Dr. Greg Davis On Medicine

Healthy brain aging is a concern for all of us. It’s normal to struggle with small things such as recalling names — and we all experience some slowing of the thought processes with advanced age — but everyone hopes to avoid serious cognitive impairment. Dr. Greg Jicha with the Sanders - Brown Center on Aging shares tips with Dr. Greg on how to maintain good brain health.

This week Dr. Greg talks with Theresa Brown, RN; the New York Times best-selling author of Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient and The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives. She recently penned an article for Cancer Nursing Today asking the question – Who Broke American Health Care?

As an undergraduate student and English major at UK during the 1990s, Roger Brown spent his summer breaks working as a counselor at the Life Adventure Camp. The center was founded by a small group of UK graduate students, two of whom are Brown’s parents. It provided five-day wilderness living experiences to low-income and special needs youth at a forested property in Estill County. Fast forward to today where the now UK alum and current faculty member uses his close ties to LAC to help foster resilience in individuals affected by trauma. He talks about it in this week’s Dr. Greg Davis on Medicine.

Dr. Greg talks with Emily L. Weis, MD, MS, with the University of Rochester, who recently was featured in an article in Healio about how physicians are dealing with a rise in difficult patient encounters and what may be behind the uptick.

This week, as a new school year gets under way, Dr. Greg talks with Griffin Nemeth, a student at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy and coordinator for the #iCANendthetrend Youth Advisory Board; a group of 10 high school advocates from across Kentucky, fostering a generation of changemakers dedicated to educating peers, community members and policymakers about the negative health outcomes of vaping and tobacco use. A key element of Nemeth's work is the comprehensive yearlong training program he helps coordinate for younger Kentuckians. Every summer, new members of the Youth Advisory Board gather at UK for an in-person training session, followed by bimonthly virtual meetings throughout the year. This training includes online modules, skill-building opportunities and sessions led by near peers who are part of #iCANendthetrend.

"Low vision" is a term that commonly means partial sight, or sight that isn't fully correctable with glasses, contact lenses, surgery or medications. Low vision can affect people of all ages, but the risk increases as you get older. This week Dr. Greg talks with Christian Meyer, O.D., ophthalmology and visual sciences on low vision and how to prevent it.

This week on Dr. Greg Davis on Medicine we talk to a researcher who tirelessly works to understand the human sleep cycle. Lauren Whitehurst, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences and assistant director of the UNITE Research Priority Area, studies how sleep is affected by our genetics and living environments. Whitehurst’s current research is looking at precipitating factors that could be creating a sleep disparity in Black Americans. She is also the principal investigator on a five-year $2.4 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) exploring how sex and sex hormones influence the effects of alcohol on sleep quality.

Dr. Greg Davis brings us another cancer-journey update from friend and WUKY colleague Karyn Czar who received a bone marrow transplant as part of her treatment for multiple myeloma eight months ago. In this particular conversation, Karyn details some of the ongoing mental and emotional challenges of her recovery.

When John “JB” Bradley was a young boy growing up in Beattyville, Kentucky, he dreamed of being a doctor. Inspired by his small town’s family physician, he imagined taking care of families just like his own one day. After retiring from Kentucky State Police he is realizing that dream. He talks about his journey with Dr. Greg.

Prior to his retirement as UK's Chef in Residence Bob Perry chatted with Dr. Greg about lessons he's learned and passed down regarding local ingredients, the culinary arts, and feeding astronauts in space.

This week on Dr. Greg Davis on Medicine Dr. Pete Nelson with UK's Sanders Brown Center on Aging talks about this rare form of dementia

Whether you’re planning a beach vacation, gardening, or watching your kids’ baseball games, make sure you take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones from skin cancer. We again offer this very important conversation with John D'Orazio, M.D., chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the UK Department of Pediatrics.

National Stop the Bleed Day is May 23. The goal of this day is to better prepare the public to save lives by raising awareness of basic actions to stop life-threatening bleeding following everyday emergencies and man-made and natural disasters. Dr. Greg talks with UK HealthCare Trauma Coordinator Amie Peel.

The International Society of Neurogastronomy (ISN) will bring their annual symposium back to the University of Kentucky campus on May 18th at the UK Gatton Student Center. Neurogastronomy is a relatively new field that explores how flavor sensations are created in the brain, what the brain does with flavor information, and the behavioral and physiological consequences that result. Dr. Greg talks with ISN president Tim McClintock about this year's symposium. McClintock is a professor of physiology at UK.

Is it more about what you say or how you play? This week Dr. Greg talks with Sydney Sun, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania who talks about her research involving the type of linguistic communication parents and children used during game-play and what that revealed about future behavioral patterns.

The 19th Annual Spring Conference of the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) drew it’s largest-ever audience, with nearly 1,100 attendees including a particularly special guest: Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, who issued a proclamation that April 9 is “Translational Science Day” in the city. Our own Dr. Greg Davis used the occasion to talk one-on-one with Philip Kern, M.D., co-director of the CCTS.

Community Support Agriculture - what does it mean and how does it promote healthier eating? These are two important questions Dr. Greg asks of his guests this week. Katie Harvey and Dee Owens are part of the Community Supported Agriculture Outreach team for the Organic Association of Kentucky.

This week Dr. Greg talks with Heather Bush who was recently named permanent dean of the UK College of Public Health. Under her leadership as acting dean, the college has seen growth in research, teaching and service. The college has also expanded efforts to recognize and teach how different perspectives can thrive in public health. In this conversation, Bush talks about the role of public health in our everyday lives and lays out her vision for the college as it moves into its third decade at UK.

In March, we wear blue to recognize Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women. It’s estimated that 106,590 new cases of colon cancer and 46,220 new cases of rectal cancer will be diagnosed in 2024. Kentucky has the fourth highest rate of death from colon cancer in the nation. Dr. Greg revisits an interview with local gastroenterologist Dr. Elizabeth Holt.

Would Lexingtonians agree to a new tax solely dedicated to the city’s parks? A local group called Parks Sustainable Funding believes the answer is yes. The nonprofit is floating the idea. Dr. Greg Davis speaks with two of the leading proponents, Victoria Meyer and Davis Lowe, in this week's segment of Dr. Greg Davis on Medicine.