More people in the U.S. dying from high heat
Heat-related death rates have risen in recent decades in the U.S., with particularly dramatic spikes over the past seven years.
From 1999 to 2023, both the number and rate of deaths from high temperatures increased, with more than 21,500 deaths recorded over the two-decade period, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Heat-related deaths increased from 1,069 in 1999 to 2,325 in 2023, a surge of 117%.
When measured by population rate, mortality increased from 0.38 deaths per 100,000 people per year in 1999 to 0.62 deaths per 100,000 people per year in 2023, a 63% jump.
Death rates had a steady climb across the study period, averaging an increase of 3.6% a year. But starting in 2016, increases in heat-related deaths soared significantly, averaging a 17% jump in rates each year through 2023.
The research team, led by scientists at the University of Texas at San Antonio, predicted increased deaths will continue in the U.S. as human-caused climate change further warms global temperatures.
From 2006 to 2021, extreme heat caused more than 40% of all major weather disasters in the U.S., another study released Aug. 26 said. The JAMA Network Open study found such disasters — which can involve wildfires, hurricanes and other threats — accounted for about 46% of all U.S. injuries and 22% of deaths during the study period.
Many U.S. counties home to ‘pharmacy deserts’
Nearly half of U.S. counties have regions where residents must travel more than 10 miles to reach a pharmacy, with at-risk residents most affected, new research says.
Published Aug. 23 in JAMA Network Open, the study found that more than 1,400 of the nation’s 3,143 counties contained areas with a low density of retail pharmacies in 2020.
Such “pharmacy deserts” were more likely to have a higher proportion of socially vulnerable residents, such as people with low incomes, older adults and those without access to transportation. Pharmacy deserts also were home to fewer primary care providers.
People who live far from pharmacies may skip their medications, which can lead to poorer health outcomes, study researchers said. Greater distance from pharmacies also may hinder access to services such as vaccinations and management of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
The U.S. is estimated to have about 67,000 pharmacies, though thousands have closed over the past decade. One of the nation’s leading pharmacy chains, CVS Health, has announced plans to close 900 of its stores over the next three years, further raising concerns about access.
Living in places with less air pollution may be unaffordable
Unhealthy levels of air pollution can make people want to relocate, but lower income-households may be unable to afford to live in areas with better air, a new study finds.
Published in August in Environmental and Resource Economics, the research examined household income and environmental quality for millions of Americans who moved out of county from 2010 to 2014. It found that when it comes to air pollution exposure, poorer families fare worse than those with higher incomes during household moves.
Specifically, people who earned more than the average household in their home community were likely to move to a location that was less polluted, study researchers found. But households that earned a less-than-average income in their home county were likely to move to areas with more air pollution.
As environmental quality was shown to be an influencing factor as to where people wanted to move, the researchers concluded that poorer households were priced out of locations with less air pollution.
Many households moved to Florida and to the suburbs of major cities in Texas and out of counties in the Northeast, the research found. Only about 30% of households that moved out of their county chose to relocate to a different state. About 17.5 million people in the U.S. — about 5% of the population — move from one county to another each year in the U.S.
High blood pressure linked to neighborhood disadvantage
People in disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to have higher blood pressure, with Black communities most at risk, new research conducted in Ohio shows.
The study, published Aug. 23 in JAMA Network Open, focused on middle-aged adults living in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County. Researchers used census measures such as income, education, housing and occupation to determine levels of neighborhood disadvantage.
About 51% of people of all races and ethnicities who lived in the county’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods had high blood pressure, compared to about 26% of people in the most well-off neighborhoods, the study found. People in the disadvantaged neighborhoods also were less likely to be receiving treatment for their condition.
Disparities were particularly notable for Black communities. Almost two-thirds of neighborhoods with high populations of Black residents had a hypertension rate greater than 35% and a treatment rate of less than 70%. But only about 12% of neighborhoods with low populations of Black residents met the same criterion.
The researchers chose to focus their research on middle-aged residents because high blood pressure at midlife can impact both future cardiovascular health and cognitive decline.
Nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with higher rates among Black Americans. Only about 23% of people with the condition, which contributed to 686,000 deaths in 2022, have it under control.
Other recent public health news of note includes:
• Global flooding could increase by half by the end of the century if countries fail to meet their pledges to cut carbon emissions, predicts a new study in Water Resources Research.
• People who live in neighborhoods with high levels of structural racism have an almost eightfold higher risk of developing cancer from traffic-related air pollutants, a study in Cancer says.
• New research in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine finds miners who were exposed to ultrafine aluminum powder — which was administered to workers to prevent silica from being deposited in their lungs — have elevated rates of cardiovascular disease.
• White patients who visit an emergency department with certain common symptoms are more likely to get diagnostic tests than Black patients, new research in JAMA Network Open finds, raising questions about both overtesting and missed diagnoses.
• A new review in the Journal of Climate Change and Health confirms children are especially vulnerable to illness and death from extreme heat and that the population will continue to be at high risk as temperatures worsen with climate change.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public health journalist.
