Please visit the sublinks in the original article for more detailed reports on this subject. Also refer to this thread on the affects of mountaintop mining on Appalachian health: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1272402

http://inhabitat.com/new-study-links-mountaintop-removal-to-60000-cases-of-cancer-in-appalachia/
Inhabitat
New Study Links Mountaintop Removal to 60,000 Cases of Cancer in Appalachia
by Jessica Dailey, 07/28/11

In a new study released this week, it was revealed that among the 1.2 million residents living in parts of Appalachia, an additional 60,000 cases of cancer are directly linked to mountaintop removal mining, a practice that occurs most commonly in West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. Using groundbreaking community-based participatory research, West Virginia University researcher Dr. Michael Hendryx conducted the study, which is titled “Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia with and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining.” This spring, Hendryx and his team used health data collected from residents of Boone County, WV who are directly affected by mountaintop removal mining, and compared the data to communities without mining. The results show that not only is mountaintop removal killing our environment, it’s killing our fellow Americans.

http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/icrh/Students/Project-R-E-A-C-H

A must read.

Health care's Appalachian spring
Obamacare comes to an old battlefield in the War on Poverty
Jayne O'Donnell and Rick Hampson, USA TODAY; Chris Kenning and Laura Ungar, The Courier-Journal

Introduction
Ambivalence

GRETHEL, Ky. — At 86, Eula Hall comes each day to the clinic she raised from the ashes of a defeat in the war on poverty, the one Lyndon Johnson declared when he came to these poor, lonely hills 50 years ago this month.

Now comes another plan from another president to improve life here — the Affordable Care Act, designed to provide health insurance for all.

When Eula Hall is asked about Obamacare, you expect this veteran of the war on poverty, who lives in the sickest county in one of the sickest states, to sing hosannas. Instead, she hedges.

"I'm glad people without insurance are getting it, but I'm a skeptic," she says of the law. "I can't have high hopes." Hall, a beloved figure who's tended the poorest of the sick at the Mud Creek Clinic here for four decades, shakes her head. "We'll have to wait and see.''

MORE at http://www.usatoday.com/longform/news/nation/2014/04/24/obamacare-kentucky-floyd-county/8108687/

the Louisville Courier Journal
CDC director plans house call to Appalachian Kentucky
by Laura Ungar
July 17, 2014

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon make a house call to Eastern Kentucky.

Dr. Thomas Frieden will visit four spots in the region August 4-6 to discuss Appalachian Kentucky's persistently-high rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other conditions. Frieden was invited by U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers, R-Kentucky 5th district, as part of a "Health Impact Series" under the new Shaping Our Appalachian Region initiative launched by Gov. Steve Beshear.

"While the diagnosis of illnesses like cancer and diabetes are heartbreaking, we know that hope is abundant. We've made great strides in awareness and prevention, but I am eager to hear Dr. Frieden's prescription for Eastern Kentucky and what we can do to help save lives and improve healthy living," Rogers said in a press release. "Dr. Frieden not only plans to share information with us, but wants to hear what medical professionals and health coalition leaders are already doing to change lives. This is our chance to speak directly to an international leader in healthcare about the long-time health disparities in our small corner of the world."

Kentucky consistently has some of the nation's highest rates of chronic disease, with the worst statistics in the Appalachian region. For example, Kentucky tops the nation for cancer deaths, with 204 per 100,000 in the latest period, 2007-2011. But the Kentucky Cancer Registry says the rate in the Appalachian region of Kentucky was 225 per 100,000....

MORE at http://www.courier-journal.com/story/health-bytes/2014/07/17/cdc-soar-hal-rogers-frieden-cancer-heart-disease-appalachia/12777031/

http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view&section=5-News&item=Appalachias-Health-Problems-A-Matter-Of-Access-17453
Appalachia's Health Problems A Matter Of Access
Written by Rachel McDevitt
August 08, 2014

This week, the director of the Center for Disease Control visited the Appalachian region of Kentucky, one of the unhealthiest areas in the country, to see what measures could be taken to battle rising obesity and other negative health trends.

The Mountain State shares many of the same health challenges as our neighbor. Public health officials said they've been trying to fight the same unhealthy behaviors for years, but poor access to transportation and high medical costs combined with a low socio-economic population act as barriers to proper health care. They said identifying those barriers is the easy part; it's figuring out how to fix them that is giving them problems.

"Some of the behaviors we're dealing with now, we've been doing forever but we're trying to improve, like obesity, decreasing smoking rates, alcoholism, drug abuse," said Lloyd White, administrator for the Marion County Health Department. "So we try to work on prevention, hopefully to get folks to change behaviors. And we can educate all day, but that doesn't mean they're going to change behaviors."

Health officials said for a change to happen, healthy behaviors need to start in the home.

The Lexington Herald Leader
Lexington, KY
Study how mining may hurt health; E. Ky. right to be worried
August 10, 2014

The most pressing health concern for Kentuckians who have participated in SOAR's "listening sessions" this summer is whether surface mining is making them and their neighbors sick and contributing to "inexplicable" birth defects.

Their worries are supported by a growing body of research by universities and the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as by common sense: When fine dust released by blasting, dozing and trucking coal coats your vehicle and porch, it's a safe bet it's also coating your lungs and circulating through your veins.

Nonetheless, Dr. Nikki Stone, a Hazard dentist and chair of Shaping Our Appalachian Region's health committee, said she was surprised that mining emerged as one of the two top issues (tied with calls for coordinated school health programs) during 15 recent public meetings on health in Eastern Kentucky.

Until recently, the coal industry's clout has chilled talk of possible links between mining and the region's high rates of disease and premature death....

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/10/3373443/study-how-mining-may-hurt-health.html?sp=/99/349/#storylink=cpy

http://news.virginia.edu/content/what-rural-appalachia-eats-and-doesn-t-eat-and-why-studying-it-matters
What Rural Appalachia Eats, and Doesn’t Eat, and Why Studying It Matters
December 4, 2013
Christine Phelan Kueter

Very little salad. An overabundance of potatoes. Mountains of rice, white bread and other boxed starches, as well as dried beans, sweet potatoes, cornbread and collard greens.

But how does understanding what lines the grocery store shelves in rural Appalachia impact the way residents and public health nurses combat issues such as diabetes and obesity?

That’s the subject of University of Virginia School of Nursing doctoral student Esther Thatcher’s dissertation, which aims to assess food access in far Southwestern Virginia (specifically Lee, Wise and Scott counties). Thatcher is mapping what comestibles are available, how expensive they are and what’s ultimately consumed – as well as how it’s cooked. With diabetes and obesity at epic proportions in rural, impoverished regions in Southwestern Virginia, Thatcher’s research aims to help identify the variety of food factors that public health nurses and others can potentially use to combat chronic health problems.

“There’s been a rapid shift from a labor force made up of jobs that entail hard, physical labor to jobs that are much more sedentary,” she explained, “but meals haven’t really changed. Food here is still defined by very strong traditions and remains central to gatherings and cultural identity.”.... MORE at link posted above.

Kudos to the hundreds of volunteers who are making this possible!


Free health care outreach clinic held in Lee County, VA
Sept. 13, 2014
By Jordan Moore, Reporter / Digital Journalist

LEE COUNTY, VA (WJHL) - In Lee County, Virginia residents have been without a Regional Medical Center for almost a year. While an effort backed by a petition is underway to re-open a facility, many in the rural area are still without care...

This weekend hundreds of volunteers worked to change that, even if it only meant for a few days...

..."We really try to have a major emphasis on what's going on here in Appalachia, and the fact that so many people are desperate for the kind of care we deliver," said Brock.

People could get everything from a routine dental cleaning, to getting their eyes checked....

MORE at http://www.wjhl.com/story/26525749/free-health-care-outreach-clinic-held-in-lee-county-va

http://www.statejournal.com/story/26626777/residents-to-practice-in-appalachia
The State Journal
Residents to practice in Appalachia
Posted: Sep 25, 2014

Every family medicine resident who graduated from the family and community health residency program at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in June 2014 will practice in central Appalachia, according to Department Chairman Stephen Petrany, M.D.

“We take seriously our school's mission of educating a physician workforce for central Appalachia, and this year's graduating class of medical residents is a prime example of that commitment,” Petrany said.

Department Residency Director W. Mitchel Shaver, M.D., said Marshall Family Medicine has historically produced physicians to meet the needs of rural Appalachia. Shaver said in the past 10 years, the program has completed 75 residents — 57 of whom are practicing in West Virginia, and 66 of whom are practicing in the general central Appalachian region.

For more than a dozen times over the past two decades, Marshall has been recognized with an Achievement Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians for its efforts to foster student interest in family medicine and produce graduates who enter the specialty.

Collegiate Times (Virginia Tech)
Health Wagon unveils new mobile unit to serve Appalachia
Leslie McCrea, multimedia editor
November 19, 2014

In 1980, Sister Bernie Kenny began riding around in her red Volkswagen Beetle dispensing healthcare to those in need. 34 years later, the Health Wagon continues to serve those in need, but this time, through the doors of a brand-new mobile unit.

The Health Wagon is a nonprofit organization that travels throughout Central Appalachia providing services to thousands of medically underserved people. According to the Health Wagon website, every dollar donated to the Health Wagon is worth approximately $100 in health care benefits.

A public relations campaigns class took on the challenge of working with the Health Wagon this semester. One team of five students worked specifically to help plan an unveiling of the new mobile unit.

“This was an important event because the Health Wagon staff and volunteers provide valuable healthcare for people in rural Appalachia who unfortunately may not be able to afford healthcare. In order to continue and to expand to other areas, there need to be supporters and more awareness of the great things that the Health Wagon does,” said Ashley Yum, a senior communications major who worked on the project....

MORE at http://www.collegiatetimes.com/lifestyle/article_1fda5d36-7053-11e4-a9a7-57c30e35e45c.html