Editor’s observe: That is an excerpt from WBUR’s weekly well being publication, CommonHealth. For those who like what you’ve got learn and wish it in your inbox, join right here.
2023 is sort of over, and for many people, it is a good time to mirror on every part that is occurred in our lives and on the earth over the previous yr.
There have been loads of huge well being tales: we have seen the emergence of revolutionary new weight problems medicine, the rising use of synthetic intelligence in medication, the approval of the primary CRISPR gene-editing therapy, the advanced penalties of the Supreme Court docket’s Dobbs determination, the devastating humanitarian disaster nonetheless unfolding in Gaza and extra. So.
Listed below are a few of WBUR’s prime native well being tales of 2023. They’ve attracted so many readers and listeners such as you, that their results are certain to proceed into the brand new yr, and maybe past.
PFAS are in all places
Scientists are nonetheless studying so much about PFAS, also referred to as “without end chemical substances.” However we all know they are often in every part from dental floss to meals and consuming water containers. They are often absorbed into the physique and are related to some critical medical issues. My colleague, Gabrielle Emanuel, instructed us the story of a girl whose properly water was contaminated with PFAS and helped us perceive methods to mitigate our PFAS dangers.
Boston Marathon bombings 10 years later
This yr marked a decade because the horrific assault close to the end line of the 2013 Boston Marathon. At the moment, medical employees and hospitals responded rapidly to save lots of lives. They’ve developed particular hyperlinks to do that. However as I discussed, the medical system will face better challenges in responding to at this time’s catastrophe, as a result of hospitals are already crowded and understaffed.
Covid has entered a brand new section
State and federal public well being emergency declarations for coronavirus (COVID) expired in Could — and with them, so did many key authorities insurance policies designed to guard folks from the virus. This contains sporting masks basically inside hospitals. The coronavirus has not gone away but, as most of us know from private expertise, however specialists say it now not hits most individuals as onerous because it used to, primarily attributable to built-up immunity and coverings that assist stop extreme sickness.
Boston life expectancy hole
Listed below are some numbers to assist us take into consideration well being inequality: two and 23. In Boston, there’s a 23-year distinction in life expectancy between Again Bay and Roxbury, neighborhoods situated simply two miles aside. My colleague Martha Pippinger has argued that this disparity stems from a number of interconnected issues, together with racism, power stress, and poor housing circumstances. It was one among WBUR’s most-read on-line tales of the yr.
Crime scene at Harvard morgue
This needs to be the scariest health-related story of the yr, and devastating for the households affected. The director of the Harvard Medical College morgue has been accused of stealing and promoting physique elements donated for medical analysis, as my colleague Allie Jarmaning reported. The evaluation discovered that there was little oversight of the day-to-day operating of the morgue.
An inflow of migrants lands at Logan Airport
1000’s of migrants have entered the state’s household shelter system, in response to official estimates. The state of affairs turned so dangerous over the summer time that employees at Logan Airport started making ready beds for the brand new arrivals. For the primary time within the historical past of the Household Shelter Program, there’s a ready record. There are greater than 300 households, lots of whom have medical wants.
