Table of Contents
Observer: Tom Krueger
Members present: Andrew Petty, Tom McMahon, Tom Massaro, Amanda Ritvo
CAHM health and wellness survey
Dr. Tom Massaro reported that the Community Assessment of Health and Mental Wellness Committee met earlier in the day. Outreach was going well, but he said more residents still need to know about the survey.
Postcards about the survey were mailed Sept. 29, but many recipients didn’t receive them until later that week. So far, there have been about 1,400 responses. The board hopes to increase participation, especially among residents ages 18 to 30. Responses from the 30-to-39 age group have also been lower than expected.
The goal is to achieve at least as many responses as the voter turnout for Article 3A at the last town meeting, Massaro said.
Newspaper columns
Massaro noted two public health articles that recently appeared in local newspapers. He said there is much confusion about public health issues both locally and nationally, and the board plans to continue publishing articles to clarify key topics for residents. He invited readers to suggest future topics.
One column coauthored by Massaro and Kristin Erbetta of the Marblehead Counseling Center focused on mental health in town. It explained that the board’s involvement concerns community mental health rather than individual therapy.
Massaro said mental health conditions are chronic diseases that primarily affect younger age groups. Other chronic diseases, such as cardiac, pulmonary, kidney and cancer conditions, tend to peak after age 50, while mental health conditions often appear by age 40 or younger. “Investing in the younger group would give a much larger payback,” he said.
Massaro presented several slides, including:
1. Mental health conditions cause fewer deaths than other chronic diseases but lead to longer periods of disability.
2. The goals of public mental health are to prevent problems, reduce their consequences and promote wellness and resilience.
3. Mental health problems arise when the social determinants of health — where people live, learn, work and play — are negative.
4. Programs can improve those determinants across a person’s lifespan.
5. He recommended that town committees collaborate on shared issues, with the Board of Health serving as a consultant.
He said such efforts might require additional resources, including grants. As examples, he cited possible collaborations between the school department and the board on research topics or with the parks and recreation department to encourage more unstructured play for children.
Upcoming article on autism and acetaminophen
Massaro said a forthcoming column will address research on the controversy surrounding autism and acetaminophen use during pregnancy.
He noted that a 1998 Lancet article first linked autism to the MMR vaccine, a claim later proven fraudulent after it was discovered that the researcher sought to market his own vaccine. “Many studies, both domestic and foreign, disproved his claim,” Massaro said.
He provided background on autism, explaining that the term was first used in 1908 to describe social withdrawal in schizophrenic patients. Over the years, clinical definitions evolved through updates to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). In 2013, the DSM expanded the diagnosis to Autism Spectrum Disorder, which encompasses a range of neurodevelopmental conditions — now often described collectively as “neurodiversity.”
The latest debate concerns possible links between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism. Massaro said it’s difficult to conduct randomized clinical trials for such studies, so researchers rely on alternative methods. In one Swedish study that reviewed 2.5 million medical records, scientists compared siblings whose mothers took acetaminophen during one pregnancy but not another. After accounting for genetics, they found no link.
He also cited data showing that rates of profound autism have remained relatively stable — increasing only from 2% to 3% over 16 years — while milder forms rose from 4% to 14%, likely reflecting broader diagnostic guidelines. Other studies have identified genetic variations associated with early versus later diagnoses.
Waste management
McMahon reported on a committee formed following a recent fatal incident in Marblehead. The group discussed prevention strategies and potential improvements to local waste-handling procedures.
