Many in the US East Coast recently experienced heavy smoke exposure due to a series of wildfires burning in Canada. “This Canadian crisis has not been limited to the Great North. Smoke from the fires has spread across a large portion of the U.S., affecting air quality for millions across the East Coast, as the fires rage on without signs of stopping,” according to CBS News. This has further brought attention to the importance of wildfire safety. Let’s dive into this issue, how it impacts others, and key safety tips everyone should know!
How Do Wildfires and Smoke Impact Safety?
Dry conditions in much of the US can increase the potential for wildfires in or near wilderness areas, which can cause harmful smoke, according to the CDC. “This smoke can ...
On April 22, let’s celebrate Earth Day! Earth Day honors the achievements of the environmental movement and urges for protection of our planet’s natural resources for future generations. The observance began on April 22, 1970, thanks to Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson and Harvard University graduate student Denis Hayes. Since then, it has promoted advocacy, education, and conservation around environmental issues like climate change and pollution. As this year’s celebration approaches, Salud America! is sharing five ways you can get involved to preserve and improve the environment.
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What is the most effective way to reduce waste? Don’t create it in the first place. “Making a new product emits greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change ...
Dr. Patricia Chalela of UT Health San Antonio has received a new five-year, $2 million research grant to test the impact of Quitxt, a bilingual text messaging program that helps Latino young adults in South Texas to quit smoking. The grant is among $90 million for new cancer prevention and research projects from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). For the grant, Dr. Chalela and her team will recruit 1,200 Latino smokers ages 18-29 who agree to try to quit smoking. Half will receive Quitxt, a free texting service with background appropriate visual, video, and audio content fueled with evidence-based techniques to prompt and sustain smoking cessation. The other half will get abbreviated text messages and referral to the "Yes Quit" smoking cessation ...
You don’t have to stop smoking in one day. Start with Day 1. On Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, you can join thousands of people who will begin their smoke-free journey with the Great American Smokeout. This annual event from the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to make a plan to stop smoking. Need help? Enroll in Quitxt, a free English or Spanish text-message service that turns your phone into a personal “quit smoking” coach from UT Health San Antonio. To join Quitxt, text “iquit” (for English) or “lodejo” (for Spanish) to 844-332-2058. “For the Great American Smokeout, we’re excited to share Quitxt to provide real-time help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, handling stress, and much more, all on your phone,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, ...
Clinical trials can help researchers learn to better treat asthma – but they need diverse volunteers. Black and Latino children who have severe asthma, are prone to asthma attacks, and live in low-income urban neighborhoods are underrepresented in asthma treatment clinical trials, even though they are more likely than whites to face health inequities that can exacerbate asthma symptoms. Fortunately, a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial with mostly Black and Latino children found that a monoclonal antibody – mepolizumab – can decrease asthma attacks by 27%. Antibodies are made naturally in the body to fight infection. A monoclonal antibody is made in the laboratory and administered to patients to treat a variety of diseases and infections, ...
Wonder how much the environment is impacting health in your city? Use the CDC’s newest tool – the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) – to get a single environmental justice score for your community. The EJI measures the cumulative impacts of environmental burden through the lens of human health and health equity. It uses data from the CDC, U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. CDC officials hope public health officials use the EJI score to identify and map areas most at risk for the health impacts of environmental burden. “Social factors such as poverty, race, and ethnicity, along with pre-existing health conditions may increase these [environmental] impacts,” according to the CDC. “This ...
In the bar or club, it's easy to find people smoking and drinking. What would happen if health workers walked into these venues to ask cigarette smokers — face to face — to join a quit-smoking service on their phone? To find out, UT Health San Antonio researchers and an ad agency trained "street teams" to go into bars and clubs in San Antonio, Texas, to talk to patrons about joining Quitxt, a bilingual service that uses text messages to help young Latino adults quit smoking. Street teams talked with 3,923 people and enrolled 335 to Quitxt over 10 days in March 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted work, according to a new study in the journal JMIR Formative Research. "Direct outreach in bars and clubs is a useful method for connecting young adult cigarette smokers with ...
More than 50 million people in the US are under excessive heat warnings, and more than 25 major cities have tied or broken record-high temperatures this year, according to NPR. Heat waves are nothing new, but they are becoming increasingly more common and more severe because of climate change, which is a threat to public health, especially for Latinos. In fact, about 702 heat-related deaths occur each year due to heat stroke and related diseases. “Hot weather is associated with an increase in heat-related illnesses, including cardiovascular and respiratory complications, renal failure, electrolyte imbalance, kidney stones, negative impacts on fetal health, and preterm birth,” the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) stated. “Specifically, death rates are noted ...
Two more cities have prohibited smoking inside apartment units. On April 26, 2022, Riverside, Calif., city leaders preliminarily approved a ban on smoking in multifamily-housing rental complexes, including individual apartment homes and attached balconies and patios. Latino tenants helped drive the measure. On May 10, 2022, Vallejo, Calif., city leaders banned smoking in multi-unit residences. Bans like these—to reduce exposure to harmful secondhand smoke among apartment and condo tenants—are on the rise. "Upon adoption, Riverside would join at least 167 California cities and counties that have enacted ordinances to restrict smoking in multifamily housing complexes, said Karina Funez, advocacy policy manager for the American Lung Association in California, which has been ...
