Public Health and Legal Strategies to Reduce Reliance on Fossil Fuels, Increase Air Quality, and Improve Human Health.

Reliance upon fossil fuels and limited greenspace contribute to poor indoor and outdoor air quality and adverse health outcomes, particularly in communities of color. This article describes justice-informed public health and legal interventions to increase access to greenspace and accelerate the transitions to renewable energy and away from gas appliances.

Effectiveness of educational interventions for the prevention of lead poisoning in children: a systematic review.

Introduction: Childhood exposure to lead has severe health consequences including long-term physical, behavioral, and learning problems. Lead poisoning often occurs in the home and persists as a form of environmental injustice, disparately impacting certain children based on factors such as socioeconomic status, immigration status, and race. Because abatement is costly, many prevention programs rely on educational interventions.

Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease-Related Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors in the United States: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background: Cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States (US). Cancer survivors have increased risks for CVD and CVD-related mortality due to multiple factors including cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicity. Disparities are rooted in differential exposure to risk factors and social determinants of health (SDOH), including systemic racism.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care including innovations implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.

Background: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused disruptions in the delivery and utilisation of cancer services. The impact of these interruptions is disproportionately borne by low- and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There are speculations of increased late-stage presentation and mortality as services are returning to the pre-pandemic state.

Isolation and survival: The impact of local and MSA isolation on survival among non-Hispanic Black women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States using a SEER-Medicare cohort.

Background: Residential segregation is an important factor that negatively impacts cancer disparities, yet studies yield mixed results and complicate clear recommendations for policy change and public health intervention. In this study, we examined the relationship between local and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) measures of Black isolation (segregation) and survival among older non-Hispanic (NH) Black women with breast cancer (BC) in the United States. We hypothesized that the influence of local isolation on mortality varies based on MSA isolation-specifically, that high local isolation may be protective in the context of highly segregated MSAs, as ethnic density may offer opportunities for social support and buffer racialized groups from the harmful influences of racism.

Access to Radiation Therapy and Related Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Cervical and Breast Cancer Across Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To better understand the barriers to accessing standard-of-care radiation therapy (RT) for breast and cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and their impact on outcomes.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was completed with a medical librarian. Articles were screened by title, abstract, and full text.

Historical redlining and breast cancer treatment and survival among older women in the United States.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among US women, and institutional racism is a critical cause of health disparities. We investigated impacts of historical redlining on BC treatment receipt and survival in the United States.

Methods: Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) boundaries were used to measure historical redlining.

The impact of greenspace or nature-based interventions on cardiovascular health or cancer-related outcomes: A systematic review of experimental studies.

Significance: Globally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. While having different etiologies, CVD and cancer are linked by multiple shared risk factors, the presence of which exacerbate adverse outcomes for individuals with either disease. For both pathologies, factors such as poverty, lack of physical activity (PA), poor dietary intake, and climate change increase risk of adverse outcomes.

Emerging mitochondrial signaling mechanisms in cardio-oncology: beyond oxidative stress.

Many anticancer therapies (CTx) have cardiotoxic side effects that limit their therapeutic potential and cause long-term cardiovascular complications in cancer survivors. This has given rise to the field of cardio-oncology, which recognizes the need for basic, translational, and clinical research focused on understanding the complex signaling events that drive CTx-induced cardiovascular toxicity. Several CTx agents cause mitochondrial damage in the form of mitochondrial DNA deletions, mutations, and suppression of respiratory function and ATP production.

Elevated blood lead levels of refugee children in the United States: a systematic review of recent literature (2011-2021).

Lead is an environmental hazard; even small elevations in blood lead level can cause serious negative health effects in children, including irreversible impacts such as learning difficulties, attention disorders, and behavioral issues. Previous research has shown that some groups are at higher risk for lead poisoning including racial/ethnic minorities, those with low economic status, and immigrants, especially refugees. This systematic review explores recent literature studying disparities in lead poisoning in refugee children.

Greenspace, Inflammation, Cardiovascular Health, and Cancer: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Greenspace in Cardio-Oncology Research.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. Cancer survivors have significantly elevated risk of poor cardiovascular (CV) health outcomes due to close co-morbid linkages and shared risk factors between CVD and cancer, as well as adverse effects of cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicity. CVD and cancer-related outcomes are exacerbated by increased risk of inflammation.

Resilience and Equity in a Time of Crises: Investing in Public Urban Greenspace Is Now More Essential Than Ever in the US and Beyond.

The intersecting negative effects of structural racism, COVID-19, climate change, and chronic diseases disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities in the US and around the world. Urban populations of color are concentrated in historically redlined, segregated, disinvested, and marginalized neighborhoods with inadequate quality housing and limited access to resources, including quality greenspaces designed to support natural ecosystems and healthy outdoor activities while mitigating urban environmental challenges such as air pollution, heat island effects, combined sewer overflows and poor water quality. Disinvested urban environments thus contribute to health inequity via physical and social environmental exposures, resulting in disparities across numerous health outcomes, including COVID-19 and chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

Positive Externalities of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation for Human Health: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Public Health Research.

Anthropogenic climate change is adversely impacting people and contributing to suffering and increased costs from climate-related diseases and injuries. In responding to this urgent and growing public health crisis, mitigation strategies are in place to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) while adaptation strategies exist to reduce and/or alleviate the adverse effects of climate change by increasing systems' resilience to future impacts. While these strategies have numerous positive benefits on climate change itself, they also often have other positive externalities or health co-benefits.

The Impact of Schoolyard Greening on Children's Physical Activity and Socioemotional Health: A Systematic Review of Experimental Studies.

Access to green schoolyards (schoolyards designed with greenery and natural elements to create a park-like environment, as opposed to asphalt-based playgrounds) are associated with many benefits for students, including improvements in physical and mental health. While many studies examining these associations are cross-sectional, some feature experimental designs that offer the possibility of causal inference. In this review, we looked at experimental studies that examine the impact of schoolyard greening on measures of physical activity and socioemotional health in children.