Whenever a friend has asked me about work this year, I’ve used one word: “Chaos.” That’s not a bad thing: I love the jolt of adrenaline that comes from tackling a news story, whether it’s about a new warning on artificial sugar or millions of people losing insurance coverage as Medicaid unwinds. And I love helping readers figure out what’s happening and why it matters. Wait, which seed is all over TikTok now? Why did so many people start drinking raw milk? Why can’t I find eggs anywhere?
每当有朋友问起我今年的工作情况时，我都会说到“混乱”这个词。这并非坏事：我喜欢做新闻时的那种肾上腺素飙升的刺激，不管是关于人造糖的新警告，还是医疗补助计划的取消导致数百万美国人失去保障。我喜欢帮助读者弄清楚正在发生什么事情，以及它为什么值得关注。等一下，现在TikTok上走红的是什么种子食物？为什么这么多人开始喝生牛奶？为什么我在哪里都买不到鸡蛋？
As we — somehow — slide into 2024, I took a look back at the stories that captivated readers in 2023, and what they can tell us about our health in the year ahead.
随着2024年的到来，我回顾了2023年的人气报道，以及它们对我们来年的健康启示。
The Ozempic era is just getting started …
诺和泰的时代才刚刚开始……
This year, it felt like there was nonstop news about Ozempic and similar drugs that can lead to dramatic weight loss. As more of these medications hit the market, more patients started pressing for the drugs, and more doctors started embracing them. Two trends particularly fascinated me this year: Mental health professionals began offering the drugs to counteract weight gain from psychiatric medications, and some people in menopause who were struggling to lose weight turned to them.
今年，关于诺和泰和类似药物的新闻似乎一直没有停过，这些药物可以使体重大幅下降。随着越来越多的此类药物进入市场，越来越多的患者开始迫切要求使用它们，越来越多的医生也开始接受它们。今年有两个趋势尤其让我觉得有意思：一个是心理健康方面的专业人士开始提供这些药物，以抵消因服用精神类药物带来的体重增加；一些在更年期努力减肥的人也开始求助于这些药物。
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The interest in these drugs also moved beyond treating diabetes and weight loss — researchers reported that one of the drugs, Wegovy, could cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes for some people. The expanding footprint of these medications might just be one of the biggest story lines in 2024.
对这些药物的兴趣不仅仅是治疗糖尿病和减肥——研究人员报告称，其中一种叫Wegovy的药物可以降低一些人心脏病发作和中风的风险。这些药物应用范围的不断扩大，可能会成为2024年最大的新闻之一。
… and the Covid era hasn’t really ended.
……而新冠病毒时代还没有真正结束。
Officially, the Covid public health emergency ended this year, a significant milestone as the pandemic settles into a new phase. That transition made it harder for many people to get Covid tests and newly updated vaccines, even as the virus remained a major presence in our lives. New variants keep emerging, and many of us have found ourselves in what feels like an endless cycle of infection and recovery.
今年，新冠公共卫生紧急状态正式结束，这是此次大流行进入新阶段的一个重要里程碑。这一转变使得许多人难以获得新冠检测和最新的疫苗，尽管该病毒在我们的生活中仍然是重要的存在。新的变异不断出现，许多人发现自己似乎陷入了康复-感染的无休止循环中。
The health toll of climate change became clearer …
气候变化对健康的影响越来越明显……
The best part of my job is chasing down answers to what feel like the most pressing questions of the day. As wildfire smoke drifted through New York this summer and the sky turned orange, I rooted through my coat pockets for an N95 mask and wondered, on my eerie commute to the office, just how bad breathing the smoky air was for my lungs. The health risks of climate change are rapidly rising, and more people seem to have started thinking about how the shifting weather will affect their health.
工作中最让我喜欢的部分，就是追寻那些当下最紧迫问题的答案。今年夏天，野火的烟雾飘过纽约，天空变成了橙色，我从外套口袋里翻出一个N95口罩，在可怕的通勤途中，我想知道呼吸烟雾缭绕的空气对肺部的危害有多大。气候变化带来的健康风险正在迅速上升，越来越多的人似乎已经开始思考天气变化将如何影响他们的健康。
Perhaps the only upside, if you can call it that, is that next year, we may at least be slightly better prepared as we adjust to the new normal. The next storm that floods New York, or next heat wave that hits, I’ll know what precautions to take to stay as safe as possible.
可能唯一的好处是——如果你可以这么说的话，那就是明年在适应新常态的过程中，我们至少可以做得更好一些。当下一次暴风雨淹没纽约，或者下一次热浪来袭时，我会知道应该采取什么预防措施，以尽可能保持安全。
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… as did the harms of drinking.
……饮酒危害的证据也越来越确凿。
You might not want to hear it — I don’t either — but the evidence has become painfully clear that alcohol is bad for you. New research this year found that deaths tied to drinking are rising among women faster than they are among men, with the gap between genders narrowing particularly for people 65 and older. And more evidence emerged that alcohol raises the risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer and colon cancer.
你可能不想听——其实我也不想听，但证据已经非常清楚地表明，酒精对人体有害。今年的新研究发现，与饮酒相关的死亡在女性中的上升速度快于男性，尤其是65岁及以上人群，两性之间的差距正在缩小。还有更多证据表明，酒精会增加罹患癌症的风险，尤其是乳腺癌和结肠癌。
For the “sober curious” among us, Dry January offers a chance to think intentionally about drinking in the new year — and a mind-set to consider keeping throughout the year.
对于我们当中那些“脱酒精”运动的参与者来说，无酒1月(Dry January)让我们有机会在新的一年里有意识地思考饮酒问题，并考虑把这个做法延伸到全年。
And what’s old became new again.
还有，过时的重新成了流行的。
If there’s one reliable rule about the otherwise unruly world of wellness trends, it’s that while fads might fizzle, they never truly die.
如果说健康潮流的多变世界有什么不变法则的话，那就是虽然潮流可能会消退，但它们永远不会真正消亡。
This year, Zoomers brought back cottage cheese, long overshadowed by Greek yogurt, and raved about its health benefits. People sought out ashwagandha, an ancient herb, in an attempt to ease their anxiety. And Starbucks splashed olive oil into coffee, getting in on the popularity of a Mediterranean diet mainstay that people have also been swirling into yogurt, ice cream, really just about anything. Some people on TikTok, hoping it could clear their skin, drank olive oil straight from a shot glass.
今年，Z世代让长期以来不敌希腊酸奶的乡村奶酪重现走红，并对其健康益处赞不绝口。人们还找到了一种古老的草本植物南非醉茄，试图用来缓解他们的焦虑。星巴克在咖啡中加入了橄榄油，蹭起了地中海式饮食的热度，而且人们还把橄榄油加在酸奶、冰淇淋等几乎所有的食物中。在TikTok上，有人希望它能起到美肤作用，甚至直接倒进烈酒杯里一口闷。
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What fads will take over in 2024? That’s anyone’s guess. My money’s on all things stress relief — it’s an election year in the United States, after all — so I’m watching out for supplements and products that claim they can calm our anxiety. If only it were that simple.
2024年会有什么样的养生潮流趋势？谁也说不准。我看好所有能缓解压力的东西——毕竟2024年是美国的大选年——所以我在关注那些声称能缓解压力的保健品和产品。如果事情真的这么简单就好了。