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Business Journals
17 hours ago
- Health
- Business Journals
North Carolina faces worrying health care landscape
2025 State of Health Care panel event on June 5 at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The panel featured ECU Health CEO Michael Waldrum; Cristy Page, chief academic officer at UNC Health; Dr. Seth Brody, chief physician executive at WakeMed; Mickey Foster, CEO of FirstHealth of the Carolinas; Morgan Jones, chief strategy officer at Duke Health; Greg Moon, vice president of health care strategy at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Biden is among thousands to get prostate cancer this year. Where to get tested in NC
Former President Joe Biden's Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis served as a reminder of the importance of cancer screenings. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of natural deaths among North Carolina men, behind lung cancer, according to the UNC Men's Health program. The prostate is a gland that lies between a male's bladder and rectum and is part of his reproductive anatomy. Biden's team announced his diagnosis Sunday afternoon, saying that he had an increase in urinary symptoms which led to the finding of a prostate nodule. Biden's team said his form of prostate cancer is aggressive and has spread into his bones. Across the country, more than 180,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and around 40,000 will die from it. But if caught early, UNC Health says that almost all men with this diagnosis can live five or more years. That drops to 34% once it spreads. The American Cancer Society lists seven medical facilities where men can go to get screened for prostate cancer within a 50-mile radius of Raleigh. All seven also offer screenings for cervical, lung, breast and colorectal cancers. Those include: ▪ UNC Rex Healthcare of Wakefield, Raleigh ▪ Durham VA Medical Center, Durham ▪ University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ▪ Johnston Healthcare, Smithfield ▪ Carolina Urgent Care, Durham ▪ Carolina Urgent Care, Chapel Hill Call the American Cancer Society at 800-227-2345 or use the chat feature on the group's website, to find out about options for potentially free screenings. A 2021 study by the UNC Men's Health Program found that only 52% of men in North Carolina were screened for prostate cancer. More than 8,000 men in North Carolina were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021. Among them was Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville. In March 2021, he publicly announced he would undergo surgery after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Tillis said he didn't have any symptoms. 'I am blessed that my cancer was detected relatively early, and I can't emphasize enough how important routine screenings are, regardless of how healthy you think you are,' Tillis said then. 'I had no symptoms and would have never imagined I had cancer. My prognosis is good because I went to my annual physical and received a PSA test, which led to a biopsy and eventually my diagnosis. Early detection can truly save lives.' Tillis was among the first in North Carolina to react to Biden's news Sunday, posting on social media that he and his wife Susan 'are saddened to hear about President Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis and are praying for his full recovery.' UNC encourages all men between 19 and 49 to receive physicals at least every two years, and an annual physical after 50. Even if a patient is healthy, the routine screenings give doctors a patient's baseline for blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and other things so that if something does go awry, a doctor knows what is normal for that individual. Between 50 and 69, but as early as 40, a prostate screening is done annually to ensure that a patient remains healthy. After 69, doctors will work with their patients individually to determine if a prostate exam is still necessary. Biden is 82. Prostate cancer is most common in Black men or those with a family history, especially with a father or brother who was diagnosed. In February, state Rep. Rodney Pierce, a Democrat from Halifax County, proposed a bill to provide $4 million to fund free or low-cost prostate screenings and follow-up care to uninsured or underinsured men in North Carolina. That same month, in Congress, Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy of Greenville was among lawmakers who proposed requiring insurance companies to cover screenings without imposing any cost-sharing requirements on men at high risk of prostate cancer. A prostate exam can include a prostate-specific antigen blood test, a digital rectal exam and a biopsy. Murphy, a urologist, encouraged men to ensure their doctor don't stop at the PSA blood test, but also conduct a rectal exam to catch potential signs of cancer the blood test might miss. 'A man with a 'below normal' PSA can still have prostate cancer,' Murphy wrote on social media. 'This is why a rectal examination by your physician must ALSO be done. Unfortunately, some doctors are forgoing critical examination and relying only on the blood test. Make sure your doctor does both.' Biden received an outpouring of support from lawmakers, including Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina, who wished him a speedy recovery.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UNC Board of Governors names a familiar face to serve as NC State's next chancellor
NC State University's Bell Tower. (Photo: Kevin Howell, UNC Health's Chief External Affairs Officer, has been selected to succeed Randy Woodson as North Carolina State University's next chancellor. Howell will now lead the largest university in North Carolina, with nearly 39,000 students and a $2 billion budget. He's no stranger to higher education. Howell has served previously as an NC State University's vice chancellor for external affairs, where he led efforts to support the university's role as a driver of the state economy. UNC System President Peter Hans said in selecting its next chancellor, NC State needed to find a leader who not only believes in the transformational power of higher education, but has also lived it. 'Kevin is the personification of what makes NC State an extraordinary institution, the kind of place where a talented young man from Cleveland County can find a home, break ground as the first ever Black student body president, and then choose to devote his life to the upkeep and uplift of public education,' Hans said in presenting Howell's nomination to the UNC Board of Governor's on Tuesday. Hans noted that Howell, a Shelby native, has served in various capacities in the governor's office, the UNC System, UNC Health, and on numerous civic and charitable boards in central North Carolina. Howell will also be the first Black chancellor at NC State University, at a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion has drawn scorn from conservative state legislators and cutbacks and condemnation from the new Trump administration. DEI was not mentioned in Tuesday's announcement. Rather Hans described Howell as a wonderful ambassador and fundraiser. 'He's got a great mind, a generous passion, and a profound love of this university,' Hans said. 'But don't let that genial exterior fool you. Kevin Howell is a competitor to his core, a former wrestler who hasn't lost the instinct for tackling, grappling, and coming out on top.' Those skills and competitive drive are what is needed said Hans as NC State enters a 'transformative era.' He takes over the leadership role at a time when many universities nationwide are experiencing declines in student enrollment. Howell currently serves on the executive committee of myFutureNC which has actively been working to boost higher-ed enrollment in North Carolina. The nonprofit seeks to have two million North Carolinians hold a postsecondary degree or an industry credential by 2030. In February, NC State's Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, announced a hiring freeze due to the spike in uncertainty surrounding federal funding. And Howell will also guide the university through the future of Poe Hall, and health concerns about a building contaminated with high levels of PCBs. On Tuesday, Ed Weisiger, chair of the NC State Board of Trustees, chose to focus Howell's strengths. 'Kevin simply makes organizations better and healthier by working in them,' said Weisiger. 'We are so pleased to have him return to NC State.' Howell earned a bachelor's degree in political science from NC State in 1988 and was the university's student body president his senior year. He earned a law degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill and later served as a law clerk on the N.C. Court of Appeals. Following a five-month nationwide search, Howell will become the third NC State alumnus to serve as chancellor of the land-grant university. He will take over the role May 5 with a salary of $600,000. Woodson, the longest serving chancellor in the UNC system, has held the position for the last 15 years. This report will be updated after Howell addresses the university community at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
What is considered 'obese' — and does it mean you aren't healthy? Experts say it's complicated.
Are good health and obesity mutually exclusive? Not necessarily — but it's complicated. For years, body size was considered a barrier to most sports, but today that's starting to change — with plus-size influencers proving that physical activity is for everyone. Dancers like Lizzy Howell — who can whip through fouetté turns and command a stage while breaking the skinny mold — are also social media darlings inspiring others to lace up their pointe shoes. 'Recreational ballet as an adult has radically healed my relationship with my body,' one newbie ballerina says on TikTok, along with the hashtag #DoItFat. 'Instead of seeing my size, I can focus on my strength and technique.' Another TikToker who goes by EmilyJeanAro has built a following posting videos of her impeccable lines and sleek poses — and how she got started 'as a 200-lb yoga practitioner.' And Mirna Valerio, a celebrity in the running world and founder of the "Fat Girl Running" blog, is teaching a new generation of plus-size athletes that runners don't need to 'look a certain way.' More than two in five U.S. adults (or 42%) have obesity, yet many in the medical field say that the way we currently diagnose that condition isn't reliable — and maybe even misleading about patients' health. And while physical activity is important, experts say there's more to consider. The World Health Organization defines obesity as 'abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.' While fat does serve a purpose as fuel that's stored up for future use by the body, having too much can cause or exacerbate chronic issues. 'Some conditions such as joint pain, arthritis, exercise intolerance and asthma may be due to the effects of simply carrying extra weight,' Dr. Andrea Coviello, director of the Weight Management Program at UNC Health, tells Yahoo Life. Body mass index (BMI) is the commonly used measure to define obesity, and is calculated by taking an individual's body weight (in kilograms) and dividing it by the square of their height (in meters). Here are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's numbers of what constitutes obesity based on BMI for adults age 20 and older: Underweight: BMI less than 18.5 Healthy weight: BMI 18.5 to less than 25 Overweight: BMI 25 to less than 30 Class 1 Obesity: BMI 30 to less than 35 Class 2 Obesity: BMI 35 to less than 40 Class 3 Obesity (Severe Obesity): BMI 40 or greater A recent Lancet Commission report on clinical obesity said that 'obesity is generally considered a harbinger of other diseases, not a disease in itself,' and that 'the idea of obesity as a disease remains therefore highly controversial.' So, while it is possible to have obesity without having any other health issues, an obesity diagnosis usually means it's likely that health issues will arise at some point unless measures are taken to get it under control. Dr. Sun Kim, an endocrinologist at Stanford University who specializes in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, tells Yahoo Life it's possible to be classified as obese yet still be healthy — but even the term 'healthy' is a subjective one. 'We do not have a clear definition of 'healthy,' but technically, when we say someone has obesity, we are implying that they have excess body fat,' Kim says. Part of the problem, Kim explains, is that BMI is used as a 'surrogate' for measuring body fat, but BMI isn't actually a direct measurement — meaning that BMI can falsely over-diagnose or under-diagnose people with obesity. For example, Coviello says one group that may be misclassified as obese is younger, muscular men who might have a BMI in the 'overweight' range (BMI 25-29) but actually have normal amounts of fat with high muscle mass. Conversely, older people who have lost a lot of bone and muscle mass might not technically meet the BMI threshold for obesity but have higher body fat. 'You can't presume risk exclusively from a BMI. That's the bottom line,' Dr. William Dietz, director of Stop Obesity Alliance and a professor at George Washington University's Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, tells Yahoo Life. 'Just because you have an increased BMI doesn't mean that you have body fat that is likely to cause disease.' But even if an individual has higher body fat, is that enough to say definitively whether they are 'healthy' or 'unhealthy'? Can someone with obesity who's also physically active still be considered healthy? Dietz says it depends. 'Physical activity is important, but it doesn't necessarily counter all of the potential adverse impacts of body fat,' Dietz says. That means that just because someone is capable of physical feats like a 5K doesn't necessarily mean they don't have underlying conditions that could raise problems later. 'You can have an increased BMI and increased lipids, or increased blood pressure or prediabetes.' Dietz says. 'Those are not necessarily considered 'good health,' but they don't have a functional impairment — meaning people can still be physically active. And that [physical activity] will reduce your risk, but it won't completely eliminate it.' Coviello adds that it's possible for people to be in the obese BMI category and not have any obesity-related disorders — 'however, the likelihood that people with obesity develop related conditions over time is very high.' Current measures for obesity lean heavily on BMI, but experts are increasingly sounding the alarm that that method needs an overhaul. The recent Lancet report sought to differentiate obesity from clinical obesity. Both conditions, the commission proposed, should be defined not only by an increased BMI, but also by whether the person has an increased waist circumference. And to qualify as having 'clinical obesity,' the individual needs to also have one of 18 'obesity-related diseases,' such as a cardiovascular disease or a metabolic disease like type 2 diabetes. In other words, simply having excess body fat wasn't enough to be categorized as 'clinically obese.' When measuring health and disease risk, these are some of the characteristics besides BMI that experts say we should be taking into account. Waist circumference. Waist circumference considered in tandem with BMI is key. In general, a waist circumference greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men puts you at elevated risk for obesity-related diseases. But one of the lingering questions, Dietz says, is how or where exactly to measure waist circumference — which hasn't been standardized yet. For example, Dietz says that many people with more severe obesity tend to have abdominal fat that overlaps the waist. 'So do you measure waist circumference around that overhang of fat, or do you measure it underneath that overhang? That's part of the debate about the complexity of adding that measure,' Dietz says. Visceral fat vs. subcutaneous fat. Not all fat is created equal. Subcutaneous fat is easy to see and feel under the skin. Visceral fat, though harder to detect, can be hazardous; it's stored deep in the abdomen and surrounding organs, and is made up of biologically active cells that can cause inflammation and other harmful effects on the body. 'You can have two people of the same BMI who have a completely different fat distribution,' Dietz says. 'Some people have a lot of subcutaneous fat and no visceral fat, and at the same BMI other people have visceral fat but very little subcutaneous fat.' Fat location. The location of excess fat can also tell you a lot about your health. 'For example, in primarily women, gluteal fat (fat in the buttocks) is not a risk factor, whereas abdominal circumference is a risk factor that says something about the likelihood that not only do you have increased body fat, but you also have an increased clinical risk,' Dietz says. In other words, weight in the midsection may be more cause for concern than weight in the thighs or butt area. Chronic disorders. Increasingly, experts are also saying that clinical obesity should be defined by whether a person has comorbidities — and not just whether they have a high BMI and waist circumference. Coviello says her team at UNC takes chronic disorders into consideration when gauging a patient's health. 'Hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol problems, fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease are common conditions that are related to obesity,' Coviello says. Since some of these risk factors are impossible to see, it's another reason, experts say, why we shouldn't make snap judgments about other people's health based on their weight. While an obesity diagnosis can flag to patients and their health care providers that steps need to be taken to prevent adverse health outcomes later on, it doesn't necessarily mean that obesity-related diseases are impeding life at that moment. And that's especially important to consider given that even the way we diagnose obesity is increasingly being called into question.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
What is considered 'obese' — and does it mean you aren't healthy? Experts say it's complicated.
Are good health and obesity mutually exclusive? Not necessarily — but it's complicated. For years, body size was considered a barrier to most sports, but today that's starting to change — with plus-size influencers proving that physical activity is for everyone. Dancers like Lizzy Howell — who can whip through fouetté turns and command a stage while breaking the skinny mold — are also social media darlings inspiring others to lace up their pointe shoes. 'Recreational ballet as an adult has radically healed my relationship with my body,' one newbie ballerina says on TikTok, along with the hashtag #DoItFat. 'Instead of seeing my size, I can focus on my strength and technique.' See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Another TikToker who goes by EmilyJeanAro has built a following posting videos of her impeccable lines and sleek poses — and how she got started 'as a 200-lb yoga practitioner.' And Mirna Valerio, a celebrity in the running world and founder of the "Fat Girl Running" blog, is teaching a new generation of plus-size athletes that runners don't need to 'look a certain way.' More than two in five U.S. adults (or 42%) have obesity, yet many in the medical field say that the way we currently diagnose that condition isn't reliable — and maybe even misleading about patients' health. And while physical activity is important, experts say there's more to consider. The World Health Organization defines obesity as 'abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.' While fat does serve a purpose as fuel that's stored up for future use by the body, having too much can cause or exacerbate chronic issues. 'Some conditions such as joint pain, arthritis, exercise intolerance and asthma may be due to the effects of simply carrying extra weight,' Dr. Andrea Coviello, director of the Weight Management Program at UNC Health, tells Yahoo Life. Body mass index (BMI) is the commonly used measure to define obesity, and is calculated by taking an individual's body weight (in kilograms) and dividing it by the square of their height (in meters). Here are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's numbers of what constitutes obesity based on BMI for adults age 20 and older: Underweight: BMI less than 18.5 Healthy weight: BMI 18.5 to less than 25 Overweight: BMI 25 to less than 30 Class 1 Obesity: BMI 30 to less than 35 Class 2 Obesity: BMI 35 to less than 40 Class 3 Obesity (Severe Obesity): BMI 40 or greater A recent Lancet Commission report on clinical obesity said that 'obesity is generally considered a harbinger of other diseases, not a disease in itself,' and that 'the idea of obesity as a disease remains therefore highly controversial.' So, while it is possible to have obesity without having any other health issues, an obesity diagnosis usually means it's likely that health issues will arise at some point unless measures are taken to get it under control. Dr. Sun Kim, an endocrinologist at Stanford University who specializes in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, tells Yahoo Life it's possible to be classified as obese yet still be healthy — but even the term 'healthy' is a subjective one. 'We do not have a clear definition of 'healthy,' but technically, when we say someone has obesity, we are implying that they have excess body fat,' Kim says. Part of the problem, Kim explains, is that BMI is used as a 'surrogate' for measuring body fat, but BMI isn't actually a direct measurement — meaning that BMI can falsely over-diagnose or under-diagnose people with obesity. For example, Coviello says one group that may be misclassified as obese is younger, muscular men who might have a BMI in the 'overweight' range (BMI 25-29) but actually have normal amounts of fat with high muscle mass. Conversely, older people who have lost a lot of bone and muscle mass might not technically meet the BMI threshold for obesity but have higher body fat. 'You can't presume risk exclusively from a BMI. That's the bottom line,' Dr. William Dietz, director of Stop Obesity Alliance and a professor at George Washington University's Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, tells Yahoo Life. 'Just because you have an increased BMI doesn't mean that you have body fat that is likely to cause disease.' But even if an individual has higher body fat, is that enough to say definitively whether they are 'healthy' or 'unhealthy'? Can someone with obesity who's also physically active still be considered healthy? Dietz says it depends. 'Physical activity is important, but it doesn't necessarily counter all of the potential adverse impacts of body fat,' Dietz says. That means that just because someone is capable of physical feats like a 5K doesn't necessarily mean they don't have underlying conditions that could raise problems later. 'You can have an increased BMI and increased lipids, or increased blood pressure or prediabetes.' Dietz says. 'Those are not necessarily considered 'good health,' but they don't have a functional impairment — meaning people can still be physically active. And that [physical activity] will reduce your risk, but it won't completely eliminate it.' Coviello adds that it's possible for people to be in the obese BMI category and not have any obesity-related disorders — 'however, the likelihood that people with obesity develop related conditions over time is very high.' Current measures for obesity lean heavily on BMI, but experts are increasingly sounding the alarm that that method needs an overhaul. The recent Lancet report sought to differentiate obesity from clinical obesity. Both conditions, the commission proposed, should be defined not only by an increased BMI, but also by whether the person has an increased waist circumference. And to qualify as having 'clinical obesity,' the individual needs to also have one of 18 'obesity-related diseases,' such as a cardiovascular disease or a metabolic disease like type 2 diabetes. In other words, simply having excess body fat wasn't enough to be categorized as 'clinically obese.' When measuring health and disease risk, these are some of the characteristics besides BMI that experts say we should be taking into account. Waist circumference. Waist circumference considered in tandem with BMI is key. In general, a waist circumference greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men puts you at elevated risk for obesity-related diseases. But one of the lingering questions, Dietz says, is how or where exactly to measure waist circumference — which hasn't been standardized yet. For example, Dietz says that many people with more severe obesity tend to have abdominal fat that overlaps the waist. 'So do you measure waist circumference around that overhang of fat, or do you measure it underneath that overhang? That's part of the debate about the complexity of adding that measure,' Dietz says. Visceral fat vs. subcutaneous fat. Not all fat is created equal. Subcutaneous fat is easy to see and feel under the skin. Visceral fat, though harder to detect, can be hazardous; it's stored deep in the abdomen and surrounding organs, and is made up of biologically active cells that can cause inflammation and other harmful effects on the body. 'You can have two people of the same BMI who have a completely different fat distribution,' Dietz says. 'Some people have a lot of subcutaneous fat and no visceral fat, and at the same BMI other people have visceral fat but very little subcutaneous fat.' Fat location. The location of excess fat can also tell you a lot about your health. 'For example, in primarily women, gluteal fat (fat in the buttocks) is not a risk factor, whereas abdominal circumference is a risk factor that says something about the likelihood that not only do you have increased body fat, but you also have an increased clinical risk,' Dietz says. In other words, weight in the midsection may be more cause for concern than weight in the thighs or butt area. Chronic disorders. Increasingly, experts are also saying that clinical obesity should be defined by whether a person has comorbidities — and not just whether they have a high BMI and waist circumference. Coviello says her team at UNC takes chronic disorders into consideration when gauging a patient's health. 'Hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol problems, fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease are common conditions that are related to obesity,' Coviello says. Since some of these risk factors are impossible to see, it's another reason, experts say, why we shouldn't make snap judgments about other people's health based on their weight. While an obesity diagnosis can flag to patients and their health care providers that steps need to be taken to prevent adverse health outcomes later on, it doesn't necessarily mean that obesity-related diseases are impeding life at that moment. And that's especially important to consider given that even the way we diagnose obesity is increasingly being called into question.
