Dr. Greg Davis On Medicine

Data shows that about 1 in 26 individuals will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime, and Kentucky has about 50,000 active cases of epilepsy. Dr. Greg's guest talks about a new program addressing the care of those individuals. Sukriti Kapoor is a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington and is the president of the student technology leadership program. She also founded a new program called Seizure Smart to equip not only teachers but students with the tools to handle epileptic-related emergencies.

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.

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.

Neurologist Jordan Clay, M.D., with UK HealthCare's Kentucky Neuroscience Institute separates myth from fact about epilepsy and goes over the do's and don'ts when it comes to first aid treatment for someone experiencing a seizure.