This episode of HealthConnections focuses on the sport of pickleball. Dr. Carole Myers, a professor emeritus in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, talks with Elaine Culbert of Oak Ridge about how to play, the history of pickleball, and some safety statistics. Is the hype about the international phenomenon of Pickleball backed-up by tangible benefits? What are the health connections?

New bids for Knox County’s emergency medical services contract could be thwarted by the current contract’s design, and ambulance services are not equitable, a new report finds.

This episode of HealthConnections centers on diseases that are transmitted from infected ticks to humans and the various types of ticks in Tennessee and how to protect oneself from ticks. Dr. Carole Myers, a professor emeritus in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, talks with Dr Becky Trout Fryxell, an entomologist at the University of Tennessee Herbert College of Agriculture, whose specialty is improving human and animal health by understanding and managing insects that carry diseases, including ticks, mosquitoes and flies.

This episode of HealthConnections discusses vaccines to help prevent another triple pandemic as the winter approaches and thus the rise of influenza, COVID-19 and RSV. Dr. Carole Myers, a professor emeritus in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, talks with Dr. Megan Edwards, a public health officer of the Knox County Health Department.

One Health is an approach and an outlook for understanding and addressing contemporary health challenges. A One Health approach recognizes that health challenges have multiple interrelated causes, and interrelated interventions. This episode of HealthConnections examines how the arts and humanities can help us understand health challenges, and forge interventions with a focus on sustainability and environmental, planetary, human and animal well-being.

September is designated as National Suicide Prevention Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), suicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 19. And for every person who dies by suicide, there are even more people among this age group who report serious thoughts about suicide, or have attempted suicide. Dr. Carol Meyers, a professor emeritus in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, talks with Clark Flatt, president of the Jason Foundation, an organization dedicated to the prevention of the silent epidemic of youth suicide.

Tick-borne diseases, native and invasive species are on the rise in East Tennessee. Researcher Richard Gerhold is an expert in parasites.

The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public feedback through June 27 on proposed rules to limit emissions of ethylene oxide, a gas used by sterilizers like DeRoyal in New Tazewell, Tennessee. Some nearby residents are worried for their health, and a cancer cluster study is underway.

Meth use continues to surge in East Tennessee, and fentanyl is also on the rise, according to the TBI. Cryptocurrencies are a complicating factor in drug investigations.

Dr. Carole Myers speaks with Dr. Shawn Hamm, a board-certified addiction medicine specialist affiliated with Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, on the drug Fentanyl, from addiction to overdose deaths related to the drug.