Category: YOUR HEALTH
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Thinking About Health column: Seniors have until March 31 to change options for Medicare or Medicare Advantage
By Trudy Lieberman, Rural Health News Service Solicitations for Medicare Advantage plans once again have been arriving in the mail, promising the best bargain since sliced bread. A case in...
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As vaccination rates decline in Kentucky and elsewhere, Facebook says it will act against anti-vaccine misinformation
Photo from Livestrong.com — Amid growing concern about declining vaccination rates in some states, including Kentucky, Facebook says anti-vaccine misinformation “will appear less frequently across people’s News Feeds, public pages and groups, private...
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Ban on tobacco use in schools still alive; may pass House with measure raising to 21 legal age to buy tobacco and e-cigarettes; question may be ‘coming to terms’ with agricultural community
By Melissa Patrick and Al Cross Kentucky Health News With just three days left to pass bills, lawmakers in the state House are still working on measures that would protect...
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Ky. vax rates for HPV, which causes cancer, rose last year but still lag rest of nation; ‘Parents feel their children will always be angels’
“Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the nation . . . but Kentucky children remain among the least vaccinated in the U.S.,” Caroline Eggers reports for the Bowling Green...
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Kentuckians use too many antibiotics; we’re No. 1 in the nation, and a campaign has started to reduce inappropriate use
Kentucky has the highest rate of antibiotic use in the United States, and the University of Louisville School of Medicine is trying to do something about it. The school’s Department of Pediatrics has mounted...
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State officials defend handling of hepatitis A outbreak as an additional warning is revealed and legislators voice concern
Health Secretary Adam Meier (center) led a March 1 news conference on hepatitis A. Sen. Ralph Alvarado (left) and Sen. MorganMcGarvey (right) have want to examine the state’s response to the outbreak. (Facebook Live image) — By Melissa Patrick...
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Surge by a stronger strain of the flu is another warning that the season for the disease is not over; shots still available and useful
“Though influenza activity typically peaks by February’s end, the flu season isn’t over – and a harsher strain called H3N2 has increased in circulation both nationwide and in Kentucky,” reports Caroline Eggers...
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Studies show that volunteer work helps your health; Kentucky’s level of volunteerism depends on how you measure it
Most Kentucky adults are involved in some community activity, broadly defined, but the state ranks below average, 36th, in the latest state-by-state ranking of volunteerism. “Volunteering can improve a community’s health and...
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Ambulance runs for rural patients are 76% longer when their hospital closes, and for seniors, it’s 98% longer, study finds
When a rural hospital closes, it’s logical to assume that patients in its former service area will spend more time in ambulances getting to an emergency room farther away. A University...
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Tobacco-free schools bill is in trouble in the House; sponsor, a Republican, can’t get enough of her party’s members to be for it
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A bill to make all Kentucky school properties and events tobacco-free is in trouble in the state House, prompting advocates to mount a rescue...