10 years ago, Lexington's smoking ban started creating a healthier city and a movement among others in Kentucky

A decade ago, Lexington took a bold step by enacted the state's first public smoking ban, in a city that once proudly touted its status as the "World's largest burley tobacco market." As smoke-free supporters and Lexington residents celebrate the ordinance's 10th anniversary Monday, a recent editorial in the Lexington Herald-Leader highlights the dramatic benefits that have followed this historic step.

After the smoking ban took effect in April 2004, the city had 22 percent fewer emergency room visits for asthma in the next 32 months, and the Fayette County smoking rate has dropped from 26 percent to 17.5 percent, the editorial notes. These positive changes have yielded health-care savings of $21 million a year, says the University of Kentucky's Tobacco Policy Research Program.

"There is nothing quite as cost effective as smoke-free policies," the editorial quotes Ellen Hahn, a UK nursing professor and director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy, as saying. "We predict a 32 percent decline in smoking rates if Kentucky were to go smoke-free. That would save billions in health care costs and reduce premature death and suffering from the chronic diseases that plague Kentucky."

The editorial also says Lexington led the way for Louisville and 20 other municipalities to protect citizens from secondhand smoke; a third of the state's population now lives in a smoke-free environment, and many of the initial fears about a smoking ban are now extinguished.

Kentuckians feared economic harm, the shunning of Lexington restaurants and bars and suffering tourism or downtown attraction, but the opposite predictions came true, says the editorial. The scene in downtown Lexington is "far richer than 10 years ago... It once was an article of faith that tobacco would always be king in Kentucky, yet tobacco declined and agriculture has thrived."

Childhood obesity is linked to more immediate health problems than doctors formerly realized

While a plethora of research on childhood obesity has linked it to long-term health problems, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition's more proximate consequences, showing that obese children are at a greater risk for immediate health problems than previously thought. That's important for Kentucky, which ranks poorly in many health measures and is third highest in child obesity. (Photo by Tara Kaprowy)

"This study paints a comprehensive picture of childhood obesity, and we were surprised to see just how many conditions were associated with childhood obesity," said lead author Dr. Neal Halfon, a professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy at UCLA.

Compared to kids who are not overweight, the study found that obese children have nearly twice the risk of having three or more reported medical, mental or developmental conditions. Specific medical conditions included bone, joint and muscle problems; asthma; allergies; headaches; and ear infections. Obese children also reported a greater tendency toward emotional and behavioral problems, higher rates of grade repetition, missed school days and other school problems, ADHD, conduct disorder, depression, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.

The study provides the first comprehensive national profile of associations between weight status and a broad set of associated health conditions, a UCLA release said. Halfon said these findings should serve as a wake-up call to physicians, parents and teachers, who should be better informed of the risk for health conditions associated with childhood obesity. (Read more)

Electric cooperatives' monthly magazine looks at the poor health of our state's children

Courtney Cagle, 14, of Clinton learns
how to cook healthy spaghetti in UK's
Cooperative Extension nutrition program

The November issue of Kentucky Living magazine, published monthly for member-customers of the state's electric cooperatives, focuses on children's health. Editor Paul Wesslund writes that the stories and statistics on the current state of the state's kids are "scary."

Reporter James Nold Jr. writes that when experts were asked about their concerns for the state, childhood obesity was front and center. The state ties Georgia and Arkansas for the second highest share of children (37 percent) who are obese, and it trails only Mississippi among children 10 to 17. That’s more than one in three kids who are grossly unfit.

Also of concern are Kentucky children's high rates of asthma, abuse, neglect, and cigarette smoking. The numbers for these are so bad and so seemingly out of control now that health professionals would be happy just to see them remain stable in the future, instead of continuously rising.

Nold writes that the experts' urgency on these matters was palpable. A lot of them talked about the way poor nutrition can harm children now and throughout the rest of their lives.  They also expressed deep concern for the lack of dental education and care, the need for more exercise and for more parent involvement in all of their children's choices.

The magazine, which has a Health Club for children, notes that the University of Kentucky's Cooperative Extension Service provides nutrition education to students in all 120 counties. For more information on the club, or to join, go to www.KentuckyLiving.com and click on "KL Health Club." (Read more)

Use of pacifiers could lead to very sick babies, study finds

Oklahoma State University researchers report that they have found a wide range of disease-causing bacteria, fungus and mold on pacifiers that young children had been using.

In research presented at the American Society for Clinical Pathology, scientists have shown that pacifiers can also grow a slimy coating of bacterial film that alters the normal bacteria in a baby or toddler's mouth, increasing the likelihood of colic and ear infections. It gets worse, according to study author Tom Glass, a professor of forensic science, pathology and dental medicine: The same types of bacteria found on a common pacifier have been linked to cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases.

HealthDay reporters Barbara Bronson Gray writes that Glass said the problems associated with pacificers are also applicable to any removable orthodontic appliance like retainers, mouth guards and dentures. Glass said his researchers were particular concerned about their findings when they discovered that "many of the bacteria growing from the used pacifiers were resistant to commonly used antibiotics such as penicillin and methicillin. The development of such resistance to certain antibiotics does not cause the organism to be more infectious than other strains that have no antibiotic resistance, but it can make the infection more difficult to treat." Glass told Gray that he does not recommend that pacifier use. use. "After doing the study, I say why take a risk?" (Read more)

18 Kentucky hospitals cited as 'top performers' on accreditation board's annual list

Eighteen Kentucky hospitals have been included on the annual list of hospitals that have excelled at adhering to basic procedures for surgery and other treatment of common illnesses such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The Joint Commission, the nation’s major hospital accreditation board, has released this year's list of 620 hospitals considered to be “top performers” for following recommended protocols at least 95 percent of the time. The top 18 percent of accredited hospitals make the list.

Among the Kentucky hospitals that qualified on all four measurements were Greenview Hospital in Bowling Green, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville, St. Elizabeth Medical Center in both Florence and Fort Thomas, Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington.

Those qualifying in three categories were the Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Louisville (not in surgery) and the Appalachian Regional Hospitals in Harlan and Middlesboro (not in heart attack).

Qualifying in two categories were Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in Leitchfield, Frankfort Regional Medical Center, the Hospital of Louisa and Jackson Hospital Corp., all for pneumonia and surgical care.

Recognized for pneumonia care were Parkway Regional Hospital in Fulton, Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center in Paintsville, Logan Memorial Hospital in Russellville and the KentuckyOne Health Hospital in Martin.

Among behavioral-health hospitals, ranked on their in-patient psychiatric care, the Kentucky facilities on the list were the Universal Health Services facility in Bowling Green, the new Cumberland Hall Hospital in Hopkinsville.

According to Kaiser Health News, the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization devoted to patient safety, aided in the rankings process, as did Consumer Reports. The Commission has its own metrics. It's worth noting that next month, Medicare will start using hospital quality rankings on its Hospital Compare website to set reimbursements. (Read more)

New treatment first offered in Louisville is helping asthma sufferers

Shannon Denson, who has severe asthma, gets bronchial
thermoplasty. Courier-Journal photo.

Asthma sufferers can now benefit from an innovative treatment that was first offered at University Hospital in Louisville.

Patients like Shannon Denson are seeing improvement thanks to bronchial thermoplasty, "a minimally invasive, three-step procedure using heat to open airways in adults with severe asthma so they can breathe more easily," reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal.

"Over the years, airways become very narrow. This opens them up," said Dr. Tanya Wiese, an interventional pulmonologist with University of Louisville Physicians, which partnered with UH to offer the treatment.

The treatment is not a cure but it does improve the condition of the lungs, which is good news since asthma rates are high in Kentucky. In the Ohio Valley, almost 15 percent of Kentucky adults said they had asthma, making it the seventh-highest rate in 2010, a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. (Read more)

Workshop Aug. 4-5 will help health groups with policy, programs

A two-day workshop intended to help health coalitions and organizations make progress at the policy level and implement evidence-based programs will begin Aug. 4.

On the first day, speaker Monte Roulier of Community Initiatives will speak about the art and science of building health and whole communities. On the second day, speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will demonstrate how to use The Community Guide, a free resource that offers guidance on what programs and policies are evidence-based for obesity, mental health, asthma, tobacco, substance abuse, violence and other health issues.

The workshop is part of the "Health for a Change: Ignite — Unite — Act" series, a program of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. It starts at 10 a.m. Aug. 4 and ends at 4 p.m. Aug. 5. at the Hurstbourne Place Office Building in Louisville. To register, click here.

More county-specific health data are available, painting detailed pictures of your local area's health

Five years' worth of county-specific data are now available for many types of health indicators on the Kentucky Health Facts website. The site features data on demographics, social and behavioral indicators, health outcomes, access to care, and maternal and child health, much of which can be useful to journalists all over Kentucky.

The Health Outcomes category, for example, looks at a county's premature-death rate, motor-vehicle deaths, prevalence of asthma, diabetes prevalence and cancer deaths. The Maternal and Child Health category looks at adequacy of prenatal care, infant mortality rates, teen birth rates and prevalence of youth who smoke cigarettes. It compares that data to the rest of the state and nation.

The data paint a detailed picture of what is happening in a specific area. One interesting nugget in the newly updated data on asthma show that in Warren County (Bowling Green), the percentage of adults with the respiratory condition has nearly doubled from 10 percent in 2003-05 to 19 percent in 2007-09. Here is the county asthma map:

The data come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which is the world's largest ongoing telephone health survey. It has tracked health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States on an annual basis since 1984.

The data can be viewed by going to www.kentuckyhealthfacts.org or by clicking here. Kentucky Health Facts is a service of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.