Health News Roundup

The biggest drop in life expectancy since WWII, and more in this week’s roundup

With a diagnosis at least, Black women with ADHD start healing
Claire Sibonney, Kaiser Health News, July 20
By kindergarten, Black children in the U.S. are 70% less likely to receive a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, than otherwise similar white children. The reasons Black children and ethnic minorities are overlooked range from racial bias in schools and lack of access to care, to stigma and distrust of educators and health providers based on past discrimination.

Black patients at higher risk even at same hospitals
Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, July 20 
Black patients are significantly more likely to suffer dangerous bleeding, infections and other serious problems related to surgical procedures than are white patients treated in the same hospital, according to a new analysis from the nonprofit Urban Institute. The analysis builds on earlier research showing that Black patients are more likely than white ones to endure injuries and acquire illnesses in the hospital.

U.S. life expectancy in 2020 saw biggest drop since WWII
Mike Stobbe, Associated Press, July 21
Black life expectancy has not fallen so much in one year since the mid-1930s, during the Great Depression. Health officials have not tracked Hispanic life expectancy for nearly as long, but the 2020 decline was the largest recorded one-year drop.

How Medicaid helps the next generation
Atheendar Venkataramani, Tradeoffs, July 16
Medicaid covers 4 in 10 births, and there’s a renewed push to expand Medicaid coverage for new moms. There’s also growing research showing that for kids, the benefits of Medicaid coverage persist well into adulthood, in the form of better health and higher earnings.

Racism is magnifying the deadly impact of rising city heat
Alexandra Witze, Nature, July 14
Scientists are mapping correlations between race, poverty and heat in cities, and suggesting solutions to reduce the dangers. In the U.S., race remains the factor that shapes much of urban heat exposure, with a history that traces back more than a century and a half.

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