Public Health

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/28002973

At first, state officials, including the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, and the state’s secretary of the environment, were quick to blame the neighbouring state of Pará as the source of fires. However, the study and its data tell a different story.

The study revealed that satellite imagery, air quality sensors, and field inspections identified the southern area of Manaus, particularly the municipalities of Autazes, Careiro, and Manaquiri, located along the BR-319 and AM-254 highways, as the main sources of smoke emissions.

Vast areas of forest weren’t lost to accident; they were burned on purpose to make way for cattle pasture. After the fires, bulldozers moved in, water buffalo spread across the fresh clearings, and illegal side roads crept further into once-intact rainforest.

The lead author of the study, Lucas Ferrante, a researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), mentioned:

This study shows that Brazil is heading in the opposite direction of its commitments for COP30, with millions of tons of emissions turning Manaus into a city under smoke. The forest is burning while public officials such as the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, deflect attention away from the fires, even as they endorse laws that benefit those who use fire to clear land and illegally expand cattle ranching.

Fires weren’t just an unfortunate by-product of drought; they were tools in a land-grabbing playbook.

archived (Wayback Machine)

Mesenteric ischemia occurs when narrowed or blocked arteries restrict blood flow to the small intestine, according to the Mayo Clinic's website. There are two forms of mesenteric ischemia: Acute and chronic. Acute mesenteric ischemia occurs suddenly and is often caused by a blood clot, according to the Mayo Clinic. Chronic mesenteric ischemia builds up over time and usually occurs when fatty deposits build up in the arteries.

A chronic case of the condition can become acute if left untreated, the Mayo Clinic said. The condition can cause pain, malnutrition and potentially fatal complications, including intestinal damage and organ failure.

Archived

In China, the burden of diet-related diseases remains substantial. While the overall age-standardized disease burden has declined, marked regional and demographic disparities persist.

Certain dietary risks, such as high red meat and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, are rising, and high sodium intake remains a serious concern. These trends highlight the urgent need for comprehensive, adaptable, and evidence-based nutrition policies to be implemented to address the evolving diet-related disease burden across diverse populations in China.

[...]

In 2021, dietary risk factors accounted for 1.70 million deaths and 38.39 million DALYs [ disability-adjusted life years] among Chinese adults aged 25 years and older. The leading contributors were high sodium intake, low fruit consumption, and low whole grain intake. Cardiovascular diseases were the largest contributors to diet-related DALYs. The burden was more pronounced in males than in females and highest among older adults aged 80 years and older.

Substantial regional variation was observed, with the Northeastern and Western regions showing higher burden.

[...]

Low vegetable intake, once ranked the third in 1990, dropped to the 12th by 2021, while high red meat consumption rose from the 15th to 7th place. Although the ranking of high-sugar beverage consumption did not change, the ASR-DALYs rate increased significantly, with a percentage change of 689.14% between 1990 and 2021.

[...]

Remember that the only way to lose weight is a calorie deficit. Not everyone's journey to learning how to live in a calorie deficit looks the same.

Such waits can be deadly and are not unusual in the mega-city, where notorious traffic jams snarl commutes and only about 100 ambulances serve a population of more than 20 million.

"It's a serious problem, we waited far too long," Hunsa, 25, told AFP. Her mother, suffering a cerebral haemorrhage, ultimately survived the ordeal.

Political and business big-wigs regularly bust through traffic in the largest city in west Africa with armed convoys and flashing lights -- despite not being in any actual emergency.

Ambulances blast sirens, take shortcuts and speed as fast as they can -- but sometimes to no avail.