Memory Loss Prevention: Exercise the Mind

Moderate exercise of just four hours over the course of the week can lower your risk of developing cogitative degenerative disease like dementia or Alzheimer’s by 20%, according to research cited by Dr. Raheem Paxton during his presentation as part of the Mini Medical School program, a collaboration of the College of Community Health Sciences…


Understanding Seizures and Epilepsy

Only a third of people who experience one seizure will have a second seizure in their lifetime. However, if two seizures occur more than 24 hours apart, the chance of another seizure rises to 76%, usually within a year. Seizures are an excess of neurons firing in the brain, said Dr. Catherine Ikard, an assistant…


2019 Year in Review

As we look forward to a new year, we reflect on 2019, a year of transition and growth for the College of Community Health Sciences. During the past year, CCHS added more than 20 new faculty to expand the College’s work of educating and training future generations of primary care physicians and of conducting pioneering…


November 2019 Accolades

Dr. Raheem Paxton, associate professor of community medicine and population health at the College of Community Health Sciences, co-authored: “Development and implementation of a logic model: Occupationalstress, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in the workplace,” acceptedfor publication in WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation; and “Item-level psychometrics of a brief self-reported memory problem…


Spinal Stenosis in the Geriatric Community

Lower back pain can be caused by a variety of factors, but in 22% of patients the culprit is lumbar spinal stenosis, or LSS, said Dr. Brett Bentley, assistant professor of sports medicine at The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences. He said the compression of the nerves extending from the spinal cord,…


Breast Cancer Disparities

Breast cancer is the most common form of detected cancer in women in the U.S., according to Carol DeSantis, MPH, a principal scientist in surveillance research in the intramural research program with the American Cancer Society. DeSantis spoke to residents, faculty and medical professionals at the Dr. Joe W. and Virginia Hursey O’Neal Endowed Lecture…


Gun Violence: A Public Health Issue

The College of Community Health Sciences recently hosted two lectures focused on gun violence, the criminal justice system and the role of health care providers that featured three speakers from New Orleans, a city with one of the highest rates of gun violence in the United States. The speakers each brought unique perspectives on the…


Accolades November 2019

Dr. Alan Blum, professor and Gerald Leon Wallace MD Endowed Chair in Family Medicine for the College of Community Health Sciences, authored “Amidst Treatment Breakthroughs, Also Strive to Prevent,” published in the October 2019 issue of Oncology. The perspective piece focuses on the importance of prevention in regard to cancer and the need for doctors…


New Faculty November 2019

Dr. Davit Batlawala joined the College of Community Health Sciences as an assistant professor. He will serve as a hospitalist at DCH Regional Medical Center as part of the College’s University Hospitalist Group. Batlawala earned his medical degree from Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research in Surat, Gujarat, India. He completed his residency…


Unicorns are Real: Malaria at DCH

There are annually around 1,700 cases of malaria diagnosed in the United States. University of Alabama Family Medicine residents encountered one of these cases in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Three residents and a third-year medical student presented their experience treating a severe case of malaria during the College of Community Health Sciences Grand Rounds lecture November 19.…