Nearly one-third of Americans live in counties with unhealthy air, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. One in three, or 120 million, people lives with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, the “State of the Air” report says. While air quality has improved overall, there are major differences between Eastern and Western states and in air pollution exposure for white people and people of color, according to the association. “The good news is that ozone pollution has generally improved across the nation, thanks in large part to the success of the Clean Air Act. In this year’s ‘State of the Air’ report, we found that 19.3 million fewer people are living in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution, also known as smog,” said Harold Wimmer, national president and CEO of the association. “However, the fact is that 120 million people still live in places with unhealthy air pollution, and not all communities are seeing improvements. This is why it is crucial to continue our efforts to ensure that every person in the U.S. has clean air to breathe,” Wimmer added in an association news release. The report, which covers 2019 to 2021, found about 54% of those living with unhealthy air quality were Black Americans and other minorities. People of color were 64% more likely to live in a…  read on >  read on >

Depression during pregnancy may be linked to heart disease as soon as two years later, new research suggests. This is true even when patients don’t have high blood pressure during pregnancy, the research team reports April 19 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “We need to use pregnancy as a window to future health,” said lead study author Dr. Christina Ackerman-Banks, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology-maternal fetal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. “Complications during pregnancy, including prenatal depression, impact long-term cardiovascular health,” she said in a journal news release. “The postpartum period provides an opportunity to counsel and screen people for cardiovascular disease in order to prevent these outcomes.” About 20% of women experience depression during pregnancy, the researchers noted. They shouldn’t panic as the study doesn’t prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship between depression and heart disease, only an association. Researchers found the most significant association was between depression and ischemic heart disease (narrowed arteries), with depressed women having an 83% higher risk of developing the condition within two years of delivery than those without a depression diagnosis. When arteries are narrowed, less blood and oxygen reach the heart muscle. This can lead to heart attack, the American Heart Association explains. “I recommend that anyone diagnosed with prenatal depression be aware of the implications on…  read on >  read on >

Poverty is the fourth-greatest cause of death in the United States, according to new research. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside estimate that poverty was associated with 183,000 deaths in 2019 among people 15 years and older. And that’s a conservative estimate, they say, because the year was just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Poverty kills as much as dementia, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer’s and diabetes,” said David Brady, the study’s lead author and a UCR professor of public policy. “Poverty silently killed 10 times as many people as all the homicides in 2019. And yet, homicide firearms and suicide get vastly more attention,” he added in a university news release. People living in poverty have incomes less than 50% of the U.S. median income, the researchers noted. (In 2021, the median household income was $70,784 per household, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.) Impoverished Americans have roughly the same survival rates as richer folks until they hit their 40s. Then they die at significantly higher rates, according to the study. The analysis found that only heart disease, cancer, and smoking kill more people than poverty. Deaths related to obesity, diabetes, drug overdoses, suicides, firearms and homicides were all fewer than deaths associated with poverty. Researchers analyzed income data from the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan and death data from household…  read on >  read on >

Striking a better work-life balance might make you a more effective manager on the job, according to a new study. A survey of managers and their employees found that bosses who could shut off after-work emails, calls and job-related stress had greater success guiding underlings to meet work goals. “We found that when leaders psychologically detached from work when at home — they did not actively think about work-related issues, but instead engaged in activities that allowed them to disconnect and recharge — they felt more energized the next day at work, in ways that made them more effective as rated by their direct reports,” said study lead author Klodiana Lanaj. Managers who were best able to distinguish between their work life and their home life ended up “rated as more transformational and powerful by their subordinates,” said Lanaj, an associate professor of management at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business. “In contrast, on days when leaders kept ruminating about negative aspects of their work while at home, they felt more drained the next day at work, and were less transformational and powerful,” she added. Lanaj and her colleagues in 2019 surveyed 73 full-time work managers/leaders, including human resources managers, directors of finance, general managers and/or chief engineers. Nearly 6 in 10 were women, and the majority were white, with an average age…  read on >  read on >