Health costs of smoking impact people of color harder
Smokers of color have related health costs that are double that of white smokers, despite having lower smoking rates, new research finds.
Tobacco-related health issues account for about 12% of annual medical care spending for white smokers, compared to 25% of spending for smokers of color, according to the study, which was published Dec. 5 in Tobacco Control.
People of color who smoke are 34% more likely than white smokers to experience three or more of the top 10 health issues associated with smoking — high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, joint pain, cancer, heart attack, arthritis, asthma, heart disease and stroke.
From 2008 to 2019, 15% of adults of color smoked cigarettes, compared with 17% of white adults. About 63% of smokers of color and 53% of white smokers reported they were trying to quit in 2019, said the study, which was co-authored by Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D, MHSA, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Stronger U.S. tobacco control regulations that deter people from taking up smoking would save $134 million a year in health costs for every 100,000 adults of color and more than the $57 million for the same number of white adults, the study estimated.
More than 480,000 people die annually in the U.S. from health issues related to smoking, which is the nation’s leading cause of preventable illness and death.
Sleeping disorders common for night workers
People who work night shifts are more likely to develop sleeping disorders, a new study says.
Researchers examined data on more than 37,000 workers, assessing them for insomnia, hypersomnia and parasomnia, as well as sleep-related breathing, movement and circadian rhythm disorders.
About a third of all study participants scored positive for at least one sleep disorder, while 12.6% screened positive for two or more. But more than half of night shift workers reported one sleep disorder, and 26% reported two or more.
Half of night shift workers also said they slept less than six hours in a 24-hour period, according to the study, which was published Dec. 7 in Frontiers in Psychiatry. Although male workers slept fewer hours than females, sleep disorders were more common in women.
About 9% of all U.S. workers worked evening or night shifts as of 2017-2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But for workers ages 15-24, that rate jumped to almost 22%.
The new study found older workers who worked night shifts were more likely to report short sleep hours, but sleep disorders were more common in those ages 30 and younger. Young adults with low levels of education were most likely to have disorders.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that working-age adults receive at least seven hours of sleep a night to maintain good health and well-being. But about 27% of Americans do not get enough sleep regularly.
Previous research has linked night shift work to increased risks for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other health issues. A 2020 study found that people who worked night shifts for many years were more likely to die prematurely.
Common night-shift jobs include health care, law enforcement, restaurant work and transportation.
Wildfire smoke worsening air in western states
Pollution from wildfires has caused at least 13,400 premature deaths in the western U.S. over two decades, a new study finds.
From 2000 to 2020, air quality in the region worsened, mainly because of increases in wildfires in the U.S. and Canada. Fine-particle pollution, also known as PM2.5, caused an additional 670 premature deaths per year in western states, undercutting air quality gains achieved through stronger automobile emissions.
Similar reductions in air quality were not found in eastern states during the time period, according to the study, which was published in the December issue of The Lancet Planetary Health.
Levels of black carbon, a type of fine-particle pollution that is released during wildfires, have risen 55% annually in the Western U.S., with especially high levels in northern California, southern Oregon and northwest Nevada. The pollutant is linked to both heart disease and respiratory issues.
The number of acres burned annually in the western U.S. has increased, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with the peak of wildfire season now occurring earlier. Research has linked the increase in warmer and drier conditions that set the stage for wildfires to human-caused climate change.
Discrimination a barrier to HIV testing
Hispanic LGBTQ+ men who experience discrimination are more likely to delay HIV testing, putting their health and the health of their partners at risk, new research shows.
Published in AIDS Education and Prevention, the Rutgers University study found that everyday discrimination — defined as bias based on race, ethnicity or sexual orientation during day-to-day life — can make people less likely to seek health care.
Researchers examined survey data from partnered LGBTQ+ Hispanic men, finding that those whose last HIV test was more than a year ago were more likely to say they had experienced discrimination than those who had been tested in the past six months. Delayed testing was also common among survey respondents who were born outside the U.S.
While Hispanics made up almost 19% of the U.S. population in 2019, they accounted for about 25% of people with HIV.
About 1.2 million people in the U.S. have HIV, but more than 150,000 of them are unaware of it and need testing, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Research has found that starting antiretroviral treatment soon after infection is linked to better health outcomes for people with HIV.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public-health journalist.
