• World Trade Center responders with the g

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Fri Jul 30 21:30:32 2021
    World Trade Center responders with the greatest exposure to toxic dust
    have a higher likelihood of liver disease, study finds

    Date:
    July 30, 2021
    Source:
    The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    Summary:
    Researchers have found evidence that World Trade Center responders
    had a higher likelihood of developing liver disease if they arrived
    at the site right after the attacks as opposed to working at Ground
    Zero later in the rescue and recovery efforts.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Mount Sinai researchers have found evidence for the first time that
    World Trade Center responders had a higher likelihood of developing liver disease if they arrived at the site right after the attacks as opposed to working at Ground Zero later in the rescue and recovery efforts. Their
    study links the increase in liver disease risk to the quantity of toxic
    dust the workers were exposed to, which was greatest immediately after
    the September 11, 2001, attacks.


    ==========================================================================
    The study was published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine
    in July.

    The liver is often affected by chemical exposures due to its role in detoxifying foreign substances, and the liver disease whose early signs
    were detected in this study, hepatic steatosis, is associated with
    chemical exposures. Steatosis means that the liver contains abnormally
    high levels of fat.

    In the aftermath of the 2001 attack, more than 20,000 responders were
    exposed to dust, airborne particulates, and chemicals known to cause
    liver toxicity, increasing their risk for toxicant-associated fatty
    liver disease, including the most serious form -- toxicant-associated steatohepatitis -- which can lead to liver failure and liver cancer. Mount Sinai monitors these responders as part of a federal World Trade Center
    Health Program under the direction of Michael Crane, MD.

    "Our study showed that continued monitoring for liver disease is warranted
    in World Trade Center responders -- such as law enforcement, fire,
    and recovery workers in any field at the site -- particularly those who
    arrived at or shortly after the attacks and had a higher exposure to the
    toxic dust," said the study's senior author, Claudia Henschke, MD, PhD, Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology at the
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "At the moment, there are no
    protocols to monitor responders for liver disease, so this study points
    to the need to further study this issue in this at-risk population." Researchers discovered the liver disease by analyzing lung scans of
    1,788 World Trade Center responders being monitored by Mount Sinai's
    World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center of Excellence. While
    the scans were given to monitor the responders for lung disease that has
    been well established as a health issue related to exposure at Ground
    Zero, researchers developed an algorithm that found evidence of liver
    disease in the portion of the liver visible in the scans.

    The algorithm was able to find lower density in the liver, which is
    evidence of hepatic steatosis, in slightly more than 14 percent of
    the responders.

    Researchers later found that responders who arrived earlier -- within
    about two weeks of the attack -- and had a higher exposure to the toxic
    dust at the World Trade Center site had more evidence of liver disease in
    their scans. Responders with particularly low density are being evaluated
    for possible referral to liver specialists for diagnosis and treatment.

    "Our previous work found evidence of liver disease was three times
    higher in the lung scans of World Trade Center responders compared to
    other patients' lung scans, so this new study suggests that responders
    who arrived at Ground Zero earlier should receive enhanced monitoring
    for liver disease," said the study's first author, Artit Jirapatnakul,
    PhD, Assistant Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional
    Radiology at Icahn Mount Sinai. "Now that we have this link, the next
    step is to understand why or how the toxic dust actually causes liver
    damage." It is also critical to further define the characteristics
    and prevalence of liver damage in World Trade Center responders and to
    educate the responders and their providers about the potential benefits
    of liver cancer screening for those at high risk, according to another
    author, Andrea D. Branch, PhD, Professor of Medicine (Liver Diseases)
    at Icahn Mount Sinai and the director of an ongoing study sponsored
    by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that
    is investigating evidence of toxicant-associated steatohepatitis in
    responders to the World Trade Center attack.

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by The_Mount_Sinai_Hospital_/_Mount_Sinai_School_of Medicine. Note: Content
    may be edited for style and length.


    ==========================================================================


    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210730104255.htm

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