A weekly roundup of public health news
Community conditions tied to cancer rates, disease survival
How much money you make, the type of housing you live in and the quality of air you breathe can determine your community-level risk for developing cancer, a new study says.
Published in JAMA Network Open by the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, the study examined cancer disparities across 3,000-plus U.S. counties, finding that poverty, housing issues, air pollution and physical inactivity were some of the strongest influences on whether someone was screened for, developed or died from cancer.
Researchers compared two dozen community-related health factors — including unemployment levels, opportunities for exercise, housing quality and costs, and access to healthy foods — to see which ones most affected local risks for breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancers.
Income had a significant impact. Counties with higher poverty rates had worse results across nearly every type of cancer. Air pollution also played a key role, sometimes even more than smoking, when it came to whether people got screened for cancer.
The researchers also developed an online mapping tool that lets users explore how local factors affect cancer risks in their counties.
In some places, poor air quality was the top factor tied to low prostate cancer screening rates, while lack of nearby doctors was a major issue for lung cancer screening. Crowded or expensive housing was also linked to higher breast, colorectal and lung cancer rates.
The study found clear regional patterns. Counties in Texas, even around major cities, had some of the lowest breast cancer screening rates in the country and also some of the highest proportions of people without health insurance. Unemployment, limited access to healthy food and fewer medical services worsened outcomes.
Aging, poor-quality housing leaves millions at risk from extreme heat
For millions of Americans who live in low-cost housing, staying at home offers little relief from high heat. A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists finds that older, poorly maintained buildings are leaving residents increasingly vulnerable as temperatures climb with climate change.
Researchers found that affordable housing units are often located in neighborhoods without trees or shade, were built according to outdated standards and lack reliable air conditioning or cooling systems. Many residents in the homes — which include public housing, project-based developments, manufactured homes and privately managed apartments that receive tax credits for offering affordable units — face energy insecurity. That means they cannot afford to keep their homes at safe indoor temperatures during extreme heat.
Nearly all of the 8 million people living in the nation’s affordable housing units experienced at least a week of extreme heat alerts in 2024, and almost half lived through three or more weeks of warnings, the report found. Residents of affordable homes in Texas, California, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York were most likely to suffer through long periods of high heat.
People of color were more likely to be impacted. While they lead about a third of all U.S. households overall, people of color head about half of households in public housing, which means they are more likely to live in homes where extreme heat may be dangerous.
Older adults and people with chronic illnesses were especially vulnerable. At least 2,300 people in the U.S. died of high heat in 2023, setting a new record, previous research has found.
‘Forever chemical’ tied to liver disease in teens
Teens who are exposed to a “forever chemical” once commonly used in household products are at higher risk of a type of liver disease, according to a new study in Communications Medicine.
Adolescents with high levels of perfluoroheptanoic acid, or PFHpA, in their blood were far more likely to have a condition known as metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease, researchers found. Once known as fatty liver disease, the condition causes fat buildup and inflammation in the liver and can lead to cancer or organ failure.
Researchers found teens who had PFHpA levels that were about twice as high as their peers had an 80% higher risk of the liver disease and showed more signs of inflammation and scarring. Also known as MASLD, the liver disease is becoming increasingly common among young people, affecting as many as 10% of U.S. children and adolescents and up to half of youth with obesity.
Once used in food packaging, waterproof clothing and nonstick cookware, PFHpA belongs to a group of “forever chemicals” known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which do not break down in the environment or human body. Although some PFAS have been phased out of production, many communities remain exposed through contaminated water, food and other sources. Nearly half of all U.S. water systems have been found to contain detectable levels of PFAS, for example.
Other recent public health news of note includes:
• Cutting ozone pollution improves newborn health, new research in Health Economics says. The analysis of more than a decade of U.S. birth records linked a national program aimed at reducing the pollutant to higher birth weights and fewer preterm births, with the greatest benefits among Black, low-income and less educated mothers. Very preterm births, which occur before 32 weeks of pregnancy, fell by 13%. The now-defunct Nitrogen Oxide Budget Trading Program addressed ozone emissions from power plants and other large combustion sources in the eastern U.S.
• Punitive drug laws may discourage pregnant people from seeking medical care, new findings in Social Science & Medicine show. States that criminalized drug use during pregnancy saw significant drops in prenatal care and hospital births. On average, those states had about 4,400 fewer births per 100,000 in which prenatal care was received during pregnancy and nearly 1,900 fewer hospital-based deliveries than states without such laws. Researchers said fear of legal punishment may lead some people to avoid care.
• More U.S. states are removing insurance barriers for medications used to treat opioid use disorder, a new study in Health Affairs reports. As of 2023, the number of states with full or partial bans on prior authorization for treatments such as buprenorphine and methadone had grown to 22 nationwide.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public health journalist.es of experience as a public health journalist.