 |
 |
Panel Urges Monitoring of Chronic Diseases The Pew Environmental Health Commission and 13 top public health groups have proposed that the United States establish a system to count and monitor chronic diseases like birth defects, asthma and Alzheimer's. A report from the health commission, based at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, said that while scientists had managed to map the human genome and could track infectious diseases with some speed and accuracy, they still lacked basic information about chronic diseases, like how often they occur, whom they afflict, where they frequently occur and the environmental factors associated with them. Lowell Weicker Jr., the commission chairman and the former governor of Connecticut, said, "We responded quickly to the threat of West Nile virus, tracking and monitoring every report of infected birds and people, but 20 years into the asthma epidemic, this country is still unable to track where and when attacks occur and what environmental links may trigger them." The report, endorsed by several public health groups, including the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Public Health Association, noted that a survey conducted for the commission showed that Americans believe, erroneously, that chronic diseases are being monitored. The misperception comes from the small surveys done on different diseases that often suggest, for example, that a disease's occurrence is rising. But, said Dr. Thomas Burke, leader of the study that produced the report, surveys cannot give the vital information needed to help solve the mystery of how diseases move and what may be causing them. Among the diseases and disorders that are not counted and tracked, but should be, the report said, are asthma, emphysema, birth defects, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation, and a variety of cancers, especially childhood cancers. In addition, the report said, toxic agents that are not monitored, but which are suspected of causing disease, include pollutants like PCB's and dioxin, dangerous metals like mercury and lead, and pesticides. The Environmental Protection Agency sets limits on how much of some of these substances can be put into the environment, but it does not track them and try to link their effects to human diseases. An example of the failure to monitor chronic diseases and possible environmental causes was the case of Libby, Mont., the report said. In that town of 2,700, an epidemic of respiratory diseases, including asbestosis, unusual cancers and emphysema, has been unofficially noted for decades. Only this year did a federal investigation find that a vermiculite mine not far away had been releasing tons of tremolite for 50 years. Tremolite is a natural but rare and highly toxic form of asbestos. Investigators estimate that 200 residents have died from diseases associated with the substance, and many more are ill. Active tracking of respiratory disease "might have picked this up much sooner, and started preventive activities 10 to 20 years ago," said Dr. Henry Falk, administrator of the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. By PHILIP J. HILTS Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/science/12SHEL.html janet paterson 53 now / 44 dx cd / 43 onset cd / 41 dx pd / 37 onset pd tel: 613 256 8340 url: "http://www.geocities.com/janet313/" email: [log in to unmask] smail: POBox 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada