A new study reveals that nearly one in ten asthma cases could be prevented by improving urban environments—an insight with serious implications for minority communities disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, as part of a major European collaboration, analyzed data from nearly 350,000 people across seven countries. They found that a combination of air pollution, dense urban development, and limited green spaces significantly increases the risk of asthma in both children and adults. These environmental stressors often overlap in low-income and minority neighborhoods, exacerbating existing health disparities. “Previous studies have typically calculated the risk of one environmental…
Author: Disparity Matters
A new study from UCLA reveals that access to lecanemab, a costly infusion therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, is heavily skewed toward white, urban, affluent men—raising serious concerns about equity in dementia care. Researchers found that among 1,725 Medicare beneficiaries who received the drug between July 2023 and March 2024, 90.5% were white, 88.0% lived in urban areas, and 98.7% were not socioeconomically disadvantaged.The disparities were stark. Uptake was six times higher among white patients compared to Black patients, and 24 times higher among those with higher socioeconomic status. “This drug is contributing to increased Medicare spending for everyone, while only…
Children who experience food insecurity are more likely to face serious cardiovascular health challenges as young adults, according to a new study that underscores the long-term impact of early-life deprivation. The research, which followed over 1,000 children from birth into their twenties, found that early childhood food insecurity was linked to higher body mass index (BMI) and worse overall cardiovascular health. The study revealed that 39% of participants lived in food-insecure households during early childhood, and 44% participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Among those who experienced food insecurity, the majority were from non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic communities—groups…
Eviction is emerging as a powerful force shaping health inequities for Black women, cutting across income, education, and neighborhood lines. A new study published in the Journal of Urban Health reports that more than half of Black women surveyed in metro Detroit have experienced a court-ordered or illegal eviction, a level of exposure that researchers link to significantly worse physical, mental, and emotional health.The study shows that eviction risk does not fade with economic stability. “Our data shows that Black women experience eviction no matter their income level,” said lead author Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, an epidemiologist at The Ohio State University.…
A new study reveals that racial and ethnic disparities continue to shape access to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a highly effective treatment for severe depression. Despite adjustments for demographic factors, non-White patients were significantly less likely to receive ECT compared to their White counterparts. Researchers analyzed data from over 19,000 patients diagnosed with severe unipolar depression across 162 U.S. healthcare facilities between 2016 and 2021. The findings were stark: 3% of White patients received ECT, compared to just 1% of non-White patients. The odds of receiving ECT were more than three times higher for White patients than for all other racial…
Puerto Rico reports the highest rates of poor physical health among all U.S. states and territories, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open. The study, led by Anna-Michelle McSorley of the University of Connecticut, used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, one of the few federal datasets that includes U.S. territories.McSorley found that 27.8% of Puerto Ricans reported fair or poor general health, compared to 16.1% in the 50 states. Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands also reported higher rates at 17.7% and 18.6%, respectively. “From the data that I saw, it was pretty remarkable to…
As summer begins and pools reopen across the country, Black communities face a heightened risk of drowning—just as federal support for prevention is being dismantled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has nearly shuttered its Injury Prevention Center, a team that tracked drowning deaths and supported local safety efforts. The cuts come amid a broader downsizing of government under President Donald Trump.The impact is stark. Black adolescents are three times more likely to drown than their white peers. In swimming pools, Black children ages 10 to 14 drown at 7.6 times the rate of white children. Only 37% of…
A new report highlights how race, language, and insurance status continue to shape who ends up in California hospitals for conditions that could have been avoided with timely care. More than 175,000 Californians were hospitalized in 2022 for preventable illnesses like asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure—conditions that often signal deeper systemic failures in access to primary care.Black Californians were hospitalized at significantly higher rates than white residents. Nearly 14% of Black Californians were admitted for preventable conditions, compared to just under 9% of white Californians. In San Diego County, that translates to more than one in eight Black residents.…
A new study using artificial intelligence has uncovered troubling disparities in how hospital staff document labor and delivery experiences—disparities that disproportionately affect Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander (API) patients.Researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing analyzed over 18,000 clinical notes from two major hospitals using natural language processing. They found that Black patients were 22% more likely than white patients to have stigmatizing language in their records. This included being labeled “difficult,” having their credibility questioned, or being described in ways that reflected bias toward their identity. In fact, 33% of Black patients were described as “difficult,” compared to 28.6%…
When Milwaukee’s public schools faced a lead contamination crisis, a former CDC scientist stepped forward to help. Laid off just weeks earlier in a wave of federal job cuts, he offered his expertise as a volunteer. “While I regret that I’m no longer able to assist in my former government role, my commitment to this public health crisis remains steadfast,” he wrote to the city’s health commissioner. But his offer wasn’t easy to accept. The Trump administration’s mass layoffs in April had placed CDC lead poisoning prevention experts on paid administrative leave, barring them from working—even as volunteers. Commissioner Michael…