Mosquito Squad of Louisville graphic, adapted by Kentucky Health News; click on it to enlarge State wildlife officials are reminding Kentuckians to take precautions against tick bites, which can transmit disease. “Ticks are common across the state, and whether you’re hunting, hiking or spending time in your backyard, you’re probably going to encounter them,” said Dr. Christine Casey, wildlife veterinarian for the Deparment of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The key to avoiding any health risk from a tick bite is by taking steps to protect yourself from being bitten in the first place ..read more

Kentucky Health News Community pharmacies may play a key role in helping smokers quit, according to a study done in California and published in the peer-reviewed journal Pharmacy. Kentucky has the nation's fourth-highest adult smoking rate, 17.4%. "Although two-thirds of people who smoke would like to quit, many individuals trying to quit on their own are not successful," notes a news release from the University of California, Davis, where the study was done in cooperation with  other academic institutions across the country and the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network, involving ..read more

Only vaping products authorized or pending approval by the FDA can be sold in Kentucky as of Jan. 1. (Getty Images photo) By Sarah LaddKentucky Lantern Four vape shops, the Kentucky Vaping Retailers Association and the Kentucky Hemp Association have filed suit in Franklin Circuit Court seeking to strike down a new state law outlawing the sale of some of their products. Greg Troutman, a lawyer for the Kentucky Smoke Free Association, which represents vape retailers, said he’s “hoping that we can get a resolution to this well before” the law is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The la ..read more

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Kentucky still has one of the nation's highest adult smoking rates, but has fallen to fourth among the states, after many years of either ranking first or second. The rate for 2022, the last year for which a rate has been calculated, is 17.4%. Asked why Kentucky might have seen a drop in its ranking, Amanda Fallin-Bennett, director of the Kentucky Center for Smokefree Policy, said it could be because Kentuckians have good access to treatment programs.  "Compared to other states, it does have pretty good access to tobacco-treatment services for most ..read more

Kentucky Department for Public Health illustration By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Kentucky leads the nation in the rate of cases of and deaths from cervical cancer, a disease that is largely preventable by a vaccine. The vaccine targets the human papillomavirus, which can cause cancers of the cervix, genitals, anus, neck and head. Kentucky also leads the nation in cancers caused by the HPV. "The good news is that the HPV vaccine can prevent the vast majority of those cancers, but not everybody knows about it," said Pamela Hull, associate director of population science a ..read more

By Grace SowardsUniversity of Kentucky Alex Elswick grew up with everything he needed. With two great parents, a roof over his head and good grades in school, he was a young person who wouldn’t lead people to believe drug addiction would be in his future. Elswick stands in front of the wall of hope at Voices of Hope, The board is full of reasons to persevere through addiction, and messages of gratitude. (UK photo by Sabrina Hounshell) “I come from a really privileged background,” said Elswick. “My dad is a doctor, I grew up in the suburbs and kind of had every advantage. That ma ..read more

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Gov. Andy Beshear gave an update on the medical cannabis licensing program Thursday, after signing this year's medical cannabis bill into law the day before. "We have worked hard to create a safe system that limits or eliminates abuse while still providing relief to that veteran suffering from PTSD or individual suffering from unbearable epileptic seizure after epileptic seizure," Beshear said during his weekly news conference. Rep. Jason Nemes presents Senate changes to HB 829 on the House floor Monday, April 15. (Legislative photo) Ho ..read more

Pike County (Wikipedia map) By Stan Ingold, WEKU Officials in Eastern Kentucky are dealing with what they are calling a “mental health crisis.” In Pike County, over the last 30 days at least eight people have committed suicide. To put that into perspective, the county had eight suicides in all of 2023, said Tammy Riley, the county's public health director. She said there are two common occurrences with these incidents. “In a short span on time, the suicides have all been adults, ranging from the 30's to the 80's as far as years of age, primarily all have been male, and the mod ..read more

Norton Healthcare has received a $20 million gift for the "Just Imagine" campaign to support programing and research in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders at the Norton Neuroscience Institute.   The Just Imagine campaign aims to ensure greater access to medical expertise; expand innovative clinical translational research; and recruit, train and attract even more best-in-class specialists. The gift comes from the estate of Dr. Elizabeth Pahk Cressman, a Louisville anesthesiologist who died in 2021. “Dr. Cressman’s vision has helped elevate the care for Parkinson’s patie ..read more

By Al Cross Kentucky Health News Kentucky's top two state senators said Tuesday that none of the advocates for more funding of tobacco prevention spoke to them about it during the legislative session that ended Monday night. "I never heard from those advocates. They never came to meet with me, and they probably should've. . . . I was in the room where it happened, and nobody ever spoke to me," Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer of Georgetown said in response to a question from Kentucky Health News. Thayer spoke at a Capitol rotunda press conference where leading Senate Republicans discussed wh ..read more