Lancet Planet Health
University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Published: May 2023
Background: Large-scale wildfires in California, USA, are increasing in both size and frequency, with substantial health consequences. The capacity for wildfire smoke to displace microbes and cause clinically significant fungal infections is poorly understood. We aimed to determine whether exposure to wildfire smoke was associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for systemic fungal infections.
Methods: In this population-based, retrospective study, we used hospital administrative data from 22 hospitals in California, USA, to analyse the association between wildfire smoke exposure and monthly hospital admissions for aspergillosis and coccidioidomycosis. We included hospitals that were members of the Vizient Clinical Data Base or Resource Manager during the study and excluded those that did not have complete reporting into Vizient during the study period. Smoke exposure was estimated using satellite-imaged smoke plumes in the hospital county. Incident rate ratios were calculated for all infection types 1 month and 3 months after smoke exposure.
Findings: Between Oct 1, 2014, and May 31, 2018, there were a median of 1638 annual admissions per hospital in the study sample. Individual patient demographics were not collected. We did not observe an association between smoke exposure and rate of hospital admission for aspergillosis. However, hospital admission for coccidioidomycosis increased by 20% (95% CI 5-38) in the month following any smoke exposure. Hospital admission increased by 2% (0-4) for every day that there had been smoke exposure in the previous month, after adjustment for temperature and temporal trend. Similar results were obtained with smoke exposure data from the 3 months before admission.
Interpretation: In the months following wildfire smoke exposure, California hospitals saw increased coccidioidomycosis infections. Given the projected increase in California wildfires and their expansion in endemic territories of soil-dwelling fungi, the ability for wildfire smoke to carry microbes and cause human disease warrants further research.
Funding: None.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00046-3 | DOI Listing |
Am J Clin Nutr
January 2025
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address:
Background: While healthy dietary and lifestyle factors have been individually linked to lower colorectal cancer (CRC) risks, recommendations for whole diet-lifestyle patterns remained unestablished due to limited studies and inconsistent pattern definitions.
Objective: This updated review synthesized literature on dietary-lifestyle patterns and CRC risk/mortality.
Methods: PubMed and Embase were searched through 31 March 2023 for randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies examining adulthood dietary patterns combined with modifiable lifestyle factors such as adiposity, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and/or others.
PLoS One
January 2025
C.E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States of America.
Background: Ambient air pollution, detrimental built and social environments, social isolation (SI), low socioeconomic status (SES), and rural (versus urban) residence have been associated with cognitive decline and risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Research is needed to investigate the influence of ambient air pollution and built and social environments on SI and cognitive decline among rural, disadvantaged, ethnic minority communities. To address this gap, this cohort study will recruit an ethnoracially diverse, rural Florida sample in geographic proximity to seasonal agricultural burning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Cardiovascular health outcomes associated with noncigarette tobacco products (cigar, pipe, and smokeless tobacco) remain unclear, yet such data are required for evidence-based regulation.
Objective: To investigate the association of noncigarette tobacco products with cardiovascular health outcomes.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study was conducted within the Cross Cohort Collaboration Tobacco Working Group by harmonizing tobacco-related data and conducting a pooled analysis from 15 US-based prospective cohorts with data on the use of at least 1 noncigarette tobacco product ranging between 1948 and 2015.
Curr Environ Health Rep
January 2025
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.
Purpose Of Review: Indoor air pollution is likely to be elevated in multi-family housing and to contribute to health disparities, but limited studies to date have systematically considered the empirical evidence for exposure differentials between multi-family and single-family housing. Our goal is to separately examine the drivers of residential indoor air pollution, including outdoor air pollution, ventilation and filtration, indoor sources, and occupant activity patterns, using secondhand smoke as a case study to examine the behavioral dimensions of indoor environmental interventions.
Recent Findings: Within studies published from 2018 to 2023, multi-family homes have higher average outdoor air pollution than single-family homes given their more frequent presence in urban and near-roadway settings.
Nicotine Tob Res
January 2025
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Washington, DC, United States.
Introduction: The prevalence of cigarette smoking is high among U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assistance recipients, putting others at risk for secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure.
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