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Articles on Health gaps

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A pulse oximeter measures a person’s blood oxygen saturation level and heart rate. Grace Cary via Getty Images

More health inequality: Black people are 3 times more likely to experience pulse oximeter errors

Low oxygen levels can be a sign that a patient is in danger. A device that measures oxygen levels has been shown to miss low oxygen levels in Black people much more often than in white people.
Sevonna Brown of Black Women’s Blueprint, a mutual aid group, with her son in Brooklyn, New York. Mutual aid groups have been formed across New York City to address the economic plight caused by COVID-19. Stephanie Keith via Getty Images

Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths

Blacks are at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 than whites. A study that examined racism at the country level had surprising results.
Emergency medical technicians bring a patient into Wyckoff Hospital in the Borough of Brooklyn on April 6, 2020 in New York. Bryna R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images.

Doctors can’t treat COVID-19 effectively without recognizing the social justice aspects of health

While African Americans account for about 14% of the US population, they have accounted for about 60% of deaths from the virus. Several physicians offer an idea they think could help.
A portrait of George Floyd hangs on a street light pole as police officers stand guard at the Third Police Precinct during a face off with a group of protesters on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery deaths: Racism causes life-threatening conditions for black men every day

Police killings of black men gain widespread attention, but black men’s life-and-death issues are ignored on a daily basis, a physician who studies health gaps explains.
Black youth may be less likely to share their thoughts of loneliness or depression than other youth, which could be a reason for higher rates of death by suicide among black youth. Motortion Films/Shutterstock.com

Black kids and suicide: Why are rates so high, and so ignored?

African American youth are at increased risk for death by suicide. An expert explains why it’s important to better understand the effects of racism, bullying and alienation on black youth.
Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on April 3, 1968, giving the last speech of his life. He addressed social inequalities, discussing the low pay of garbage workers in that city. Charles Kelly/AP File Photo

How unjust social structures help some but harm others

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. At the root of the injustice that King preached about is structural inequalities. An expert explains what that means.
An African American man in a hospital bed. Studies show that pain in African American patients is often not addressed. pixelheadphoto/digitalskillet

Dying while black: Perpetual gaps exist in health care for African-Americans

Gaps in care and outcomes between African-Americans and white patients is a major concern to those who care about fairness in health care. Gaps in care also exist at end of life, too.
Discrimination creates gaps in care between white and black men. Rawpixel/Shutterstock.com

How anti-black bias in white men hurts black men’s health

White men hold more racial bias toward blacks than white women do, and this harms blacks’ health in significant ways. It not only can lead to some diseases but also impedes treatment.
African-American women are about three times more likely to be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. mangostock/Shutterstock.com

A new clue into treatments for triple negative breast cancer, a mean disease

Researchers have long been looking for clues into how to treat triple negative breast cancer. Could fighter blood cells that infiltrate the tumor provide insight?
The highest incidence rates by state for the major cancers for men and women are in Queensland. AAP Image/Julian Smith

New maps reveal cancer levels across Australia, and across the social strata

Public health experts traditionally expect that the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be unwell and die before your time. But newly available data on cancer rates show that’s not always true.
A homeless camp in Los Angeles, where homelessness has risen 23 percent in the past year, in May 2017. AP Photo/Richard Vogel

Why poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of society

Americans, an independent group, tend to believe that people can “pull themselves up by their boot straps.” Yet bigger forces are at play in a person’s ability to gain education, a good job and money.
White men gain more health benefits from employment than do black men and women. Angela Waye/from www.shutterstock.com

Employment helps white men’s health more than women and blacks

Employment is good for health, but it is even better for white men than for others. And unemployment is worse for white men than others. Could these findings shine light on our political situation?

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