From: Robina Suwol
Date: 11 Mar 2004
Time: 03:33:55
Remote Name: 68.189.216.41
NEWSDAY
Asthma, Ground Zero linked A study of 205 children who have the illness and
lived near the World Trade Center says their condition was worsened by the 9/11
attack
BY RONI RABIN
STAFF WRITER
March 9, 2004
Children with asthma who lived within five miles of the World Trade Center had
more severe illness after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, seeing the doctor more
often and taking more medication the year after the attack than the year before,
researchers found. There were no significant differences in care for asthmatic
children farther away.
The retrospective study of 205 Chinese-American children who received medical
care at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in Chinatown, about 1.5
miles from the World Trade Center, was published today in the peer-reviewed
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The review of patient charts was carried out by physicians at Stony Brook
University School of Medicine, a University of Pittsburgh School of Public
Health epidemiologist and Wang Center doctors.
"Air pollution has been linked to asthma exacerbation, so we expected these data
to show the children were worse," said author Dr. Anthony Szema of Stony
Brook. "But until we did the study, we weren't able to show they were worse."
Szema said he will seek funding to continue studying the long-term health
implications.
The number of pediatric asthma-related visits to the Wang clinic increased from
1,044 visits by 306 patients the year before the attacks to 1,554 visits by 501
patients the year after, the study said.
Among the 205 asthmatic children whose records were reviewed, researchers found
an increase in the number of doctor visits, from 3.79 per child the year before
Sept. 11, 2001, to 4.69 the year afterward. The number of prescriptions
increased from two per child to 2.3.
For children living within five miles of the World Trade Center, clinic visits
increased from 3.95 before the attack to 5.1 after. Some patients lived just
blocks from Ground Zero, Szema said.
In addition, during the first three months after 9/11, the asthmatic children
living within five miles of Ground Zero experienced a decline in what is called
the peak expiratory flow rate, the ability to blow out air after taking a deep
breath.
The rate is a measure of airway obstruction that is a gauge of asthma severity.
A decrease in the number indicates the airways are narrowed, Szema said.
While the peak flow rates for the children studied had been within normal limits
prior to 9/11, the mean rate dropped during the first three months after the
attacks.
"These findings support our hypothesis that asthma severity worsened in the
months after Sept., 11 2001," the authors wrote.
After the attacks, dust and fumes in lower Manhattan included fine particulate
matter as well as calcium sulfate and calcium carbonate, which irritate the
upper airways.
Many emergency workers developed chronic respiratory disease.
Copyright � 2004, Newsday, Inc.