New study finds high-dose inhaled nitric oxide decreases the risk of death among critically ill Black patients with COVID-19

In a first-of-its-kind study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, physician-scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine discovered that high-dose inhaled nitric oxide therapy may improve oxygenation and reduce the risk of mortality among critically ill Black patients with COVID-19.

‘I’m watching you’ behavior produces racial disparities in school discipline

Research from Calvin Zimmermann, the O’Shaughnessy Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, indicates that early childhood teachers often apply discipline disproportionately in their classrooms based on a student’s race.

Women stroke survivors believe they will receive worse care in the emergency room

Women who have survived a stroke believe they are less likely to receive adequate emergency care – based on gender and race or ethnicity, a study shows. Researchers say future studies must focus on whether the beliefs these women hold about emergency care are leading to delays in stroke care.

U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths More Than Quadrupled from 1999 to 2020

Regardless of race, age, geography or urbanization, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2020, causing 1,013,852 deaths. The rates increased 4.4 times from 6.9 per 100,000 in 1999 to 30 per 100,000 in 2020.

Researcher works to improve diagnosis speed for rare conditions like the one her child was ‘lucky’ to survive

The study of delays in diagnoses of rare diseases from Katie Corcoran, a sociologist in the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, will evaluate the impact of patients’ race and gender and whether physicians share large numbers of patients.

Run, Walk, Roll in Support of JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute at the 15th Annual Miles for Minds 5K

Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center Foundation is pleased to announce its 15th Annual Miles for Minds 5K Race to support Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, located at Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center. The race will take place on Sunday, July 30 at Roosevelt Park in Edison.

A commonly used tool is suboptimal in predicting osteoporosis fracture risk in younger post-menopausal women

The commonly used U.S version of the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) should not be routinely used to select younger postmenopausal women for bone mineral density testing. But the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool (OST) is excellent at identifying women with osteoporosis-level bone mineral density, which is the goal of these screenings, while FRAX is not.

For People with Parkinson’s Disease, Quality of Life Linked to Race, Ethnicity

Among those living with Parkinson’s disease, Black, Hispanic and Asian people were found to have a lower health-related quality of life than white people, according to a new study published in the April 5, 2023, online issue of Neurology® , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Policing: Following the Public Impact

UNLV law professor Frank Rudy Cooper on the psychological impact of repeated exposure to videos of violent and deadly police encounters that increasingly circulate online; the role that slavery and societal norms surrounding masculinity play into them; and police reforms that might be in the works.

Men Over 65 Are at Greater Risk than Women of Skull Fractures from Falls

Because females 65 and older have an increased rate of falls and facial fractures, researchers compared the risk of skull fracture secondary to head trauma in geriatric female and male patients. Results showed that males had a significantly increased incidence of skull fracture secondary to head trauma, due mostly to falls. This outcome was unexpected, as previous research has indicated females are more susceptible to facial fractures. This trend also was seen across race/ethnicity, though results were only statistically significant for whites.

UC San Diego Expert on Violence Assesses Police Brutality and Mass Shootings in America

Tage Rai is a psychologist and assistant professor of management at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management who studies ethics and violence. He co-authored the book “Virtuous Violence” outlining research which finds that most acts of violence are driven by moral motives on the part of perpetrators. That is, perpetrators believe they are doing the right thing when they hurt and kill their victims. In this Q&A, Rai, who teaches negotiation at the Rady School, addresses dual crises impacting America—police brutality and gun violence—and what can be done to prevent them.

Breast Cancer Risk Calculator Can Assess Risk of Advanced Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is now the leading cause of global cancer incidence among women but determining who will develop breast cancer is still a challenge for the medical community. A new tool, developed by researchers from UCSF and several other medical institutions, helps to calculate risk for those who may develop advanced breast cancer that goes undiagnosed despite regular screenings.

Subjective Cognitive Decline Linked to Higher Dementia Risk for Black, Latino People

Some people report a decline in their memory before any decline is large enough to show up on standard tests. This experience, called subjective cognitive decline, is associated with an increased risk of later developing dementia in white, Black and Latino people, according to a study published in the November 30, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Certain Type of Stroke on the Rise, with Higher Rates Among Black People

Rates of one type of stroke called subarachnoid hemorrhage have increased in older people and men in recent years, and such strokes occur in Black people at a disproportionately higher rate compared to people of other races and ethnicities, according to a study published in the October 26, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Pandemic Escalated Teen Cyberbullying – Asian Americans Targeted Most

A study of U.S. middle and high school students shows that about 17 percent were cyberbullied in 2016 and 2019, but that proportion rose to 23 percent in 2021. Notably, 19 percent of Asian American youth said they had been cyberbullied, and about 1 in 4 (23.5 percent) indicated they were victimized online because of their race/color. Asian American youth were the only racial group where the majority (59 percent) reported more cyberbullying since the start of the COVID‐19 pandemic. In 2019, Asian American youth were the least likely to have experienced cyberbullying.

Researchers should avoid use terms like ‘race,’ ‘ancestry,’ or ‘ethnicity’ interchangeably

McMaster expert advises on using terms like ‘race’ in health-care research Health-care researchers should avoid use terms like ‘race,’ ‘ancestry,’ or ‘ethnicity’ interchangeably in their studies and research reports, says McMaster University professor Sonia Anand in her latest study in…

UCI research team finds positivity is not equally protective against illness across races

Research has consistently shown that positive psychological factors are linked to better physical health, including increased resistance to infectious illnesses such as the flu and the common cold. A new study from the University of California, Irvine, examines the role that race plays in this connection, comparing the results of African American and European American participants in a series of landmark experimental studies from the Common Cold Project, conducted between 1993 and 2011.

Greater Empathy in Adolescents Helps Prevent Bias-based Cyberbullying

Little is known about cyberbullying and empathy, especially as it relates harming or abusing others because of race or religion. A study is the first to examine general cyberbullying, race-based cyberbullying, and religion-based cyberbullying in young adolescents. Results show that the higher a youth scored on empathy, the lower the likelihood that they cyberbullied others. When it came to bias-based cyberbullying, higher levels of total empathy were associated with lower odds of cyberbullying others based on their race or religion.

Trials of Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments Routinely Exclude Sex, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity from Consideration in Outcomes

The manifestation of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and its social, health, and psychological implications depend in part on patient demographics. Yet researchers routinely exclude those demographics from analyses of non-medicinal AUD treatment trials, a review of studies has found. Consequently, little is known about how sex, gender, race, and ethnicity influence the effectiveness of those treatments, or which treatments are indicated — or not — for specific patients and communities. This is despite the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act in 1993 requiring that NIH-funded studies include diversity of sex/gender and race/ethnicity in their participant samples and analysis. Problematic alcohol use, which has high prevalence and low treatment rates, is a leading contributor to preventable death and disease. Non-pharmacological treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), contingency management, twelve-step programs, and more. Inequalitie

Many Historically “Redlined” California Communities Have Higher COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality

One of the legacies of “redlining” may be higher incidence and mortality rates of COVID-19 affecting the largely minority and poor residents of these neighborhoods, according to research published at the ATS 2022 international conference. ” Redlining is a Great Depression-era federal policy in which neighborhoods with large ethnic/racial minority groups were denied federal resources.

Study Finds Rate of Multiple Sclerosis Similarly High in Black and White People

The rate of multiple sclerosis (MS) cases varies greatly by race and ethnicity. A new study suggests that the prevalence of MS in Black and white people is similarly high, while much lower in Hispanic and Asian people. The research is published in the April 27, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

How would eliminating race-based adjustments in estimates of kidney function impact clinical trials?

• In an analysis of data from a recent clinical trial, researchers found that removing a race-based adjustment in the estimation of individuals’ kidney function had a small but potentially important impact on the inclusion of participants, with differing effects on Black and non-Black participants.
• Removal of the race-based adjustment also influenced inclusion parameters such as participants’ severity of kidney function impairment at baseline as well as their risk of developing cardiovascular- and kidney-related outcomes.

Study Compares Strategies to Eliminate Race-Based Adjustments in Estimates of Kidney Function

• Removal of race adjustments to equations that estimate kidney function would increase the number of people categorized as having chronic kidney disease.
• There are several modifications for removing race that vary in their expected impact on predicted kidney function values and associated clinical decisions.
• Among race-free equations, the one based on blood measurements of cystatin C would likely result in the smallest changes.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption is far from ‘one size fits all’

An ongoing analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol and related outcomes shows that COVID-related stressors experienced by study participants – including work-, financial-, and family-related stressors – are having a varied impact on individuals with and without alcohol use disorders (AUDs). These results will be shared at the 44th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA), which will be held virtually this year from the 19th – 23rd of June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Establishing Juneteenth as national holiday is opportunity to create “new America”

The Senate has unanimously passed a bill to establish Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday. This is an historic moment and an opportunity to create a “new America,” according to Anne Bailey, professor of history at Binghamton University, State University of New York and director of the Harriet Tubman Center for the Study of Freedom and Equity.