As part of California Assembly Bill 617, the most polluted areas across the state were given support and directions to try and limit air pollution in their area. The Richmond-North Richmond-San Pablo region is among those areas. Bay Area Air Quality Management District board members Marisol Cantú and Jeffrey Kilbreth gave a presentation of work they are doing as part of AB 617 to Richmond City Council on Tuesday, including the steps they hope to take going forward. “Pollution in Richmond has been underestimated and is affecting our health in many different ways, [contributing to] chronic respiratory issues and as well as other cognitive development issues,” Cantú said. “This is data-driven, and we’re holding all of the different polluters accountable as well as regulators.”

As a disability advocate, Andrew Farkash had long been struck by the fact that many people seem to equate disability with unhappiness. In March 2018 he launched a new hashtag on Twitter – #DisabledJoy – to show how crucial joy is to disabled people. “There’s a common misconception that you can’t be Disabled and happy,” Farkash wrote on Twitter. “That you can’t express joy, and if you do, you must not be hurting or Disabled anymore. I propose a new hashtag to empower us and show people otherwise

University of Michigan pediatric neurologist Vivian Cheung made a name for herself studying rare genetic diseases, and in 2008 — when she was on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania — was hired as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, an honor for which she received $1 million a year over the next 12 years to further her research. But after Cheung herself developed a genetic condition so rare it doesn’t have an official name, causing her to start losing her vision, HHMI decide

With the clock approaching midnight, Julia Irzyk could not fall asleep. She was playing solitaire, with her feet up on her La-Z-Boy sofa in her home in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. She was not just experiencing insomnia thinking about the state of the world: Her blood pressure rose to 195 over 110, well above the norm for most adults of less than 120 over less than 80, according to the National Institute of Aging. That meant she was experiencing a hypertensive crisis, likely linked to her autoimmune disorder lupus. Emotional stress can affect blood pressure, so staying calm was important, yet Irzyk was failing miserably. During this episode in August 2022, her husband — her caregiver — was over 2,000 miles away on a business trip, in Chicago. Her dark gray cat, Disney, seemed to sense something was wrong but could not exactly help her receive emergency healthcare.

Eli Lilly will be reducing the prices of some commonly-used insulins by 70%, the pharmaceutical company announced in a news release last week. The company also said it will expand its Insulin Value Program, which caps out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less per month. The decision comes following increased pressure from patient advocates—along with President Joe Biden—about the high cost of insulin, which can make the drug difficult to obtain for many who need it.

• Jordan Flowers was terminated while pushing for accommodations from his employer, Amazon. • Flowers lives with lupus nephritis, a type of lupus affecting his kidneys. • He's spent his time since his termination pushing for the certification of the Amazon Labor Union. As a cofounder of the Amazon Labor Union and its active predecessor, the Congress of Essential Workers, Jordan Flowers has been fighting for workers' rights at the retail giant. At the same time, Flowers, 24, is trying to contro

With each impending new year there's also the pressure to introduce a "new you" into the world—one that exercises more or saves money or switches up their diet. But in reality, many people who live with chronic illness and other disabilities don't have the time or energy to completely transform our lives—especially when caring for oneself is already a full-time job. Still, there are some steps that people with chronic illness and other disabilities can introduce into their lives for the new ye

As the year winds down, the rhetoric around weight loss resolutions ramps up. Additionally, ‘tis the season for unsolicited comments on how much we’re eating. For those of us trying to celebrate the holidays with a family meal, or just enjoy a pumpkin-spiced snack, this could lead to asking ourselves questions like, “Do I deserve to have this food?” or “Will my body pay for this later?”

Like many people, I was extremely stressed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, especially as someone who has an autoimmune disease. My anxiety manifested itself in physical ways, and I started to become sick after I ate anything. After I saw a gastroenterologist, he recommended that I try the low FODMAP diet, which cuts out food and drinks with fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyol, to figure out what types of food were making me sick. Due to not eating enough, I was very, very tired and light-headed.

After I was diagnosed with systemic urticarial vasculitis in January 2018, I took to Google to see what other people's experiences with vasculitis were like. The only celebrities that came up on my original search were Janet Leigh and Harold Ramis — and both, unfortunately, had died from complications from vasculitis. As a then-20-year-old living with debilitating fatigue, chronic pain, and some respiratory issues, those results did not help the dwindling hope I had that my life would move forw

• Prednisone, a steroid, is prescribed to millions of Americans, often to treat chronic inflammation. • While mood swings are a known side effect, some patients say they experienced much worse. • They say prednisone made them manic and suicidal. Some had to check into the ER. I was convinced everyone would be better off without me. It was the spring of 2018, and a few days earlier I had been admitted to the emergency room for a flare-up of vasculitis, a blood-vessel-inflammation disease that

We urgently need your help. DAME reports the stories that need to be told, from perspectives that aren’t heard enough. In times of crisis it is even more critical that these voices are not overlooked, but COVID-19 has impacted our ability to keep publishing. Please support our mission by joining today to help us keep reporting. Since March 2020, Angela Meriquez Vázquez has been living with migraines, fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, and insomnia. The debilitating symptoms Vazquez experie

We urgently need your help. DAME reports the stories that need to be told, from perspectives that aren’t heard enough. In times of crisis it is even more critical that these voices are not overlooked, but COVID-19 has impacted our ability to keep publishing. Please support our mission by joining today to help us keep reporting. Growing up, many of us are taught that being sick is a sign that we’re not taking care of ourselves. This is just one of many erroneous messages about wellness that chro

Today’s news headlines are rife with constant coverage of gun violence, hate crimes, assault, the devastating consequences of a global pandemic, worsening natural disasters, and war. These events are undoubtedly traumatic for people directly affected by them. But even just hearing about devastating news — even if it didn’t happen to you — can trigger a trauma response, too. This is what’s known as secondary traumatic stress — or the emotional distress a person can experience after hearing about

• Branton Stewart is a Certified Deaf Interpreter who's signing at Coachella this year. • Stewart's job isn't just to translate the lyrics — it's to communicate the culture and emotion behind the show. • This is Stewart's story, as told to writer Julia Métraux. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Branton Stewart, a Certified Deaf Interpreter who will sign at Coachella's music festival this year. It has been edited for clarity. I'm Branton Stewart, a Certified Deaf Interprete

Long COVID Is Keeping People Sick Well After Infection Angela Meriquez Vázquez contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 and is still feeling the effects, something she shared during a hearing Wednesday on long COVID. (Screenshot captured by Julia Métraux / Richmond Pulse) Angela Meriquez Vázquez used to be a runner, but after contracting COVID-19 in March 2020, she has not been able to go on a run since. She lives with long COVID, the symptoms of which include myalgic encephalomyelitis for her. Long

In mid-March 2020, with the agreement of my then-rheumatologist, I decided to leave New York City just as it became the epicenter of COVID-19. As someone who lives with vasculitis, I was afraid of how my body would react to the virus. Under my rheumatologist’s guidance, I needed to take an abundance of caution when it came to COVID-19.

In both the show and in Bell’s own life, she initially had a complicated relationship with hearing aids, as they made her feel different. Bell coped with this by viewing her hearing aids as her “superpower” and became more confident in wearing them. Bell told HearingTracker that it is important for parents of children who are Deaf or hard of hearing to pay attention to their kids’ relationships with hearing devices, as they can be complex. “I think every Deaf person, every hard-of-hearing pers

In mid-December, mental health advocate Mario Calderon had one of his TikToks go viral. In the video, Calderon reads an email he’d sent to his company about how employees should be able to keep their cameras off on Zoom calls if they need to. In Calderon’s case, he was dealing with — let’s say a stomach issue while trying to participate in a call. "I would like to apologize if I seemed disgusted in yesterday's meeting. I was actually trying to remain attentive while my stomach was rebuking my c

As COVID-19 cases continue rise in the United States, COVID long-haulers and other disability advocates are suggesting people get in-person PCR tests if they test positive with an at-home rapid test. Leaving a medical paper trail of your diagnosis may be important if you need to apply for disability benefits down the line. If someone tests positive for an at-home rapid test, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that they get in contact with their healthcare provider a