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Rescue/recovery firefighters with "higher exposure" to 9/11 dust had elevated rates of systemic autoimmune diseases (SAIDs), according to an Einstein/Montefiore study. Mayris Webber, Dr. P.H., and colleagues compared 14,000 male WTC workers with a sample of Midwestern men and found that higher-exposure WTC workers (present on the morning of the attacks or on site for more than six months) were 34 percent more likely to suffer from SAIDs; rates in these higher-exposure workers for three SAIDs in particular--systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren syndrome and psoriatic arthritis —were even greater. Lower-exposure firefighters (six months or less at the site) had no overall increase in SAIDs. The researchers call for continued surveillance of high-exposure WTC workers so that long-latency conditions like SAIDs can be diagnosed and treated promptly. The article was published in the December 9, 2015 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Dr. Webber is professor of clinical epidemiology & population health at Einstein. Senior author on the paper was David Prezant, M.D., professor of medicine at Einstein, attending physician in medicine at Montefiore and chief medical officer for the Fire Department of the City of New York.
Posted on: Friday, January 22, 2016