Articles by Josh McCormack

Latinos Pay More for Energy Than What They Use

January 6, 2022

Background plays a significant role in determining home energy use, emissions, and cost burden, according to a study by the University of Michigan and McGill University. Majority-White neighborhoods had the highest per-capita emissions, researchers found. In African-American neighborhoods, emissions were 90% of those in White neighborhoods. Latino neighborhoods had the lowest per capita emissions, at only 60% of White neighborhoods. Yet overlooked communities have higher energy rates than what they produce, adding yet another difference that harms health outcomes among this population and other populations, according to study co-author Tony Reames of the University of Michigan. “People that are struggling financially and then have high energy burdens are forced ...

Healthy Eating Linked to Better Heart Health Among Latinos

December 20, 2021

New data from the American Heart Association shows that Latinos who eat healthily have healthier hearts. This research shows that Latinos who followed a healthy dietary plan had healthier hearts in terms of structure and function. “Healthy diet quality is an important and vital tool in the prevention of heart disease,” said lead study author David Flomenbaum, a medical student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. “Many of our results correspond to current knowledge about diet quality and cardiovascular health.” The Study and Its Findings on Healthy Eating and Heart Health Researchers evaluated over 1,800 participants in the “Echocardiographic Study of Latinos” ancillary study. With this, they compared adherence to two popular healthy ...

Hilda Ramirez: Advocating for Equitable Policies for Latino Students, Families

December 16, 2021

As a teenager, Hilda Ramirez saw how the educational system did not support Latino students, limiting their chances for academic success and future mental and physical health. These inequities in education led Ramirez to a career in advocacy for Latinos. Today, as the executive director of the Latino Education Institute and a representative of the Latino Empowerment and Organizing Network (LEON), she advocates for the well-being of Latino youth in Worcester, Massachusetts (21.9% Latino). She recently helped create a seven-member commission in Worcester city government organizational to examine the impact of local policy on Latinos. This work is critical in promoting and encouraging legislation that will benefit the Latino community and address health inequities in education ...

Join a Genetic Screening Clinical Trial to Help Identify Your Tumor Risk!

December 2, 2021

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While some cancers develop through unhealthy habits like smoking, others happen through genetics. Clinical trials with volunteers who have a family history of cancer can help researchers learn how to better slow, manage, and/or treat these diseases. This can help save the lives of people whose family experiences cancer generationally. If you have a family history of cancer, you can join a clinical trial at UT Health San Antonio that is studying pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas — endocrine tumors often inherited from family members genetically. “A family history of endocrine tumors could mean you and your loved ones have a higher risk,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research and the Salud America! program at UT Health San ...

What Latinos Should Know About the Omicron Variant

December 1, 2021

A new strain of the COVID-19 virus is spreading, and the Omicron variant has already reached North America, experts say. This is yet another mutation, following the Delta variant, that was first identified in South African researchers. It has quickly spread to other continents. Health experts, such as former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, urge people to not get over-worried too quickly about Omicron, but still take available precautions like getting the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot. "Is this making people more ill? There's no indication that it is. And in fact, there's some anecdotal information offered from physicians in South Africa that this could be causing milder illness. Now, that could be an artifact of the fact that initial cases seem to be clustered in younger ...

Latinos Experience Major Health Inequities in Most U.S. States

November 30, 2021

We know Latinos and other racial/ethnic minorities experience health, social, and environmental inequities that increase their risk for disease. But just how widespread is the problem? Very few states do not face major issues with health inequities and health disparities, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s new report, “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in US Health Care: A Scorecard of State Performance.” The authors of the report list many inequities that make an impact, and they also note that the system that promotes these trends is to blame. “Decades of policy choices made by federal, state, and local leaders have led to structural economic suppression, unequal educational access, and residential segregation, all of which have contributed in their own ways to ...

Child Tax Credits a Huge Boost for Many, But Not All, Latino Families

November 23, 2021

The expanded child tax credits are working to help families make ends meet and experience less stress, a new survey shows. As part of the American Rescue Plan, Congress expanded the child tax credit in March 2021. Since July, the IRS has been providing cash benefits to most households with children, including some of the country’s poorest families. Now, given sufficient time to study this effort, a survey by the Center for Law and Social Policy found that the enhanced child tax credit made a difference for many parents and children. Many Latinos and other families of color benefitted, but many immigrants also were left out. “Consistent and broad evidence [shows] that this policy is working as intended,” Zach Parolin, who has studied the tax credit at Columbia University’s ...

Join the PASS Clinical Trial to Better Predict Prostate Cancer Outcomes

November 18, 2021

For Latino men, prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis. While there is good news—from 2014-2018, Latino men were 20% less likely to face a prostate cancer diagnosis than their white peers—Latino men are more likely than their white peers to be diagnosed at a younger age, and with a higher risk of disease. This is why researchers at UT Health San Antonio are conducting the Prostate Active Surveillance Study (PASS) Clinical Trial in partnership with the Canary Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the early detection of cancer. The study is for men age 21 and older who have chosen active surveillance as a management plan for their prostate cancer. Active surveillance is defined as close monitoring of prostate cancer with the offer of treatment if there are changes ...

Report: The Number of Latinos Killed by Police is ‘Off the Charts’

November 17, 2021

Between 1980 to 2019, police violence caused 30,800 deaths, according to a new report published in The Lancet. Latinos experienced the second-highest rate of police violence-driven fatalities, after Blacks. The report also found that police-violence-related deaths among people of color far outweighed the number of cases reported in the U.S. National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), which tracks fatality data. “Mounting evidence shows that deaths at the hands of the police disproportionately impact people of certain races and ethnicities, pointing to systemic racism in policing," according to the data. “Proven public health intervention strategies are needed to address these systematic biases.” The Report and Its Findings on Police Violence In 2019, the US incurred 13% of ...

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Josh McCormack

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