Population Health News Round-Up: March 2025

Health Equity and Disparities

Young adult death rate remains higher than expected: Causes include opiates, car accidents, and circulatory and metabolic diseases.(BUSPH, citing a JAMA Network Open article, February 13, 2025)

Older adults were lonely during the pandemic: Rates of loneliness in the 50+ age group varied, but were highest among women 80 and older. (Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, March 18, 2025)

Environmental & Climate Health and Justice

Extreme heat ages the human body: In blood tests, signs of cellular aging were found to be linked to long-term heat exposure. (Grist, February 27, 2025, citing a study in Science Advances.)

Environmental injustice incoming: Rollback of environmental regulations will harm Black communities by keeping lead and PFAS in their water (Capital B News, February 26, 2025)

Another cancer cluster in Texas: Highlands, Texas is located next to a Superfund Site that’s contaminated with dioxins and furans, plus it’s on the petrochemical corridor, exposing residents to “multi-source pollution.” (Environmental Health News, March 5, 2025)

Built Environments, Spaces, and Places

Rural hospitals and their patients face risks if Medicaid is cut: Work requirements and funding cuts could shift costs to patients that can’t afford them and to states, and hospitals could close their doors entirely. (National Rural Health Association, February 24, 2025)

Healthy buildings, healthy economics: Healthy building practices can save money, boost productivity, and improve cognitive function. (International Well Building Institute, February 18, 2025)

Policy and Programs

Possible Medicaid cuts could impact 70 million Americans: The cuts, if enacted, would be “catastrophic.” (Boston University, BU Today, February 4, 2025)

After abortion ban in Texas, sepsis rates increased: “As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, ProPublica found, it rose substantially in Texas.” (ProPublica, February 20, 2025)

Some tribes are worried about Medicaid cuts: Tribes such as the Oneida are “bracing for catastrophe.” (CBS News, March 14, 2025)

Book Spotlights

Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America, by Bernadette Atuahene. The author looks at how the racial wealth gap was widened through racist, predatory housing policies. Amazon.

A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, from Cholera to COVID-19, by Edna Bonhomme. Starting with plantations, the author looks at how disease outbreaks are made worse by economic and social devices, and how plagues made those divides worse. Amazon.

Post-Carbon Inclusion: Transitions Built on Justice, edited by Ralph Horne, Aimee Ambrose, Gordon Walker, And Anitra Nelson. When we decarbonize, how do we ensure equity?  Amazon.