News

University of Kentucky researchers have identified a potential cellular mechanism that connects a mother's smoking while pregnant with an increased risk in the offspring's obesity later in life. 

Obesity is considered an epidemic in the U.S., with nearly 35 percent of adults and 20 percent of children six to 19 years old deemed obese. Obesity is a serious economic burden as well: more than $150 billion is spent annually on obesity-related healthcare costs in the U.S. alone.

A fundraising effort that began with an impassioned plea from one extension homemaker to her peers has positively impacted Kentucky women and the University of Kentucky for the past 40 years.

After years outside of Kentucky, Dr. Agatha Critchfield returned to her home state to find a patient population inundated with opioid use disorders. As an obstetrician at UK HealthCare, Critchfield was attending to the deliveries of women addicted to opioids and whose babies were diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a constellation of symptoms often arising in babies after opioid exposure in the womb.

As a native of Oldham County, the University of Kentucky has always been close to Dr. John van Nagell's heart.

To begin his medical career, van Nagell went Northeast to earn an undergraduate degree at Harvard University and a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, but says he was always looking to come back to Kentucky.

"I always wanted to come home," van Nagell said. "And when it came time for me to decide where I wanted to undergo further training, the University of Kentucky had just opened an outstanding new medical center."

While battling a cold and trying to prepare for her daughter's college graduation party the next day, Claudia Hall considered bailing out of her annual checkup with her gynecologist in early May 2014. With all the stress going on in her life, the Lexington resident figured she would simply postpone the appointment a week or two. But after finding out the next best appointment time for her was nearly three months away, she decided to go ahead with the checkup anyway. "I said, 'No, I don't want to let that go that long,'" Hall said.

https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researchers-report-connection-between-intimate-partner-violence-and-barriers-cancer

Ann Coker, professor in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and Verizon Wireless Endowed Chair in the UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women (CRVAW), will host a presentation this Tuesday on the link between violence against women and cancer. The presentation, titled “Violence against women and cancer incidence, care and recovery,” will be held at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, in room 263 of the Medical College Building (MC263). Violence against women is defined as sexual assaults or sexual abuse during childhood, and intimate partner physical, sexual or psychological abuse.

Despite its name, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) isn’t actually a disease of the ovary. PCOS got its name after researchers and clinicians in the 1930s associated abnormalities in ovarian function and appearance with endocrine abnormalities in women. Since then, we have realized that the ovarian dysfunction is a secondary issue that is caused by the underlying metabolic and endocrine changes seen with PCOS.

During a woman's menstrual cycle, ovulation is the critical mid-point when an egg is released and fertilization can occur. Women's health providers have long understood that a woman's best chances of becoming pregnant are around the time of ovulation. But researchers are still learning about the physiological triggers that initiate this natural process in humans and other mammals.

To draw attention to the importance of ovarian cancer screening, Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear joined Kentucky’s female legislators to highlight results from the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center's Ovarian Cancer Screening Program. The screening program is an ongoing, 26-year research study showing that annual screening continues to detect ovarian cancer at an earlier stage than is possible with a clinical examination. 

Dr. Linah Al-Alem is a postdoctoral scholar in the Curry lab. Originally from Jordan, she has a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Jordan and a Master’s degree in Clinical Reproduction from the University of Kentucky. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology at the University of Kentucky exploring biomarkers for ovarian cancer.

AMSTERDAM (MedPage Today) -- Patients with early breast cancer had significantly less lymphedema if they received axillary radiotherapy instead of surgical lymph node dissection, results of a randomized trial showed.

Axillary RT Cuts Edema in Breast Cancer Patients (CME/CE)

COPENHAGEN (MedPage Today) -- Stressful life events in childhood did not appear to increase the subsequent risk for multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers said here.

Childhood Stress Not a Likely Trigger for MS

COPENHAGEN (MedPage Today) -- Long-term treatment with serial onabotulinum toxin A (Botox) of urinary incontinence among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients appeared to be safe and effective, researchers reported here.

Repeat Botox OK for Urinary Incontinence in MS Patients

(MedPage Today) -- The risk of celiac disease was higher in children who were introduced to gluten after 6 months of age and in those breastfed longer than 12 months, a prospective birth cohort study found.

Timing Key When Introducing Gluten to Baby (CME/CE)