancer screening program that will provide free services to women in northeastern Kentucky Appalachian counties. The UK Markey Cancer Center Ovarian Cancer Screening Project will establish a satellite facility for the program at the Greenup County Health Department.

The president of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has thrown his support behind a proposed statewide smoking ban in the workplace. Dave Adkisson testified before a legislative panel in Frankfort Wednesday. He says ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable for the chamber to take such a position.

Florida has finally implemented an electronic database where the state's doctors can check their patients' prescription drug history. It's hoped the information will curb doctor shopping and other pain pill abuses.  The Palm Beach Post reported that the Electronic Florida Online Reporting of Controlled Substances Evaluation system went online Monday. The bill establishing the system was nearly killed by Florida's Republican governor and other influential GOP lawmakers.

The merger between University of Louisville Hospital, Jewish & St. Mary’s Healthcare and Catholic Health Initiatives isn’t the only hospital consolidation pending in the U.S. Colorado Public Radio reports that this could be a record year for hospital mergers.

 A report released from the state auditor's office says the Fayette County Health Department should make more of an effort to collect unpaid bills and shore up working agreements so that an 11.7 million dollar federal grant for the construction of a new primary care facility is not lost. The report released Monday, encourages the agency to do more to collect, rather than write off, unpaid patient fees, and work quickly to make sure an 11.7 million dollar federal grant to construct a primary care facility is not lost through inaction.

A University of Louisville scientist has been awarded a $2.6 million federal grant to continue his research into treatment of lung injuries caused by exposure chlorine gas.  Dr. Gary Hoyle says the National Institutes of Health is especially interested in the effects of chlorine because of the large amounts of the chemical that are produced and transported in the U.S.

A University of Louisville scientist has been awarded a $2.6 million federal grant to continue his research into treatment of lung injuries caused by exposure chlorine gas. Dr. Gary Hoyle says the National Institutes of Health is especially interested in the effects of chlorine because of the large amounts of the chemical that are produced and transported in the U.S.

The Fayette County Health Department's "Free Flu Friday" is in full swing at the department's Public Health North Campus. The staff has seen a steady run of visitors since 9:30 this morning.  Visitors lining up for their free flu shots sign in and then walk through a roped off areas before they reach the tables where the shots are administered, some by University of Kentucky nursing students.

Thousands of runners, walkers, and onlookers are expected to turn downtown into a sea of pink tomorrow morning for the annual Race for the Cure Event. Mary Allison Belshoff is the Executive Director of the Lexington affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Some convenience stores, head shops, liquor stores and gas stations across Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati are selling what officials describe as "synthetic marijuana." If the mother and grandmother of 19-year-old Chris Allen can change that, they will. The young man they raised in Florence and Independence went on a two-day binge three weeks ago that led him into a Kentucky state psychiatric hospital with delusions and paranoia. The two are on a mission of informing parents how dangerous and deadly the stuff can be.