Health Disparity

In a new study, researchers reported systematic racial differences in ICU admission patterns among patients with acute respiratory failure and sepsis who are Asian, Pacific Islander and Hispanic.

Obesity is a dysregulation of the energy balance pathways in the human body. People with obesity are defending an abnormal body weight set point, and we can recognize and start to address that with the easiest tool we have, BMI. You just need height and weight, and you can calculate it. However, in certain populations, the standard cutoff values do not accurately correspond to risks. Someone who is Asian and has a BMI of 23 kg/m2 or 24 kg/m2, may have a “normal” BMI, but in reality, patients of Asian descent have a higher risk at a lower BMI. It’s the same thing for African Americans at higher BMI cutoff values.

Obesity prevalence is on the rise across the U.S., but some groups are at a greater risk for the disease than others.

Emphysema is often present before spirometry findings become abnormal, with disproportionate rates seen in Black men, according to new findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Women in Uganda with HIV may be more susceptible to chronic lung diseases, according to results of a longitudinal cohort study published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

Pulmonary rehabilitation after hospitalization for COPD resulted in net cost savings and improvement in quality-adjusted life expectancy, according to an economic evaluation published in JAMA Network Open.

Endovascular therapy is now a standard treatment for select patients with severe ischemic stroke to improve the likelihood of functional recovery; yet there remains a paucity of research on outcomes by sex and gender.

Researchers identified five common themes among Indigenous patients with chronic kidney disease when exploring their relationship with health care, according to data published in Kidney International.

A pragmatic health system-level intervention improved quality of life for patients discharged after COPD exacerbation but failed to reduce 180-day readmission or mortality, researchers reported.

LONDON — Cirrhosis severity, infections and mortality outcomes were worse for patients in low to middle-income countries, due in part to poor access to liver transplant and ICU facilities, according to data presented here.