Publications by authors named "Elizabeth Friedman"

Article Synopsis
  • A grassroots environmental-justice organization in Kansas City studied the heightened air pollution exposure faced by residents living near the largest railyard in the U.S. and its impact on asthma rates.
  • The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study using health data and environmental monitoring to analyze asthma encounters in relation to proximity to pollution sources like railyards and toxic facilities.
  • Their findings showed that greater distances from railyards were significantly linked to lower asthma rates, with a 3km increase associated with a 26% decrease in overall asthma symptoms, highlighting important environmental health disparities.
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Climate change poses an existential threat to children's health. Divestment of ownership stakes in fossil fuel companies is one tool available to pediatricians to address climate change. Pediatricians are trusted messengers regarding children's health and therefore bear a unique responsibility to advocate for climate and health policies that affect children.

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Background: Leaded aviation gasoline (AvGas) accounts for 70%, or 935,082 pounds, of total lead emissions in the United States and has been repeatedly linked to elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) in those living in the vicinity of airports using AvGas. The well-established link between lead exposure and adverse health outcomes provided a platform ripe for environmental health advocates and pediatric health experts to assist a local environmental health organization in addressing lead waste from a local airport, Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport (MYF).

Method: We detail the steps we took, as a physician clean-air advocacy group.

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Housing-based lead paint dust is the most common source of lead exposure for US-born children. Although year of housing construction is a critical indicator of the lead hazard to US children, not all housing of the same age poses the same risk to children. Additional information about housing condition is required to differentiate the housing-based lead risk at the parcel level.

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Asthma morbidity is unequally distributed across populations throughout the United States, and reasons remain unclear. To assess how historical structural racism correlates with current day asthma disparities, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of 10,736 pediatric patients, ages 3-19 years, with two or more asthma encounters between October 2017-October 2019. Patient addresses were matched with historic Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps - which provide a measure of historic structural racism.

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Objectives: Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a rare subset of soft tissue sarcomas, typically presenting in subjects 15 to 35 years of age. Usual presentation sites are the trunk, extremities, and the head and neck. Subjects younger than 5 years are rarely affected.

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The extent and etiology of health effects in workers who maintain underground storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (Hanford) have been subjects of controversy and concern for several decades. Hanford is a decommissioned nuclear production complex managed by the US Department of Energy in southeast Washington State. This integration-of-evidence review evaluates the relationship between exposure to vapors from mixed chemical and radioactive waste stored in underground storage tanks at Hanford and worker health.

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Background And Objectives: Benign bone tumors are often treated with extended curettage utilizing an adjuvant therapy to eliminate any remaining tumor cells. The purpose of this study was to explore and compare the histologic depth of necrosis created by various adjuvant therapies used in the treatment of benign bone tumors.

Methods: A high-speed burr was utilized to create cortical defects within porcine humeri and femora.

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Case: A 69-year-old woman presented with a painful mass at her first metatarsophalangeal joint. Further evaluation was concerning for a neoplastic process, leading to surgical intervention. Pathological examination demonstrated hemosiderotic synovitis, and hematologic evaluation led to a new diagnosis of von Willebrand disease.

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Background: Children living near greenhouse agriculture may have an increased risk of pesticide exposure due to drift or direct contact with pesticide-treated areas. However, little is known about whether this increased potential for chronic exposure may impair their neurodevelopment.

Methods: We examined 307 children aged 4-9 years, living in agricultural communities in Ecuador (ESPINA study).

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Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC) a key enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis is often overexpressed in cancers and contributes to polyamine-induced cell proliferation. We noted ubiquitous expression of ODC1 in our published endometrial cancer gene array data and confirmed this in the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) with highest expression in non-endometrioid, high grade, and copy number high cancers, which have the worst clinical outcomes. ODC1 expression was associated with worse overall survival and increased recurrence in three endometrial cancer gene expression datasets.

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Physicians are increasingly approached by individuals seeking integrative approaches to health care and well-being. Many integrative modalities include a physical activity component. Patients seek guidance from primary and specialty care providers on the safe and effective incorporation of these modalities into their lifestyle.

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Background: 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors have significantly improved outcomes in coronary artery disease. They have anti-inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering effects. Statins alter the production of T(H)1 cytokines and thus promote a T(H)2 response.

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Zebrafish are ideal for experimental studies in the classroom because, in contrast to chicks or mammals, fish embryos are relatively easy and inexpensive to maintain, and embryonic development can be observed with common classroom equipment. The eight student-developed laboratory exercises described here have been used by students in Neuroscience Research at Sidwell Friends School. This course uses zebrafish as a vertebrate model to study genetics, development, behavior, neurobiology, regeneration, learning, and memory.

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