Monthly Archives: July 2013

A new study by researchers at Emory University has found that people living near factories that emit a chemical known as benzene are at greater risk for developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL, a blood cancer. The study, conducted in and around Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, concluded that for each additional mile a person lived from benzene-emitting petroleum refineries and manufacturing plants, their NHL risk dropped by 0.31%. Pediatrics, Hematology and Medical Oncology professor Christopher Flowers, one of the lead researchers behind the study, said that the difference in risk for NHL between those living closest to and farthest from factories is substantial. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a term that describes several different conditions, some of which are much more aggressive than others.

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that while life expectancy for African Americans has improved over the last several decades, it still lacks parity with life expectancy for whites in the United States. As of 2010, African Americans lived roughly 3.8 years shorter than whites, on average. The positive news from the CDC indicates that African American men were living an average of 2.7 years longer in 2009 than in 2000. The life expectancy for African American females also increased 2.3 years during the same period. Breaking down the life expectancy data by causes of death, African Americans had higher death rates from diabetes, homicide, cancer, heart disease and infancy conditions.