Sexual health issues lack diagnosis

County’s high rate of STDs, teen pregnancies alarming

By Nick Tabor, New Era Staff Writer

“Maybe socio-economic status has something to do with it, but personally I think at some point people have to make good choices,” Pyle wrote in an email. “It’s hard to diagnose why our pregnancy and STD rates are higher. For now all we can do is advocate, educate, screen and treat.”

But neither explanation — demographics and the ubiquity of poor sexual habits — reaches the heart of the matter. They beg the question: Why are so many residents practicing unsafe sex?

Pyle agreed that if Christian County were to wage a campaign to reduce these rates, perhaps local government, private businesses, religious organizations and health-care providers could all play a role, as they have in their support of a public smoking ban.

However, to begin treating the large-scale problem, officials would first need to diagnose it in a way no one has yet done.

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Life worth living

Hospice provides more than a peaceful end

By Nick Tabor, New Era Staff Writer

The doctor said Walker’s heart was beating at 30 percent of the healthy rate.

She would probably die, the doctor said, in three to four weeks.

A social worker told the family about Pennyroyal Hospice. Contrary to most people’s impressions, she said, hospice staff didn’t limit their scope to the comatose and those just a day or two from death. A month wasn’t too early to start using their services, she said. Anyone diagnosed with a terminal illness could qualify.

The hospice aimed to do more than palliate the death experience, she said. It aimed to help patients live better.

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Health report: County fit for Ky.

Rankings aren’t much different from state scores, previous years

By Nick Tabor, New Era Staff Writer

A county-by-county survey of the nation’s health statistics hit the Internet on Tuesday. From one perspective, Christian County’s statistics are jarring.

The county scored significantly worse than the national benchmark in premature death rates, people in poor or fair health, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, excessive drinking, deaths in vehicle wrecks, sexually transmitted infections, teen births, preventable hospital stays, unemployment, children living in poverty, children in single-parent homes, inadequate social support, violent crime rates, limited access to healthy food, and prevalence of fast food restaurants.

But from another perspective, this report brings no surprises at all; it only shows Christian County is deeply situated in its time and place. Comparing the new data with a 2007 statewide study shows Christian County’s health has not changed much in the last five years.

Read the full entry here.