Officials warn Kentuckians to follow rules, to keep economy open; Beshear says spike could bring a mask order or 'surgical' moves

Kentucky Health News chart; hospitalizations are not reported on weekends. By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News With every business in Kentucky reopened this week at some capacity, Gov. Andy Beshear warned Tuesday that the onus is on every Kentuckian to follow the rules for the coronavirus if they want to keep...

Read More

For breakfast, give me 2 observational studies and an anti-irritant

This is the way many of my days begin. I check for messages – across all media – and I see this on Twitter from Adam Cifu, MD, one of our former editorial contributors: I think this article was published just to irritate ⁦@VPrasadMDMPH⁩ and ⁦@garyschwitzer⁩ https://t.co/KWVqMEk3K8 — Adam Cifu (@adamcifu) June 30, 2020 Once...

Read More

McConnell: 'We cannot go back to April, and we cannot go right back to normal,' so wear a mask (no stigma!) to protect others

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered these remarks on the Senate floor today. “Each time I’ve returned home over the last several weeks, I’ve had the honor of traveling to different Kentucky hospitals to safely meet with healthcare professionals, thank them for their incredible work, and listen to what’s on their minds. “For more than three months now, our nation’s doctors, nurses, and health professionals have been fighting day and...

Read More

Six months in, here are 3 takes on the pandemic from those who cover the politics of health: optimistic, realistic and pessimistic

By Dan Diamond and Adan Cancryn Politico Pulse It’s been nearly six months since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first announced that a mystery pneumonia had spread in a Chinese market, and the nation has been transformed. Lockdowns have been applied and lifted. Millions are out of work. More than 125,000 Americans are already dead, and weeks of declining cases have abruptly reversed, including record surges in Southern states. The...

Read More

Coronavirus update: Hospitals will get drug than can shorten covid-19 stays by a third; Kentucky's positive-test rate is stable

The federal government has secured half a million treatment courses of the experimental covid-19 drug remdesivir, and hospitals will pay no more than $3,200 per average treatment course, the government and Gilead Sciences announced. Preliminary research shows the drug may reduce the length of covid-19 hospital stays as much...

Read More

Can controlling blood pressure later in life reduce risk of dementia?

Everyone talks about the importance of treating high blood pressure, the “silent killer.” And everybody knows that untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks and strokes. But can treating high blood pressure reduce your risk of cognitive impairment and dementia? High blood pressure is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia Cognition encompasses thinking, memory, language, attention, and other mental abilities. Researchers...

Read More

Hospitals say they need more federal money to offset pandemic losses; worry people still afraid to come in for care

Kentucky Hospital Association and Kentucky Medical Association public-service announcement By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The coronavirus pandemic cost Kentucky hospitals $1.6 billion from March to June, and more federal relief is needed to ensure their long-term sustainability, the association's leader says.      "Only 53 of the 118 Kentucky hospitals have received enough federal relief to cover their losses to date, and...

Read More

Sunday cases low, as usual; 7-day average still high; 30-year-old dies; those in 20s are plurality of Ky. cases; media influence seen

State map of all cases, labeled by Kentucky Health News; click on it for a larger version. Kentucky officials reported 97 new coronavirus cases Sunday, following the trend of Sundays having lower numbers because of limited reporting from laboratories that process tests looking for the virus. The report lowered the...

Read More

Pastor says the pandemic is like driving: Distancing and masking are analogous to wearing a seat belt and watching your speed

Paul Prather Paul Prather of Mount Sterling, a Pentecostal minister and former Lexington Herald-Leader religion reporter who still writes a column for the paper, has a Facebook page with a diverse set of friends and followers. Recently, he asked them, "Are my wife and I alone in still taking precautions against...

Read More

Covid-19 update: Long-term-care visits will come with restrictions

Video from Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander runs 5 minutes and 35 seconds. If you plan to visit a long-term-care facility in Kentucky as visitation reopens, be prepared to follow some tight restrictions. Visitation opens Monday, June 29 for personal-care homes, assisted-living communities and family-care homes, and July 15 for skilled nursing facilities. Visitors will have to schedule in advance, no more than two people can...

Read More

New cases drive up Ky. seven-day average for fifth straight day; Republican senators want Trump to get in the fight, wear a mask

Kentucky Health News chart shows daily cases for last two weeks and 7-day average for each day. By Al Cross and Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The state reported 256 new coronavirus cases Friday, moving Kentucky's seven-day rolling average upward for the fifth day in a row. Hospitalizations rose slightly, to...

Read More

Dust from Sahara could pose a health threat through weekend

Video from CNN shows forecast for Saharan dust cloud through Sunday evening. Dust from the Sahara Desert has made sunsets west of Louisville spectacular in the last few days, but we're about to get too much of a good thing. Kentucky Health Commissioner Steven Stack "warned Kentuckians that air quality in the state may be poor this weekend and into next week" as the "enormous cloud of dry and dusty air" moves across the South, a state press release...

Read More

New focus on obesity makes Ky. kids' health ranking plummet in annual report; 38% of them are either overweight or obese

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The 31st annual Kids Count Data Book on children's well being, released June 22 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky Youth Advocates, ranks Kentucky 37th in the nation for the overall well-being of its children, a drop from 34th in last year's report. The state improved in...

Read More

Brain plasticity in drug addiction: Burden and benefit

The human brain is the most complex organ in our body, and is characterized by a unique ability called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to our brain’s ability to change and adapt in its structural and functional levels in response to experience. Neuroplasticity makes it possible for us to learn new languages, solve complex mathematical problems, acquire technical skills, and perform challenging athletic skills, which are all positive and advantageous...

Read More

Anthem and Passport appeal Beshear administration's decision kicking them out of state's Medicaid business as of Jan. 1

By Lisa Gillespie Kentucky Health News Passport Health Plan and Anthem Kentucky, twice denied by different governors the chance to keep managing Medicaid coverage for many Kentuckians, are appealing again. Enrollees with coverage from either plan – close to half a million people – will have to switch insurers at the end of the year unless Passport and Anthem are successful in their appeals. They had lost prior bids under Republican Gov. Matt Bevin,...

Read More

Covid-19 update: State tells Kentuckians who have been to Myrtle Beach to self-quarantine, notes rises in cases in other states too

The state Department for Public Health issued an advisory Thursday afternoon to Kentuckians who had traveled in the last two weeks to Myrtle Beach, S.C., which has turned into a coronavirus hotspot. “DPH advises Kentucky residents who have traveled to Myrtle Beach in the past two weeks to self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor themselves for covid-19 symptoms,” the advisory says, then adds a message from Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the agency: “If...

Read More

How risky is a hug right now?

“Can I get a hug?” It’s a simple question for a simple act that’s been especially missed because of COVID-19 distancing. “Human beings need social contact,” says Dr. Eugene Beresin, executive director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “We are not hermits. We are not solo pilots. We are pack animals.” Not that it needs more promotion, but along with...

Read More

Health departments getting temporary workers to trace contacts of people who have the coronavirus; start of school will be big test

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chart, via CFCF By Lisa Gillespie Kentucky Health News As restaurants have reopened and people are gathering more after three months of social isolation, Kentucky’s health departments are finally getting extra help to help track down people who may have been exposed to the...

Read More