October 22, 2024 • 37 mins
Is It Allergies, A Cold, Or COVID? Dr. William Berger, allergist and Medical Advisory Council member for Allergy & Asthma Network, outlines differences.
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and often overlooked is male breast cancer wellness - Guest: Dr. Sam Nardello, Surgical Breast Oncologist at Tufts Medicine.
Salem’s Haunted Happenings with guest Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo.
It’s almost time to change the clocks! Board-Certified Psychiatrist, Author and Speaker, Dr. Susan Trachman, outlined how the time change affects our physical and mental health.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and often overlooked is male breast cancer wellness - Guest: Dr. Sam Nardello, Surgical Breast Oncologist at Tufts Medicine.
Salem’s Haunted Happenings with guest Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo.
It’s almost time to change the clocks! Board-Certified Psychiatrist, Author and Speaker, Dr. Susan Trachman, outlined how the time change affects our physical and mental health.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All right, Icole, thank you very much as we head
into a Tuesday night eight o seven here in Boston.
My name is Dan Ray, and we have again a
double team effort going on back in the control room.
Not all these rob Brooks back tonight after a wild
night off last night. He is again working with Dan Cantano.
(00:28):
So we got double double coverage here. You know, this
is uh, this is not off and doesn't often happen,
but we're in we're in good hands. We have four
good hands back there. So no phone calls this hour,
but they'll go to work next hour. Next hour, we'll
talk about ballot Question number three, which is a question
that could, if passed allowed, would allow ride share drivers
(00:52):
uh TO to unionize here in Massachusetts. And then later
on tonight we're going to talk with Emerson College polster
Spencer Kimball about the state of the twenty twenty four race.
But before we get to all of that, we will
begin our conversation tonight with we'll have three doctors and
(01:12):
a mayor in this first hour. We're going to start
off with doctor William Berger, who is an allergist and
Medical Advisory Council member for the Allergy and Asthma Network.
And I guess a lot of us have been feeling
a little under the weather, and a lot of us
are wondering is it allergies, is it a cold? Or
(01:33):
is it something worse like covid? And doctor Burger is
going to help us work our way through that set
of circumstances. Doctor Burger, welcome to night Side. Sir.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Oh well, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So how can we figure out I mean, their fall
has a lot of allergies, we know that. And of
course when the weather one day it's hot, the next
day it's a little cooler. We sometimes people get colds
around the time of the year, you know, and and
COVID coming make it a little bit of a comeback.
(02:06):
What should we look for? Obviously we want to be
able to figure out or our doctors. I'm sure we'll
figure it out. But before, but before we get to
the doctor, is there anything we can.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Do well first to be able to differentiate between the
causes of these symptoms. COVID, as opposed to allergy, is
almost associated with an elevated fever with the temperature we
also see that with the flu very rarely in the
COVID and not at all analogies because allergies are not
(02:37):
an infectious process. The symptoms obviously with COVID are our fever, cough,
shortness of breath, and the one that people complain a
lot about it is that loss of smell. With allergy,
the most common symptoms are sneezing, running nose, watery, itchy eyes.
(02:57):
Usually they're on set is pretty quick as opposed to
to COVID, which you know can appear several days after exposure.
The one that you that is a little more difficult
to differentiate is with influenza because influenza, also like COVID,
can give you fatigue and aches and pains and fever
and chills and cough, So that's hard to tell the difference.
(03:23):
But but covid UH definitely causes greater and more severe symptoms.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, I had one case I had COVID but I
guess now a couple of years ago UH, and it
was mild. But my daughter had advised me that as
soon as you were diagnosed with some of those at
home tests, to get your doctor to prescribe packslovid UH
to to kind of cut it off of the pass
(03:50):
and that, and it really seemed to work for me
either I had a really mild case of that, pax
slova worked great. Are you an advocate of early intervention
as soon as you get a positive tests to get
something to fight it off and specifically pack slowed.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, there's certainly certainly underlying conditions would make it more
urgent that you do start unpackslod and as you may know,
you need to really start it within five days symptoms.
The earlier the better. These are anti viral medicines that
prevent the virus from replicating and causing more severe symptoms.
(04:31):
You still may have some COVID symptoms but doesn't get
rid of it completely. But people, for example, over the
age of sixty five, people who have any kind of
chronic illness, especially in respiratory illnesses such as asthma or
the chronic substructured pomony disease empazim and bartitis, or anybody
with liver or kidney disease. Anybody who has any chronic
(04:52):
illness certainly should consider pack slovid.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
If you're a young person, would you advise generally a
healthy young person, meaning someone in their twenties or thirties,
just to write it out. Even though pax slovan is
the most doubt, is there a downside to the pax slovak,
which would you wouldn't recommend it for everyone?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well, there have been cases of rebound where after you
felt better five to seven days later, the symptoms did
come back. The other thing is that you need to
be careful about drug interaction. So if you are going
to start past packlovid, it's really important that you checked
with the pharmacists or your physician if you're taking any
(05:37):
other drugs, especially drugs that affect liver function, so and
if you are in any immunosuppressive drugs, So those are
those are the types of things that you have to
be concerned about. The you know there can there can
be some issues with liver problems if you are taking
other medicines that also affect liver function.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, it's so important to make sure you do this
through a doctor. Obviously, packs alov it is a prescription drug.
You know, you're not to be able to buy that
over the counter, like a lot of medications, so it's
important there. Let me just go back to the to
the allergies, which I guess in a pyramid here. Uh,
it might be the base of what we're talking about.
There may be more people impacted by allergies as opposed
(06:20):
to a cold or the flu at this time of year.
Allergies are different around the country. So if we're in
Massachusetts and if you're in California or Florida, there's there's
different allergies at different times during the seasons, during the
every every season, I guess. So you've got to almost
figure out where you live and what you might be
(06:41):
exposed to when you when you start to get like
a little minor case of the sniffle. Is that fair
to say?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And the person that can help you out with that
is analogous certainly. People have who have allergies can have complications,
for example, chronic sinus problems. If it gets it affects
you lungs, it can cause difficulty breathing. As far as
pollen seasons, the usual pollen seasons in the spring, we
(07:08):
usually see tree pollens and that usually starts February March, April,
and then into May and June you get the grass pollen.
And now in the fall, especially in the Boston area,
ragweed is the major pollen in the air. Weeds are
seen throughout the country, but different weeds could be causing
different brows. For example, in southern California we have sagebrush.
(07:31):
Not a lot of sagebrush in Boston.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
No, not within my memory. And then one other point,
which which I'm sure you're aware of. I just learned
this the other day. I'm on the wrong side of fifty.
So I had gotten an RSV shot last winter, and
I thought, well, maybe it's like the flu shot. You
have to get a second one. And I went to
(07:53):
a local drug store, a chain drug store, and they
were bout to give me the rs They said, oh,
by the way, have you ever had an RSV shot before?
I said, well, can you check my records? Yeah? They
said you had one last winter and they said RSV
shots one and done. I did not know that.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yes, the concern with RSV again are the higher risk
patients who have respiratory problems asthma, COPD, bronchitis. But the
place that we get particularly concerned RSV is in very
very young children. Is the cause of what we've heard
(08:32):
it was bronchiolitis, and there's not a lot of good
treatment for it. It's just supportive treatment, giving fluid, giving oxygen.
But we really don't have a definitive treatment for RSV
other than supportive care, and so we really want to
do everything we can to prevent RSV infections.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
In I assume that RSV would not be a good
thing for grandparents, but the secondaries, you don't want to
transmit it to a young child, to your grandchild. So
there's two reasons why grandparents should be thinking about that
particular inoculation correct right now.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Fortunately, we do have very good treatments for allergies, We
have very good treatments for asthma. Allergists and promonologist certainly
can can help with that. And this group the patients
who have allergy, and as with the ones that we
worry about with with covid and the ones we worry
about with influenza. That's why it's so so important to
(09:32):
get vaccinated. Right now, they're doing vaccinations combinations of influenza
and covid vaccine. Personally, I did that. I feel that
you know, you should try and do everything you can
to try and mitigate, meaning decrease they of the symptoms
because there is no there's no way to predict how
bad you're going to get young and healthy. People have
(09:55):
gotten very severe cases of both influenza and COVID, so
I would recommend you know that you get it and
the younger people now we have an influenza can be
vaccinated with the use of a navals bro It's called
flu miss in between the ages of five and forty nine.
You don't have to get the shot if your nervous
around the needles. It's a weakened form of the virus,
(10:18):
so you can you can sniff it up your nose.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Okay, Doctor William Berger, I really appreciate you. You founded
the Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California Medical Group
back in nineteen eighty one, so you've been doing this
for a long time and you work with the Allergy
and Asthmen Network. You were great, You've been great. Thank
you for giving us some time tonight, and love to
have you back as we roll through into a different
(10:43):
allergy season. Hope you have a great rest of October.
We've had fabulous weather back here. I hope you have
good weather out there as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Yes, we do. As a matter of fact. Our national
meeting the American College of Allergy is going to be
in Boston starting this Thursday, so I will be in
the Boston area.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Well, it's gonna get a little cooler, by the way,
so pack a sweater. Okay, it's gonna right.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah. Well, thanks thanks for the advice, and thanks for
having me on your show.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
My pleasure, Doctor William Berger. Enjoy Boston. Okay, it's a
great city. Thank you so much. All right, thanks, all right,
and we get back on to talk about another really
important issue. Uh, and that is the issue of breast cancer.
Going to talk with a surgical breast oncologist, but we're
going to focus a little bit on breast cancer amongst men,
(11:30):
which I think is an important aspect of this Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. My name is Dan Ray. This is Nightside.
You're listening to w BZ, Boston's news radio ten thirty
on the AM dial. We will be right back. Of course,
you can always get us in the iHeart app just
downloaded for free. You can listen to us anywhere at
any time. Twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty
five days a year and three sixty six and a
(11:51):
leapyear back on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nights Side Studios, WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Well, I think most of us know that October is
breast cancer Awareness Month, and rightfully or wrongfully, most people
associate with breast cancer with women as the victims of
that disease. But that's not true. And we're going to
talk with doctor Sam Nordello, who's a surgical breast oncologist
at Toughts Medical works both at Toughts Medical Center and
(12:26):
at the Melrose Wakefield Hospital within the tough Medicine health system,
and we're going to talk about the reality of breast
cancer in men, Doctor Noddllo, I knew that men are
not immune to this disease, but how prevalent is it
amongst men? Is it rare? Somewhat rare? How would you
(12:49):
characterize it?
Speaker 4 (12:51):
By Dan? I just want to take a moment to
thank you as well as all the listeners free opportunities
to speak this evening. As you mentioned, it's breast cancer
Rare Month.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Honored doctor, now teller you can we often we get
a lot of great doctors here and we are very
grateful for all of them. Go Red ahead. I did
not mean to up your interrupt you. I apologies.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
I yeah, I wanted to take a month to express
my admiration to all the listeners here who have personally
dealt with or have a family member with cancer. Every
day I'm reminded of their strength and courage, and it
helps motivate me and all my colleagues to find a cure.
So you had mentioned the prevalence. Unfortunately, it is rare. Unfortunately,
(13:30):
cancer is very very common in men. There's about twenty
seven hundred men diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and
it makes up about one percent of all the breast
cancers that we diagnosed annually.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So this is this is in America, not in America. Yeah,
in America. Okay, So if it's you said, it's it's
one percent.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
One percent of all breast cancers are in men.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yes, okay, fine, okay.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
So fairly on, fairly uncommon, but not something that people
should ignore. And you know, if you have a family
history or if you feel something, I think that that's
the reason to bring that to the attention of your doctor.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So most obviously men do not take mammograms. I assume
that they probably are not available for men. And with
that such, you know, a low frequency uh, it probably
would not be worth the risk. So what what should
(14:30):
men do? I mean, would they feel a lump somewhere,
you know, in their upper upper torso and in the
in the what you know, their breast area what we
would call the pecks.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Yeah, that's right, Dan, you know, it's surprisingly I see
a lot of men. A lot of men do come
to see me because they feel a new lump or
their significant other feels a lump and they come in.
And in that case I do recommend a self exam,
especially as there's a strong family history. So if a
man has as a strong family history of either other
men in their family who has had a breast cancer
(15:02):
or a first degree relative, I think it's important not
only to do testicular exams, but to do breast exams.
And if you feel something, that would be a good
reason and an indication to get not only a mammogram,
but an ultrasound. Now, if somebody has a mutation in
a gene such as a brack a gene which places
them at a hundredfold increased risk of developing beast cancer
(15:25):
over the lifetime, that is somebody that might actually benefit
from getting a mammogram on an annual basis, and in
that case, we typically would start mammograms starting at age fifty.
So the conception of just because I'm a man, I
can't get a mammogram, that's something that you should talk
to your doctor about because you might actually have a
reason to get one.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
How do you figure out if you had that gene?
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
It's usually a strong family history. So if you notice
several family members have breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, of cancer, melanoma.
If you just notice there's a cluster, that's a good
reason to talk with your doctor or meet with a
certified genetic counselor to determine if you could get genetic testing.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
And is that particularly I think as it was the
Braco gene, that is the gene that can can signal
perhaps early on or proclivity towards the cancers you just mentioned.
Or are you saying that if there's a preponderance or
a number of each of those, then you have to
(16:33):
be concerned about pancreatic cancer or whichever the cancers are
Those cancers all somehow related, is what I'm asking.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
A lot of times they are related, and that's why
I had mentioned though, So if that's something you notice
where you just have a strong family history of a
certain type of cancer or many cancers, that's definitely something
worthwhile mentioning to your doctor or making an appointment to
meet with a certified genetic Counselor the gene that we
most commonly associate with male breast cancer or is the
(17:01):
bracket gene or b RCA, which stands for breast cancer
gene and most significantly bracket too. There's BRACCA one in
bracket two. Bracket two is a gene that is most
commonly associated with male breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And what obviously, the earlier anything is detected, the better
chance of survival. But it is the treatment for breast
cancer for men basically the same protocol as for women
that could involve some serious surgical procedures.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head with early
detection saves lives. So we see a lot of men
they think that they can't get this disease and oh,
this isn't something that affects men, so we typically would
see them at later presentation. So again just emphasizing the
importance of self exams and self awareness. So if you
feel something, you may notice a hard lump underneath your breast.
(17:58):
You may notice skin tethering, may notice that there's a
mass that seems like it's fixed to the skin or
to the peck muscle itself. You could notice some bloody
nipple discharge, whether it be on your t shirt or
your sheets. That's a great reason that you should be
concerned and bring it to the attention to your doctor.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Well, thank you so much. Boy. That's a lot of
information packed into a brief period of time. You're a
great communicator. I'm sure you equally or even better surgical bristoncologists,
but you gave the clearest answers of many of the
physicians that I've had. So I just want to say
thanks very much again doctor now dello, and again long
(18:38):
day for I know most of you start early, those
of you who are as surgeons, and thanks very much
for being with us tonight. You may have helped some
people in my audience tonight, or maybe some people in
my audience tonight will carry the message on to other
men and to others in their family. So hopefully you
did a lot of good tonight.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Thank you so much for your John, Thank you Dan,
thanks for spreading the message.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You bet you anytime. We'll do it again. We'll do
it again. Doctor Sam Nardello, surgical breast oncologist at Toft's Medicine,
works both at Tough's Medical Center and at the Melrose
Wakefield Hospital within the Toughs Medicine Health System. All right, now,
when we get back, we're going to have our one
non doctor of this eight o'clock hour, and it's going
to be Salem Mayor Dominic Pangalo, and we're going to
(19:24):
talk about Salem's haunted happenings. Oh, that's where you either
want to be on Halloween or the place in the
world you don't want to be. We'll talk with the
Mayor of Salem right after this.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
It's Night Side with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
All right, back to the calls now, and we are
delighted to introduce the Mayor of Salem, which will be
the center of the universe on Halloween. Mayor Mayor just
Dominic Bengalo. You we got a busy month coming up,
by assume, how are you tonight?
Speaker 5 (20:03):
It's been a busy month last month and a half here,
so it's a busy season.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I am absolutely certain it is. I mean, how much
prep when do you I assume you begin prepping this
probably last November my right or wrong?
Speaker 3 (20:20):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
Yeah, we have after action meetings, we start talking about
what worked what didn't work in November, and we work
all year long to prepare for October and even mid
September when we really start seeing the increase in visitors.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Just a point it in context. Salem at this point,
how big a city is it. Does it have a
couple of three thousand people?
Speaker 5 (20:43):
No? No, Salem is a city of forty four thousand
people in eight square miles. And last year in October,
we had about one point two million visits to the
city just in October, so you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Had the equivalent maybe of about twenty five visitors for
every resident.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Yeah, and we have four thousand parking spaces downtown, so
you can do the map about the parking situation.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah. So is there a website where people can go
and get all the information they need about what's going
on and when is it going on so they can
time their visit And then I know what you're going
to tell us about driving into Salem. So let's hear
that too, Go right ahead, mayor.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Yeah, Yeah, So the website is haunted Happenings dot org.
Haunted Happenings is the month long celebration. It's hundreds of
privately organized events, fairs, balls, haunted houses, attractions, parades, all
kinds of activities that are happening in Salem. You can
find out more about those events at Haunted Happenings dot org.
And really we encourage people take the train, take the ferry,
(21:49):
take your broom. Don't drive to Salem. There's not enough parking.
You're going to spend a lot of time sitting in
traffic if you drive, and it's not going to be
a fun experience for you. The train from Boston's only
a half hour, it runs regularly, it's very affordable. On
weekends in October, we have a ferry from Boston and
Long Wharf, and this year we're running a ferry from
hang Them on the South Shore as well, So if
you're coming from the South Shore, get to hang Them.
(22:11):
Take the ferry. It's about a forty five to fifty.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Five minute boat ride.
Speaker 5 (22:15):
It's very pleasant, and that takes you right to our
historic waterfront.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Now, my listeners know that I don't do scripted interviews,
so I sometimes will ask a question to which there
really is not an answer, But I always like to
ask questions. That's that's basically what I do for a living,
done that most of my life. So of all the people,
this one point two five million people who will come
and visit, do you folks in Salem have any idea
(22:41):
about how many continents or how many countries have someone
come there? I mean, I would assume that over time
you've you've kind of realized that not all those one
point twenty five million are coming from the nowesth Shore.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Definitely not.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
We have a lot of international travel. I mean, the
October tourism in Salem is really a boon for the
entire region and for the Commonwealth. We fill hotels across
the north Shore and into Boston along the commuter rail
line on the Newburyport Rockport Line. People will fly here
from other countries and other continents, travel from other states
to experience Salem in October. And if you're one of
(23:20):
those people, we encourage you to plan ahead and think
about traveling and other times of the year, because what
makes Salem special and magical in October it's all there.
In November, it's all there. In February and June, we're
here at twelve months of the year.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
So I'm just I'm curious and this. Have you ever
met someone from I don't know, you know, New Zealand
or some far away place that you look at them
and you say, you've come from where? I mean, yeah,
oh yeah, somewhere like that.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
I mean yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
We have a lot of international We have a lot
of international travel from Asia, we have we welcome people
from Europe. We had a group of dancing which is
from Germany coming to city Hall about two weeks ago
to visit, which is a lot of fun. So people
come from all over the world. They celebrate Halloween, they
celebrate history, and they get a little taste of what
(24:16):
our historic city has to offer.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Now, how is it that the legend of Salem, the
history of Salem has so penetrated not just in America,
but as you indicated, around the world. I mean, I'm
sure there are cities in Germany that or other countries
around the world that people go to. I just had
(24:39):
some listeners. We took a trip with WBC listeners to Rome.
We went to Rome and the Mouthea Coast, and a
year ago we were in Ireland in Dublin, and those
are the cities to think of. But I think sometimes,
you know, people come to America, go to New York
and Washington, d C. Maybe Boston, But Salem is such
a fun city. How does the word get out there?
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I mean, it gets out there for sure. We're Salem
has a notoriety because of what happened in sixteen ninety
two that can never be changed and the impact of.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
We're not even going to talk about that.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
The impact of the witch trials affected the American jurisprudence,
that affected our values. But Salem's history is connected to
the American Revolution, It's connected to American literature, the abolitionist movement, architecture,
maritime history, and trade. There's so many connections that you know.
We love when people come for Halloween fun and they're
surprised by the stories they discover about our connections to
(25:34):
so much about America's history. In twenty twenty six, Salem
turns four hundred years old. We'll have our quad centennial.
We're getting ready for a big party that year and
really speaks to how we look to our past and
informs our future. And we love to share our story
with the world.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
So Salem four hundred years old, Yeah, Salem was founded
in what year I'm trying to do.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
The map, sixteen twenty six was the.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Twenty six I mean they landed at Plymouth in sixteen twenty.
I couldn't walk. It would take me six six years
to get up the coast to Salem. That's I did
not realize that in terms of the oldest cities in America.
Obviously you're amongst the oldest cities in America. Is there
any sort of a sort of a standing that says
(26:21):
Salem is the twentieth oldest city or I'm just curious.
I would think that someone must have.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Been research on that, not that I'm familiar with offhand.
It's pretty early for European arrival because of you know,
just the settling in Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Europeans
was fairly early in the arrival of Europeans on this continent.
But it's it's up there in terms of age. You know,
America is going to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the American Revolution that same year, twenty twenty six,
seventeen seventy six, and we're excited to tell Salem story
(26:48):
about our connections to the revolution. And what happened with
the gunpowder raid unless there's retreat. And the first meeting
of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was actually in Salem before
they moved to Concord. But really Salem's history and its
influence on the development of the nation go back even
further than the twenty fifty year mark. So we're ready
to celebrate in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Unbelievable Boston was founded. I think Boston has had its
three hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and I think Boston was
founded in sixteen thirty, so you were founded before Boston.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Yeah, Boston, it's a yeah, Boston's a quaint little suburb
of the greater Salem area.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Spoken like the Mayor of Salem, and it is the
mayor of Salem, Dominic Pangalo, Mayor. I enjoyed the conversation,
Thank you very much. It was very informative and it
was fun. Appreciate it a lot.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
You're very welcome. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Okay, talk to you soon when we get back. We're
going to talk about We're going to talk with an
author and speaker and a board certified psychiatrist, believe it
or not. In a few days. We're going to move
those clocks, which at spring forward and fall back. We're
going to we' g in the game an hour of sleep,
(28:01):
but it's also gonna it's gonna disrupt our our internal clocks.
We'll explain with doctor Susan Truckman right after this break
on night Side.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World,
night Side Studios on w b Z, the news Radio.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
All right, we are delighted to be joined by a
bird sort of board certified psychiatrist, author and speaker, doctor
Susan Truckman, double board certified in adult psychiatry and forensic
psychiatry with over thirty years of clinical and academic experience.
Double board certified. I like that, that's for sure. It's
(28:39):
almost like double secret probation.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
If of it's just a lot of paper, and it's
a lot of paper.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I got it, I got it. I gotta get a
good sense of here. Thank you. I'm sure you did
a lot of work to be double board certified. It's
almost time to change the clocks. Not this weekend, but
is it Halloween weekend? Are the eight weekend after Halloween?
Speaker 6 (28:58):
Oh gosh, I think I dreaded so much that I
probably you know, haven't looked it up, but it is
coming all right.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Well, one of my friends are going to going to
look it up for us and they'll tell it to
me in my ear. But I think it's the weekend following.
It might be actually the weekend before the election on
Tuesday the fifth.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
Oh, that'll make everyone real happy.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Well, well, it's it's one hour. If exs to sleep.
I love the fall because it's spring full, would fall back?
I get an extra yeah, sleep, I mean plus November third.
I was right, doctor, how about that?
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Intuitively you're better than me, then you're better than me.
Like you said, I haven't been paying attention because I think,
you know, I am one of those folks who really
would prefer that we would just pick one and just
leave it.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
You know.
Speaker 7 (29:45):
Yeah, it's a little frightening that first Sunday evening when
all of a sudden it's getting dark at four thirty,
and you say, wait a second going on here. But
it's nice that moment that morning, if you're going to
some sort of religious service, all of a sudden, it's
actually a little like daylight. So this this does impact
the circadian rhythms of animals.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
As it impacts the circadian mythimum of all of us
and of us you know, I noticed that even you know,
my animals. When I have to get up and it's
dark and the alarm goes off, I look at them
and and they're sound asleep, and I go, okay, it's
time to get up, and they're looking at me like,
are you serious? Are you serious?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
So we also very smart, are very smart?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
They are, they are, and we are all really affected
by the sun. And and that's the basis of the
circadian rhythm. And the circadian rhythm is a twenty four
hour rhythm that basically regulates you know, many human behaviors, sleep, mood, appetite, energy,
(30:56):
and it's hot, it's easier in the fall all to
fall back, and not just so much more that we
get more sleep, but we are less affected by the
change in light. And the two the key, the two
elements that are most important in changing time and how
it affects human health and human mental health is number one,
(31:21):
the amount of daylight that we get, and I can
go into that in just a moment. And number two
is the effect on sleep, and that's the more critical one.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
But the amount of daylight doctor, and you're the expert.
I'm not. But the amount of daylight doesn't change. It's
just you get it at a different time, so you
well in the morning and you'll lose it in the afternoon.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
Right, true, but that also affects our sleep. And the
way that it affects our sleep is if we get
up in the fall, and we get up and it's
effectively you know, an hour later, Yeah, we get more sunlight,
and the brain thinks, okay, great time to wake up. However,
(32:04):
it actually kind of throws off the sleep cycle in
that the hormone melatonin that is important in the process
of sleep is also affected by light. And people do
tend to feel sleepier in the winter, and that is
(32:24):
possibly one of the reasons is that you're spending more
time in darkness, and so your brain thinks, oh, okay, darkness,
we produce more malatonin. We're going to get sleepy. So
you've heard of seasonal effective disorder, which is akin to
the hibernation in bears, for example, Right, so they hybernate
in winter. Well what do humans do? Humans kind of
(32:47):
they get more sluggish, they exercise less. We're spending less
time in daylight, we're spending less time outdoors, we're spending
less time socializing because it gets cold and people stay indoors.
And guess what that can contribute to depression, which is
why depression is higher in folks who are predisposed to
mood disorders in the winter. It also has an impact
(33:10):
on how our brains produce an important neurochemical called serotonin,
Meaning the less daylight your brain is exposed to, the
less likely it is to produce serotonin, which we think
also is an influence and why people are more depressed
or some people are more depressed in the winter.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah, that's seasonal disorder. I am very familiar with it.
I have someone who I know is who's a public
figure who has dealt with that and dealt with in
a very public way, very public way, to her credit.
But you know, it's still it's still funny. The push
(33:49):
for you know, daylight savings time, I believe came from
farmers across the country who wanted to be able to
see the sun a little earlier in the morning when
they were doing them morning choice. Is that folk tale
or is that actually true?
Speaker 6 (34:06):
Well, the truth is, I mean, there's two stories that
are told about the beginning of daylight saving time. One
was that Benjamin Franklin wrote a piece in one of
the Parisian newspapers kind of as a joke, suggesting that
the Parisian should get up earlier because they would use
less oil in their oil lamps that way. However, he
(34:30):
intended it as a joke. But then there was an
American entomologist, which is someone who studies bugs, and he
thought that daylight saving time was a great idea because
then people could get up earlier and have more daylight
to go find bugs. Most people don't tell.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
That in the winter time, there's not too many bugs around.
Speaker 6 (34:51):
I mean, well, they're there, but they're sleeping, so I mean,
you know, if you're looking for bugs, it's harder to
find them when it's dark. But I think most people's
or not. I thought, don't care.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I'm not an entomologist, No, what do I play with
in the radio. But I thought that bugs buried themselves
like in tree bark or underground, and you don't see
any bugs until sometime up here in Boston up you know,
sometime in late April or early main they say, oh, yeah,
I remember that that's an inn, yeah or whatever.
Speaker 6 (35:21):
Yeah, but they come out in the daylight right, because
there's more daylight starting in April. Oh yeah, I know that.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
But I'm saying if you look at if you look
at for bugs in December and January different, I don't know. Yeah,
But so the thing about the farmers is really, you know,
a fairy tale. I thought that was the people who
pushed to get it done and have pushed against those
in Congress who wanted to change it back to the
way it used to they should be before.
Speaker 6 (35:47):
No, I mean, I think you're right. And when when
this country, you know, it was more of an agrarian society,
you know that made sense. But you know, as the
time has gone by, you know, we're less and less
of an agrarian society. And you know, the majority of us,
you know, go buy a nine to five schedule during
the week, you know, including kids who go to school,
(36:08):
and they're very much affected by the change in time.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
I want you to know, doctor, Yeah, I really want
you know this. You're talking to someone who has never
had a nine to five schedule. I worked in television years.
I worked on the late news, and I worked on
the early morning news, and now I do a talk
show from eight to midnight Monday through Friday. Been doing
this for eighteen years. I've and whenever I drive and
there's like other cars on the road, I'm thinking to myself,
(36:34):
how do people handle it? Ni?
Speaker 6 (36:37):
Oh, listen, you don't know what you've been missing.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
I've been in traffic though you travel a lot, and
you've been in traffic, particularly down in your neck of
the woods in the DC area.
Speaker 6 (36:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
I really enjoyed this conversation. You're you're a fun interview
and I'm serious.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
Thank you us.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
It's a serious subject, but you're a good sport and
I can see why you're double board certified in adult
psychiatry and friends.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
Like I said, it's just a lot of paper. But
thank you for having me. I very much enjoyed this.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Well, thank you very much. We'll have you back. Thanks
very much, Doctor Susan Trouckman.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
Alrighty, take care bye.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, so November third will be the day when we
change the clocks by an hour. When we get back,
we're going to talk about question number three on the
Massachusetts ballot, and that is the question that deals with
the potential for Uber and Lyft drivers to form and
join a union. This is a confusing question, but we'll
(37:33):
sort it out not only tonight at nine, but tomorrow
night as well. So we're going to have both sides
of this issue on back to back nights, which is
the way you should do it in radio. Coming back
on nightside
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All right, Icole, thank you very much as we head
into a Tuesday night eight o seven here in Boston.
My name is Dan Ray, and we have again a
double team effort going on back in the control room.
Not all these rob Brooks back tonight after a wild
night off last night. He is again working with Dan Cantano.
(00:28):
So we got double double coverage here. You know, this
is uh, this is not off and doesn't often happen,
but we're in we're in good hands. We have four
good hands back there. So no phone calls this hour,
but they'll go to work next hour. Next hour, we'll
talk about ballot Question number three, which is a question
that could, if passed allowed, would allow ride share drivers
(00:52):
uh TO to unionize here in Massachusetts. And then later
on tonight we're going to talk with Emerson College polster
Spencer Kimball about the state of the twenty twenty four race.
But before we get to all of that, we will
begin our conversation tonight with we'll have three doctors and
(01:12):
a mayor in this first hour. We're going to start
off with doctor William Berger, who is an allergist and
Medical Advisory Council member for the Allergy and Asthma Network.
And I guess a lot of us have been feeling
a little under the weather, and a lot of us
are wondering is it allergies, is it a cold? Or
(01:33):
is it something worse like covid? And doctor Burger is
going to help us work our way through that set
of circumstances. Doctor Burger, welcome to night Side. Sir.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Oh well, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So how can we figure out I mean, their fall
has a lot of allergies, we know that. And of
course when the weather one day it's hot, the next
day it's a little cooler. We sometimes people get colds
around the time of the year, you know, and and
COVID coming make it a little bit of a comeback.
(02:06):
What should we look for? Obviously we want to be
able to figure out or our doctors. I'm sure we'll
figure it out. But before, but before we get to
the doctor, is there anything we can.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Do well first to be able to differentiate between the
causes of these symptoms. COVID, as opposed to allergy, is
almost associated with an elevated fever with the temperature we
also see that with the flu very rarely in the
COVID and not at all analogies because allergies are not
(02:37):
an infectious process. The symptoms obviously with COVID are our fever, cough,
shortness of breath, and the one that people complain a
lot about it is that loss of smell. With allergy,
the most common symptoms are sneezing, running nose, watery, itchy eyes.
(02:57):
Usually they're on set is pretty quick as opposed to
to COVID, which you know can appear several days after exposure.
The one that you that is a little more difficult
to differentiate is with influenza because influenza, also like COVID,
can give you fatigue and aches and pains and fever
and chills and cough, So that's hard to tell the difference.
(03:23):
But but covid UH definitely causes greater and more severe symptoms.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, I had one case I had COVID but I
guess now a couple of years ago UH, and it
was mild. But my daughter had advised me that as
soon as you were diagnosed with some of those at
home tests, to get your doctor to prescribe packslovid UH
to to kind of cut it off of the pass
(03:50):
and that, and it really seemed to work for me
either I had a really mild case of that, pax
slova worked great. Are you an advocate of early intervention
as soon as you get a positive tests to get
something to fight it off and specifically pack slowed.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, there's certainly certainly underlying conditions would make it more
urgent that you do start unpackslod and as you may know,
you need to really start it within five days symptoms.
The earlier the better. These are anti viral medicines that
prevent the virus from replicating and causing more severe symptoms.
(04:31):
You still may have some COVID symptoms but doesn't get
rid of it completely. But people, for example, over the
age of sixty five, people who have any kind of
chronic illness, especially in respiratory illnesses such as asthma or
the chronic substructured pomony disease empazim and bartitis, or anybody
with liver or kidney disease. Anybody who has any chronic
(04:52):
illness certainly should consider pack slovid.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
If you're a young person, would you advise generally a
healthy young person, meaning someone in their twenties or thirties,
just to write it out. Even though pax slovan is
the most doubt, is there a downside to the pax slovak,
which would you wouldn't recommend it for everyone?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well, there have been cases of rebound where after you
felt better five to seven days later, the symptoms did
come back. The other thing is that you need to
be careful about drug interaction. So if you are going
to start past packlovid, it's really important that you checked
with the pharmacists or your physician if you're taking any
(05:37):
other drugs, especially drugs that affect liver function, so and
if you are in any immunosuppressive drugs, So those are
those are the types of things that you have to
be concerned about. The you know there can there can
be some issues with liver problems if you are taking
other medicines that also affect liver function.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, it's so important to make sure you do this
through a doctor. Obviously, packs alov it is a prescription drug.
You know, you're not to be able to buy that
over the counter, like a lot of medications, so it's
important there. Let me just go back to the to
the allergies, which I guess in a pyramid here. Uh,
it might be the base of what we're talking about.
There may be more people impacted by allergies as opposed
(06:20):
to a cold or the flu at this time of year.
Allergies are different around the country. So if we're in
Massachusetts and if you're in California or Florida, there's there's
different allergies at different times during the seasons, during the
every every season, I guess. So you've got to almost
figure out where you live and what you might be
(06:41):
exposed to when you when you start to get like
a little minor case of the sniffle. Is that fair
to say?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And the person that can help you out with that
is analogous certainly. People have who have allergies can have complications,
for example, chronic sinus problems. If it gets it affects
you lungs, it can cause difficulty breathing. As far as
pollen seasons, the usual pollen seasons in the spring, we
(07:08):
usually see tree pollens and that usually starts February March, April,
and then into May and June you get the grass pollen.
And now in the fall, especially in the Boston area,
ragweed is the major pollen in the air. Weeds are
seen throughout the country, but different weeds could be causing
different brows. For example, in southern California we have sagebrush.
(07:31):
Not a lot of sagebrush in Boston.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
No, not within my memory. And then one other point,
which which I'm sure you're aware of. I just learned
this the other day. I'm on the wrong side of fifty.
So I had gotten an RSV shot last winter, and
I thought, well, maybe it's like the flu shot. You
have to get a second one. And I went to
(07:53):
a local drug store, a chain drug store, and they
were bout to give me the rs They said, oh,
by the way, have you ever had an RSV shot before?
I said, well, can you check my records? Yeah? They
said you had one last winter and they said RSV
shots one and done. I did not know that.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yes, the concern with RSV again are the higher risk
patients who have respiratory problems asthma, COPD, bronchitis. But the
place that we get particularly concerned RSV is in very
very young children. Is the cause of what we've heard
(08:32):
it was bronchiolitis, and there's not a lot of good
treatment for it. It's just supportive treatment, giving fluid, giving oxygen.
But we really don't have a definitive treatment for RSV
other than supportive care, and so we really want to
do everything we can to prevent RSV infections.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
In I assume that RSV would not be a good
thing for grandparents, but the secondaries, you don't want to
transmit it to a young child, to your grandchild. So
there's two reasons why grandparents should be thinking about that
particular inoculation correct right now.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Fortunately, we do have very good treatments for allergies, We
have very good treatments for asthma. Allergists and promonologist certainly
can can help with that. And this group the patients
who have allergy, and as with the ones that we
worry about with with covid and the ones we worry
about with influenza. That's why it's so so important to
(09:32):
get vaccinated. Right now, they're doing vaccinations combinations of influenza
and covid vaccine. Personally, I did that. I feel that
you know, you should try and do everything you can
to try and mitigate, meaning decrease they of the symptoms
because there is no there's no way to predict how
bad you're going to get young and healthy. People have
(09:55):
gotten very severe cases of both influenza and COVID, so
I would recommend you know that you get it and
the younger people now we have an influenza can be
vaccinated with the use of a navals bro It's called
flu miss in between the ages of five and forty nine.
You don't have to get the shot if your nervous
around the needles. It's a weakened form of the virus,
(10:18):
so you can you can sniff it up your nose.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Okay, Doctor William Berger, I really appreciate you. You founded
the Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California Medical Group
back in nineteen eighty one, so you've been doing this
for a long time and you work with the Allergy
and Asthmen Network. You were great, You've been great. Thank
you for giving us some time tonight, and love to
have you back as we roll through into a different
(10:43):
allergy season. Hope you have a great rest of October.
We've had fabulous weather back here. I hope you have
good weather out there as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Yes, we do. As a matter of fact. Our national
meeting the American College of Allergy is going to be
in Boston starting this Thursday, so I will be in
the Boston area.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Well, it's gonna get a little cooler, by the way,
so pack a sweater. Okay, it's gonna right.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah. Well, thanks thanks for the advice, and thanks for
having me on your show.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
My pleasure, Doctor William Berger. Enjoy Boston. Okay, it's a
great city. Thank you so much. All right, thanks, all right,
and we get back on to talk about another really
important issue. Uh, and that is the issue of breast cancer.
Going to talk with a surgical breast oncologist, but we're
going to focus a little bit on breast cancer amongst men,
(11:30):
which I think is an important aspect of this Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. My name is Dan Ray. This is Nightside.
You're listening to w BZ, Boston's news radio ten thirty
on the AM dial. We will be right back. Of course,
you can always get us in the iHeart app just
downloaded for free. You can listen to us anywhere at
any time. Twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty
five days a year and three sixty six and a
(11:51):
leapyear back on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nights Side Studios, WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Well, I think most of us know that October is
breast cancer Awareness Month, and rightfully or wrongfully, most people
associate with breast cancer with women as the victims of
that disease. But that's not true. And we're going to
talk with doctor Sam Nordello, who's a surgical breast oncologist
at Toughts Medical works both at Toughts Medical Center and
(12:26):
at the Melrose Wakefield Hospital within the tough Medicine health system,
and we're going to talk about the reality of breast
cancer in men, Doctor Noddllo, I knew that men are
not immune to this disease, but how prevalent is it
amongst men? Is it rare? Somewhat rare? How would you
(12:49):
characterize it?
Speaker 4 (12:51):
By Dan? I just want to take a moment to
thank you as well as all the listeners free opportunities
to speak this evening. As you mentioned, it's breast cancer
Rare Month.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Honored doctor, now teller you can we often we get
a lot of great doctors here and we are very
grateful for all of them. Go Red ahead. I did
not mean to up your interrupt you. I apologies.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
I yeah, I wanted to take a month to express
my admiration to all the listeners here who have personally
dealt with or have a family member with cancer. Every
day I'm reminded of their strength and courage, and it
helps motivate me and all my colleagues to find a cure.
So you had mentioned the prevalence. Unfortunately, it is rare. Unfortunately,
(13:30):
cancer is very very common in men. There's about twenty
seven hundred men diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and
it makes up about one percent of all the breast
cancers that we diagnosed annually.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So this is this is in America, not in America. Yeah,
in America. Okay, So if it's you said, it's it's
one percent.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
One percent of all breast cancers are in men.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yes, okay, fine, okay.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
So fairly on, fairly uncommon, but not something that people
should ignore. And you know, if you have a family
history or if you feel something, I think that that's
the reason to bring that to the attention of your doctor.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So most obviously men do not take mammograms. I assume
that they probably are not available for men. And with
that such, you know, a low frequency uh, it probably
would not be worth the risk. So what what should
(14:30):
men do? I mean, would they feel a lump somewhere,
you know, in their upper upper torso and in the
in the what you know, their breast area what we
would call the pecks.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Yeah, that's right, Dan, you know, it's surprisingly I see
a lot of men. A lot of men do come
to see me because they feel a new lump or
their significant other feels a lump and they come in.
And in that case I do recommend a self exam,
especially as there's a strong family history. So if a
man has as a strong family history of either other
men in their family who has had a breast cancer
(15:02):
or a first degree relative, I think it's important not
only to do testicular exams, but to do breast exams.
And if you feel something, that would be a good
reason and an indication to get not only a mammogram,
but an ultrasound. Now, if somebody has a mutation in
a gene such as a brack a gene which places
them at a hundredfold increased risk of developing beast cancer
(15:25):
over the lifetime, that is somebody that might actually benefit
from getting a mammogram on an annual basis, and in
that case, we typically would start mammograms starting at age fifty.
So the conception of just because I'm a man, I
can't get a mammogram, that's something that you should talk
to your doctor about because you might actually have a
reason to get one.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
How do you figure out if you had that gene?
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
It's usually a strong family history. So if you notice
several family members have breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, of cancer, melanoma.
If you just notice there's a cluster, that's a good
reason to talk with your doctor or meet with a
certified genetic counselor to determine if you could get genetic testing.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
And is that particularly I think as it was the
Braco gene, that is the gene that can can signal
perhaps early on or proclivity towards the cancers you just mentioned.
Or are you saying that if there's a preponderance or
a number of each of those, then you have to
(16:33):
be concerned about pancreatic cancer or whichever the cancers are
Those cancers all somehow related, is what I'm asking.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
A lot of times they are related, and that's why
I had mentioned though, So if that's something you notice
where you just have a strong family history of a
certain type of cancer or many cancers, that's definitely something
worthwhile mentioning to your doctor or making an appointment to
meet with a certified genetic Counselor the gene that we
most commonly associate with male breast cancer or is the
(17:01):
bracket gene or b RCA, which stands for breast cancer
gene and most significantly bracket too. There's BRACCA one in
bracket two. Bracket two is a gene that is most
commonly associated with male breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And what obviously, the earlier anything is detected, the better
chance of survival. But it is the treatment for breast
cancer for men basically the same protocol as for women
that could involve some serious surgical procedures.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head with early
detection saves lives. So we see a lot of men
they think that they can't get this disease and oh,
this isn't something that affects men, so we typically would
see them at later presentation. So again just emphasizing the
importance of self exams and self awareness. So if you
feel something, you may notice a hard lump underneath your breast.
(17:58):
You may notice skin tethering, may notice that there's a
mass that seems like it's fixed to the skin or
to the peck muscle itself. You could notice some bloody
nipple discharge, whether it be on your t shirt or
your sheets. That's a great reason that you should be
concerned and bring it to the attention to your doctor.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Well, thank you so much. Boy. That's a lot of
information packed into a brief period of time. You're a
great communicator. I'm sure you equally or even better surgical bristoncologists,
but you gave the clearest answers of many of the
physicians that I've had. So I just want to say
thanks very much again doctor now dello, and again long
(18:38):
day for I know most of you start early, those
of you who are as surgeons, and thanks very much
for being with us tonight. You may have helped some
people in my audience tonight, or maybe some people in
my audience tonight will carry the message on to other
men and to others in their family. So hopefully you
did a lot of good tonight.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Thank you so much for your John, Thank you Dan,
thanks for spreading the message.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You bet you anytime. We'll do it again. We'll do
it again. Doctor Sam Nardello, surgical breast oncologist at Toft's Medicine,
works both at Tough's Medical Center and at the Melrose
Wakefield Hospital within the Toughs Medicine Health System. All right, now,
when we get back, we're going to have our one
non doctor of this eight o'clock hour, and it's going
to be Salem Mayor Dominic Pangalo, and we're going to
(19:24):
talk about Salem's haunted happenings. Oh, that's where you either
want to be on Halloween or the place in the
world you don't want to be. We'll talk with the
Mayor of Salem right after this.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
It's Night Side with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
All right, back to the calls now, and we are
delighted to introduce the Mayor of Salem, which will be
the center of the universe on Halloween. Mayor Mayor just
Dominic Bengalo. You we got a busy month coming up,
by assume, how are you tonight?
Speaker 5 (20:03):
It's been a busy month last month and a half here,
so it's a busy season.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I am absolutely certain it is. I mean, how much
prep when do you I assume you begin prepping this
probably last November my right or wrong?
Speaker 3 (20:20):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
Yeah, we have after action meetings, we start talking about
what worked what didn't work in November, and we work
all year long to prepare for October and even mid
September when we really start seeing the increase in visitors.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Just a point it in context. Salem at this point,
how big a city is it. Does it have a
couple of three thousand people?
Speaker 5 (20:43):
No? No, Salem is a city of forty four thousand
people in eight square miles. And last year in October,
we had about one point two million visits to the
city just in October, so you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Had the equivalent maybe of about twenty five visitors for
every resident.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Yeah, and we have four thousand parking spaces downtown, so
you can do the map about the parking situation.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah. So is there a website where people can go
and get all the information they need about what's going
on and when is it going on so they can
time their visit And then I know what you're going
to tell us about driving into Salem. So let's hear
that too, Go right ahead, mayor.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Yeah, Yeah, So the website is haunted Happenings dot org.
Haunted Happenings is the month long celebration. It's hundreds of
privately organized events, fairs, balls, haunted houses, attractions, parades, all
kinds of activities that are happening in Salem. You can
find out more about those events at Haunted Happenings dot org.
And really we encourage people take the train, take the ferry,
(21:49):
take your broom. Don't drive to Salem. There's not enough parking.
You're going to spend a lot of time sitting in
traffic if you drive, and it's not going to be
a fun experience for you. The train from Boston's only
a half hour, it runs regularly, it's very affordable. On
weekends in October, we have a ferry from Boston and
Long Wharf, and this year we're running a ferry from
hang Them on the South Shore as well, So if
you're coming from the South Shore, get to hang Them.
(22:11):
Take the ferry. It's about a forty five to fifty.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Five minute boat ride.
Speaker 5 (22:15):
It's very pleasant, and that takes you right to our
historic waterfront.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Now, my listeners know that I don't do scripted interviews,
so I sometimes will ask a question to which there
really is not an answer, But I always like to
ask questions. That's that's basically what I do for a living,
done that most of my life. So of all the people,
this one point two five million people who will come
and visit, do you folks in Salem have any idea
(22:41):
about how many continents or how many countries have someone
come there? I mean, I would assume that over time
you've you've kind of realized that not all those one
point twenty five million are coming from the nowesth Shore.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Definitely not.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
We have a lot of international travel. I mean, the
October tourism in Salem is really a boon for the
entire region and for the Commonwealth. We fill hotels across
the north Shore and into Boston along the commuter rail
line on the Newburyport Rockport Line. People will fly here
from other countries and other continents, travel from other states
to experience Salem in October. And if you're one of
(23:20):
those people, we encourage you to plan ahead and think
about traveling and other times of the year, because what
makes Salem special and magical in October it's all there.
In November, it's all there. In February and June, we're
here at twelve months of the year.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
So I'm just I'm curious and this. Have you ever
met someone from I don't know, you know, New Zealand
or some far away place that you look at them
and you say, you've come from where? I mean, yeah,
oh yeah, somewhere like that.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
I mean yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
We have a lot of international We have a lot
of international travel from Asia, we have we welcome people
from Europe. We had a group of dancing which is
from Germany coming to city Hall about two weeks ago
to visit, which is a lot of fun. So people
come from all over the world. They celebrate Halloween, they
celebrate history, and they get a little taste of what
(24:16):
our historic city has to offer.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Now, how is it that the legend of Salem, the
history of Salem has so penetrated not just in America,
but as you indicated, around the world. I mean, I'm
sure there are cities in Germany that or other countries
around the world that people go to. I just had
(24:39):
some listeners. We took a trip with WBC listeners to Rome.
We went to Rome and the Mouthea Coast, and a
year ago we were in Ireland in Dublin, and those
are the cities to think of. But I think sometimes,
you know, people come to America, go to New York
and Washington, d C. Maybe Boston, But Salem is such
a fun city. How does the word get out there?
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I mean, it gets out there for sure. We're Salem
has a notoriety because of what happened in sixteen ninety
two that can never be changed and the impact of.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
We're not even going to talk about that.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
The impact of the witch trials affected the American jurisprudence,
that affected our values. But Salem's history is connected to
the American Revolution, It's connected to American literature, the abolitionist movement, architecture,
maritime history, and trade. There's so many connections that you know.
We love when people come for Halloween fun and they're
surprised by the stories they discover about our connections to
(25:34):
so much about America's history. In twenty twenty six, Salem
turns four hundred years old. We'll have our quad centennial.
We're getting ready for a big party that year and
really speaks to how we look to our past and
informs our future. And we love to share our story
with the world.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
So Salem four hundred years old, Yeah, Salem was founded
in what year I'm trying to do.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
The map, sixteen twenty six was the.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Twenty six I mean they landed at Plymouth in sixteen twenty.
I couldn't walk. It would take me six six years
to get up the coast to Salem. That's I did
not realize that in terms of the oldest cities in America.
Obviously you're amongst the oldest cities in America. Is there
any sort of a sort of a standing that says
(26:21):
Salem is the twentieth oldest city or I'm just curious.
I would think that someone must have.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Been research on that, not that I'm familiar with offhand.
It's pretty early for European arrival because of you know,
just the settling in Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Europeans
was fairly early in the arrival of Europeans on this continent.
But it's it's up there in terms of age. You know,
America is going to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the American Revolution that same year, twenty twenty six,
seventeen seventy six, and we're excited to tell Salem story
(26:48):
about our connections to the revolution. And what happened with
the gunpowder raid unless there's retreat. And the first meeting
of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was actually in Salem before
they moved to Concord. But really Salem's history and its
influence on the development of the nation go back even
further than the twenty fifty year mark. So we're ready
to celebrate in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Unbelievable Boston was founded. I think Boston has had its
three hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and I think Boston was
founded in sixteen thirty, so you were founded before Boston.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Yeah, Boston, it's a yeah, Boston's a quaint little suburb
of the greater Salem area.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Spoken like the Mayor of Salem, and it is the
mayor of Salem, Dominic Pangalo, Mayor. I enjoyed the conversation,
Thank you very much. It was very informative and it
was fun. Appreciate it a lot.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
You're very welcome. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Okay, talk to you soon when we get back. We're
going to talk about We're going to talk with an
author and speaker and a board certified psychiatrist, believe it
or not. In a few days. We're going to move
those clocks, which at spring forward and fall back. We're
going to we' g in the game an hour of sleep,
(28:01):
but it's also gonna it's gonna disrupt our our internal clocks.
We'll explain with doctor Susan Truckman right after this break
on night Side.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World,
night Side Studios on w b Z, the news Radio.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
All right, we are delighted to be joined by a
bird sort of board certified psychiatrist, author and speaker, doctor
Susan Truckman, double board certified in adult psychiatry and forensic
psychiatry with over thirty years of clinical and academic experience.
Double board certified. I like that, that's for sure. It's
(28:39):
almost like double secret probation.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
If of it's just a lot of paper, and it's
a lot of paper.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I got it, I got it. I gotta get a
good sense of here. Thank you. I'm sure you did
a lot of work to be double board certified. It's
almost time to change the clocks. Not this weekend, but
is it Halloween weekend? Are the eight weekend after Halloween?
Speaker 6 (28:58):
Oh gosh, I think I dreaded so much that I
probably you know, haven't looked it up, but it is
coming all right.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Well, one of my friends are going to going to
look it up for us and they'll tell it to
me in my ear. But I think it's the weekend following.
It might be actually the weekend before the election on
Tuesday the fifth.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
Oh, that'll make everyone real happy.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Well, well, it's it's one hour. If exs to sleep.
I love the fall because it's spring full, would fall back?
I get an extra yeah, sleep, I mean plus November third.
I was right, doctor, how about that?
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Intuitively you're better than me, then you're better than me.
Like you said, I haven't been paying attention because I think,
you know, I am one of those folks who really
would prefer that we would just pick one and just
leave it.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
You know.
Speaker 7 (29:45):
Yeah, it's a little frightening that first Sunday evening when
all of a sudden it's getting dark at four thirty,
and you say, wait a second going on here. But
it's nice that moment that morning, if you're going to
some sort of religious service, all of a sudden, it's
actually a little like daylight. So this this does impact
the circadian rhythms of animals.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
As it impacts the circadian mythimum of all of us
and of us you know, I noticed that even you know,
my animals. When I have to get up and it's
dark and the alarm goes off, I look at them
and and they're sound asleep, and I go, okay, it's
time to get up, and they're looking at me like,
are you serious? Are you serious?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
So we also very smart, are very smart?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
They are, they are, and we are all really affected
by the sun. And and that's the basis of the
circadian rhythm. And the circadian rhythm is a twenty four
hour rhythm that basically regulates you know, many human behaviors, sleep, mood, appetite, energy,
(30:56):
and it's hot, it's easier in the fall all to
fall back, and not just so much more that we
get more sleep, but we are less affected by the
change in light. And the two the key, the two
elements that are most important in changing time and how
it affects human health and human mental health is number one,
(31:21):
the amount of daylight that we get, and I can
go into that in just a moment. And number two
is the effect on sleep, and that's the more critical one.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
But the amount of daylight doctor, and you're the expert.
I'm not. But the amount of daylight doesn't change. It's
just you get it at a different time, so you
well in the morning and you'll lose it in the afternoon.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
Right, true, but that also affects our sleep. And the
way that it affects our sleep is if we get
up in the fall, and we get up and it's
effectively you know, an hour later, Yeah, we get more sunlight,
and the brain thinks, okay, great time to wake up. However,
(32:04):
it actually kind of throws off the sleep cycle in
that the hormone melatonin that is important in the process
of sleep is also affected by light. And people do
tend to feel sleepier in the winter, and that is
(32:24):
possibly one of the reasons is that you're spending more
time in darkness, and so your brain thinks, oh, okay, darkness,
we produce more malatonin. We're going to get sleepy. So
you've heard of seasonal effective disorder, which is akin to
the hibernation in bears, for example, Right, so they hybernate
in winter. Well what do humans do? Humans kind of
(32:47):
they get more sluggish, they exercise less. We're spending less
time in daylight, we're spending less time outdoors, we're spending
less time socializing because it gets cold and people stay indoors.
And guess what that can contribute to depression, which is
why depression is higher in folks who are predisposed to
mood disorders in the winter. It also has an impact
(33:10):
on how our brains produce an important neurochemical called serotonin,
Meaning the less daylight your brain is exposed to, the
less likely it is to produce serotonin, which we think
also is an influence and why people are more depressed
or some people are more depressed in the winter.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah, that's seasonal disorder. I am very familiar with it.
I have someone who I know is who's a public
figure who has dealt with that and dealt with in
a very public way, very public way, to her credit.
But you know, it's still it's still funny. The push
(33:49):
for you know, daylight savings time, I believe came from
farmers across the country who wanted to be able to
see the sun a little earlier in the morning when
they were doing them morning choice. Is that folk tale
or is that actually true?
Speaker 6 (34:06):
Well, the truth is, I mean, there's two stories that
are told about the beginning of daylight saving time. One
was that Benjamin Franklin wrote a piece in one of
the Parisian newspapers kind of as a joke, suggesting that
the Parisian should get up earlier because they would use
less oil in their oil lamps that way. However, he
(34:30):
intended it as a joke. But then there was an
American entomologist, which is someone who studies bugs, and he
thought that daylight saving time was a great idea because
then people could get up earlier and have more daylight
to go find bugs. Most people don't tell.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
That in the winter time, there's not too many bugs around.
Speaker 6 (34:51):
I mean, well, they're there, but they're sleeping, so I mean,
you know, if you're looking for bugs, it's harder to
find them when it's dark. But I think most people's
or not. I thought, don't care.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I'm not an entomologist, No, what do I play with
in the radio. But I thought that bugs buried themselves
like in tree bark or underground, and you don't see
any bugs until sometime up here in Boston up you know,
sometime in late April or early main they say, oh, yeah,
I remember that that's an inn, yeah or whatever.
Speaker 6 (35:21):
Yeah, but they come out in the daylight right, because
there's more daylight starting in April. Oh yeah, I know that.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
But I'm saying if you look at if you look
at for bugs in December and January different, I don't know. Yeah,
But so the thing about the farmers is really, you know,
a fairy tale. I thought that was the people who
pushed to get it done and have pushed against those
in Congress who wanted to change it back to the
way it used to they should be before.
Speaker 6 (35:47):
No, I mean, I think you're right. And when when
this country, you know, it was more of an agrarian society,
you know that made sense. But you know, as the
time has gone by, you know, we're less and less
of an agrarian society. And you know, the majority of us,
you know, go buy a nine to five schedule during
the week, you know, including kids who go to school,
(36:08):
and they're very much affected by the change in time.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
I want you to know, doctor, Yeah, I really want
you know this. You're talking to someone who has never
had a nine to five schedule. I worked in television years.
I worked on the late news, and I worked on
the early morning news, and now I do a talk
show from eight to midnight Monday through Friday. Been doing
this for eighteen years. I've and whenever I drive and
there's like other cars on the road, I'm thinking to myself,
(36:34):
how do people handle it? Ni?
Speaker 6 (36:37):
Oh, listen, you don't know what you've been missing.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
I've been in traffic though you travel a lot, and
you've been in traffic, particularly down in your neck of
the woods in the DC area.
Speaker 6 (36:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
I really enjoyed this conversation. You're you're a fun interview
and I'm serious.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
Thank you us.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
It's a serious subject, but you're a good sport and
I can see why you're double board certified in adult
psychiatry and friends.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
Like I said, it's just a lot of paper. But
thank you for having me. I very much enjoyed this.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Well, thank you very much. We'll have you back. Thanks
very much, Doctor Susan Trouckman.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
Alrighty, take care bye.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, so November third will be the day when we
change the clocks by an hour. When we get back,
we're going to talk about question number three on the
Massachusetts ballot, and that is the question that deals with
the potential for Uber and Lyft drivers to form and
join a union. This is a confusing question, but we'll
(37:33):
sort it out not only tonight at nine, but tomorrow
night as well. So we're going to have both sides
of this issue on back to back nights, which is
the way you should do it in radio. Coming back
on nightside
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