Black patients are dying of pulmonary fibrosis, a devastating disease marked by progressive scarring of the lungs, at significantly younger ages than white patients. A new study probes factors contributing to earlier onset of disease, hospitalization and death in Black patients. The disease involves a thickening and scarring of lung tissue, making it hard to breathe. It could come from exposure to toxins, medications or autoimmune disorders. About half of patients die within five years of a pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis. “Pulmonary fibrosis is a deadly disease, and people are often diagnosed right around the time they retire,” said lead author Dr. Ayodeji Adegunsoye, assistant professor of medicine at University of Chicago Medical Center. “You can imagine how devastating it would be, to work diligently all your life and then as you are about to retire, you’re diagnosed with a disease with a life expectancy of around three years,” he said in a center news release. The researchers looked at data from four U.S. hospitals, following outcomes of more than 4,500 patients between January 2003 and April 2021. On average, Black patients were diagnosed at 57.9 years of age, white patients at 68.6. Black patients were more likely to be female and more likely to be hospitalized than white and Hispanic patients, researchers found. Black patients were consistently younger at the time of their first hospitalization,…  read on >  read on >

U.S. water utilities will be required to remove certain “forever chemicals” from drinking water as the Biden administration sets first-ever limits on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, better known as known as PFAS. Nearly all Americans have PFAS in their bloodstream. The toxic chemicals are found in an enormous range of goods from dental floss to waterproof clothing. The chemicals are also a threat to wildlife. “EPA’s proposal to establish a national standard for PFAS in drinking water is informed by the best available science,” Michael Regan, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said in an agency news release. It “would help provide states with the guidance they need to make decisions that best protect their communities,” he added. “This action has the potential to prevent tens of thousands of PFAS-related illnesses and marks a major step toward safeguarding all our communities from these dangerous contaminants.” The EPA aims to limit these chemicals in water to near-zero levels. About 200 million Americans may now be exposed to PFAS in their water, according to a 2020 study. No level of exposure to the chemicals is considered safe as it was found last year that they cause harm at levels much lower than once understood. Previously, advice was that drinking water contain no more than 70 parts per trillion of PFAS chemicals. Now, that advice has been…  read on >  read on >

When Americans have medical debt, it’s typically to a hospital, according to new research. The Urban Institute found that more than 15% of non-elderly adults in the United States have past-due medical debt. Nearly 73% owe some or all of that money to hospitals. “These findings highlight the persistent challenge of medical debt in America, and the role of hospitals as a key source of that debt,” said Michael Karpman, Urban Institute principal research associate. “Understanding the experiences of people with past-due medical bills can inform discussions around new consumer protections to alleviate debt burdens,” he added in an institute news release. Data came from the Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey of adults aged 18 to 64 in June 2022. Although federal regulations stipulate that nonprofit hospitals must provide charity care and other community benefits, these organizations determine their own charity eligibility criteria. Financial assistance policies are often difficult to find and understand, the investigators noted. About 60% of U.S. hospitals are nonprofit organizations. For-profit hospitals are exempt from these consumer protections. The survey also found that about 28% of adults with past-due medical debt owe all of their debt to hospitals. About 45% owe their debt to hospitals and other providers. More than 20% owe at least $5,000 and most owe at least $1,000. Adults with past-due hospital bills were more likely to…  read on >  read on >

On the third anniversary of the pandemic, a new poll shows fewer older adults are experiencing loneliness and isolation though the numbers are still high. About one-third of adults aged 50 to 80 still sometimes or often experience isolation and loneliness, according to the University of Michigan researchers. They may go a week or longer without social contact from someone outside the home. Still, that’s fewer than the half of older adults who reported this in June 2020. “Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we see reason for hope, but also a real cause for concern,” said Dr. Preeti Malani, senior advisor and former director of the University of Michigan (U-M) National Poll on Healthy Aging. “If anything, the pandemic has shown us just how important social interaction is for overall mental and physical health, and how much more attention we need to pay to this from a clinical, policy and personal perspective.” More than 2,500 older adults answered survey questions in January. The sample was weighted to reflect the population of U.S. adults aged 50 to 80. The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine. “Loneliness and isolation were too high before the pandemic, and it will take a concerted effort to bring these rates down further,” poll director Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren,…  read on >  read on >

It might seem like a move to rural living could bring calm and even happiness, but new research suggests that isn’t always so. A study from the University of Houston found that those living in the country were not more satisfied with their lives than people who lived in urban areas. Rural U.S. residents didn’t feel like their lives were more meaningful, and they also tended to be more anxious, depressed and neurotic. Among the reasons for this are a shortage of mental health professionals, and the researchers noted a surge in rural hospital closures since 2010. Almost 85% of all rural counties have a mental health professional shortage, even though rural residents appear to need more psychological services, according to the study. “It will be critical to improve access to psychological services in remote areas, and to identify how characteristics and values of rural communities can be leveraged to promote positive psychological health,” said researcher Olivia Atherton, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Houston. Atherton and her colleagues analyzed data from two large longitudinal studies of Americans, the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). They looked at whether there were different levels and changes in extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism. They also examined whether there were differences or change in psychological well-being and…  read on >  read on >

Kids and teens are struggling with their mental health in America, and one new report suggests the overinvolvement of parents may be partly to blame. Kids don’t get to roam any more. They’ve lost time for free play and risk-taking amid parents’ fears about the dangers of the world, said report co-author David Bjorklund. While people think the lack of independence and the growth in mental health issues is new, it’s been a lot more gradual, said Bjorklund, a professor in the psychology department at Florida Atlantic University College of Science, in Boca Raton. “It’s not a really new phenomenon. It’s a growing one. And it’s been growing for decades,” Bjorklund said. The trend emerged in the 1960s and really accelerated in the 1980s, the authors said. Some eventually dubbed the trend “helicopter parenting.” Adults were well-intentioned in wanting to protect children, according to the paper, but this has deprived kids of the independence they need for mental health. And now young people are experiencing high levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association issued a joint statement to the White House that child and adolescent mental health be declared a “national emergency.” Last month, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reported on the…  read on >  read on >

A man with prostate cancer who takes the “watch-and-wait” approach has the same long-term survival odds as those who undergo radiation therapy or surgery, according to a new large-scale study. Patients had the same 97% survival rate after a decade and a half whether doctors treated their tumor or simply put it under observation, British researchers found. “Survival from prostate cancer was high after 15 years of follow-up, whether patients received radiotherapy, prostatectomy [prostate removal] or active monitoring,” said study co-author Jenny Donovan, a professor of social medicine with the University of Bristol. “Only 3% of patients in the study died from prostate cancer.” Researchers presented the findings last weekend at the European Association of Urology’s annual meeting, in Milan, and the results were published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. For the study, researchers evaluated nearly 82,500 men in the United Kingdom who underwent a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test between 1999 and 2009. The study recruited just over 1,600 men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer as a result of their screening and randomly assigned them to one of three groups — an active monitoring group, a group that underwent surgery to remove their prostate, and a group that received radiation therapy for their cancer. After 15 years, only 45 had died — 17 in the active monitoring group, 12 in the surgery…  read on >  read on >

You may have heard of postpartum depression and “the baby blues,” but did you know that there’s another widely studied mental health condition called postpartum anxiety? Dr. Erica Newlin, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Westlake, Ohio, said in a Cleveland Clinic podcast that, “Peripartum and postpartum anxiety and depression, and just mental health concerns in general, are super, super common. Most studies really cite a prevalence of around 10%. But we think that that might be vastly underreported.” And postpartum anxiety doesn’t just affect mothers: A recent review published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology revealed that about 1 in 10 dads were impacted. To understand how to better manage postpartum anxiety and reduce your risk factors for developing the condition, it’s important to learn what it is, its causes and key symptoms, and the treatments that are recommended by doctors, including commonly prescribed medications. What is postpartum anxiety? Postpartum anxiety is named after the time period immediately following delivery or becoming a parent. “You can start to experience it any time during the pregnancy and in that first year after delivering,” said Newlin. According to the Cleveland Clinic, what sets postpartum anxiety apart from normal worry is the severity of its symptoms. The condition is marked by irrational fears that go well beyond the natural concerns parents have for their children’s health and well-being.…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – For some children, it can be hard when mom or dad leave them at daycare, school or even just with the other parent. It’s normal for small children to feel some separation anxiety. But it can be more concerning when a child doesn’t outgrow these feelings or feels them very intensely. This significant fear is known as Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD). “It’s rare that separation anxiety persists on a daily basis after the preschool years. If you’re concerned that your child isn’t adapting to being without you, chat with the pediatrician,” Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media, suggested in a story about separation anxiety for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). What is separation anxiety? Fear or acting out because of a desire to not be separated from a parent is normal for babies ages 9 to 18 months old, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). It can even start as early as 4 to 5 months, according to the AAP. It typically ends around age 2, according to the National Library of Medicine. That’s when kids are old enough to understand that after a separation their parents will return. But about 3% of kids continue to experience these feelings into elementary school, according to CHOP. That can increase…  read on >  read on >