From the New York Times to visits from the director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, health disparities in Appalachia are receiving a lot of attention, and for good reason. The list is sadly familiar: life expectancy in the region is about five years lower than national averages; rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, and unintentional injury are among the very worst in the country; and myriad socioeconomic and geographic barriers limit access to health insurance and care. Former University of Kentucky President Lee Todd Jr.
The phrase "we caught it early" is possibly the best news a patient can hear in the midst of a cancer diagnosis. Combating cancer in its earliest stages, when the disease is localized to a certain part of the body, gives patients the best chances of survival.
Screenings for breast, skin, colon, prostate and other forms of cancer are touted for saving lives through early detection. Many health care providers recommend cancer screenings as a precautionary measure, especially for high-risk patients.
Growing up in the small rural town of Paintsville, Kentucky, Hilaree Frazier always loved science. She remembers that from a young age she was interested in pursing a PhD in science, but when she finished her bachelors of science at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), she was intimidated by the prospect of going straight into a doctoral program. Even though she was interested in UK's Integrated Biomedical Sciences PhD program, she didn't apply.
"I think I just didn't have enough confidence," she said.
A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows that women who never or rarely screen for breast cancer are also unlikely to receive screening for cervical cancer. The study also identified four key barriers independently associated with the lack of these cancer screenings in Appalachian women.
Published in Women & Health, the study focused on six rural counties in Appalachian Kentucky. Researchers conducted in-person interviews with 222 women to assess their adherence (or lack thereof) to cancer screening guidelines.
Craig Rush is devoted to improving the lives of people who struggle with drug abuse by identifying treatments that allow them to stop or reduce their drug use. Since joining the University of Kentucky in 1999, he has come to wear several hats. He is the director of UK’s Laboratory of Human Behavioral Pharmacology, serves as assistant vice president for research, and holds professorships in the departments of behavioral health, psychiatry and psychology so that he can help train the next generation of researchers.
In July, the University of Kentucky's Jennifer Havens sat on a panel in Washington D.C., addressing the current U.S. congressional ban on federal funding of syringe services programs (SSPs) advocating that releasing the ban will positively affect the rising abuse issue. Havens stated that releasing the ban would create a positive effect on the fight against rising injectable drug abuse levels in Kentucky and throughout the nation.
Havens is an epidemiologist in the UK College of Medicine Department of Behavioral Science.
