The popularity of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro continue to reflect Americans’ desire to slim down. While these new drugs have offered a solution for people struggling…
Tag: Racial health disparities
Half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV, despite highly effective preventive treatments − why?
At a pharmacy in Iowa, a 42-year-old Black gay man couldn’t find a medication he needed. The pharmacist, a white woman, told him they didn’t stock that medication. But while…
Preventive care is free by law, but many Americans get incorrectly billed − especially if you’re poor, a person of color or don’t have a college degree
Even though preventive care is supposed to be free by law for millions of Americans thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many don’t receive recommended preventive services, especially racial and…
How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long-term health effects − and hides racial disparities
Kids born in 2020 worldwide will experience twice the number of wildfires during their lifetimes compared with those born in 1960. In California and other western states, frequent wildfires have…
Kidneys from Black donors are more likely to be thrown away − a bioethicist explains why
As one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., kidney disease is a serious public health problem. The disease is particularly severe among Black Americans, who are three…
Hispanic health disparities in the US trace back to the Spanish Inquisition
Many of the significant health disparities and inequities Hispanic communities in the United States face are tied to a long history of health injustice in the Hispanic world. The health…
Treatment can do more harm than good for prostate cancer − why active surveillance may be a better option for some
Although about 1 in 8 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, only about 1 in 44 will die from it. Most men diagnosed…
Who is still getting HIV in America? Medication is only half the fight – homing in on disparities can help get care to those who need it most
As the globe marks another World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, it’s crucial to both acknowledge the significant strides made in the global battle against HIV and recognize the persistent…
Prostate cancer treatment is not always the best option – a cancer researcher walks her father through his diagnosis
“Me encontraron càncer en la pròstata,” my father told me. They found cancer in my prostate. As a cancer researcher who knows very well about the high incidence and decreased…
Including race in clinical algorithms can both reduce and increase health inequities – it depends on what doctors use them for
Health practitioners are increasingly concerned that because race is a social construct, and the biological mechanisms of how race affects clinical outcomes are often unknown, including race in predictive algorithms…
