Warning: this article seems somewhat sensationalized. I'm posting it as a follow up to the "WTC Cough" article below. --Meemur

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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nypost...housands_1.html

Monday October 29 04:26 AM EST

DOCS: ‘WTC SYNDROME' AFFLICTING THOUSANDS

By ROD DREHER

Had difficulty breathing since Sept. 11? You are not alone.

Emergency workers and others caught in the choking dust cloud resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center are coming down with a series of respiratory illnesses, doctors say.

Dubbed "World Trade Center Syndrome," the maladies include chronic coughs, sinus infections, acute lung trauma and severe asthma requiring mechanical respiration, Newsweek reports in this week's edition.

It appears to have hit firefighters the hardest.

Some 40 percent of the 11,000 Bravest who worked round the clock in the days following the attack are still coughing so severely they are under medical care, said Dr. David Prezant, the chief lung specialist for the FDNY.

Almost 4,000 firefighters are under treatment with steroid inhalants, and at least one is suffering from a rare lung inflammation called allergic alveolitis.

And a Wall Street Journal editor was fighting for his life last week after being diagnosed with vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder. It may have been triggered by inhaling dust from the Twin Towers, near his evacuated workplace.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Answers

Again, I'm not sure about these numbers.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I sure hope we don't lose anyone from this.

Sounds awful!

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I don't know why anyone is taken aback by this report. It stands to reason that if you've been breathing microscopic--and larger--particles for an extended period of time, you are going to suffer some sort of respiratory problem. Firefighters who inhale too much smoke at a fire scene will have respiratory problems for some days, even weeks, following the event.

With all the crap that was in the air around the WTC, it's no surprise that people are having problems. We all remember the video of people running from the area, covered in a thick layer of concrete dust and powdered glass. The first rescuers on the scene either didn't have any mask at all or had a regular mask which did not screen out the finer particles. It was quite some time before proper respirators were routinely used at the scene. It's no surprise, either, that firefighters are having the worst problems--their lungs are already in a vulnerable condition simply because of the work they do.

I hope these problems are temporary but I fear, like the silicosis and asbestosis cases, that there will be long-term serious problems.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I have serious bronchitis problems each fall if/when I do not take extraordinary respiratory cautions when using my leaf shredder. And that's just nice organic leaf dust. I'm surprised they aren't ALL sick, and that it didn't happen a few weeks ago.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Response to DOCS: ‘WTC SYNDROME' AFFLICTING THOUSANDS

Powdered glass. My god. I knew concrete dust and smoke and asbestos were bad enough, but I never thought about powdered glass...

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001