Five Years After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Residents Still Concerned About Health Issues
For thousands of residents living in Lower Manhattan, there was no escaping the dust, smoke and fumes in the days, weeks and even months following the September 11th attacks. And now, five years later, many still have real concerns over what could be happening with their health as a result. Health & Fitness Reporter Kafi Drexel has more, as NY1's coverage of the fifth anniversary of 9/11 continues.
Nelson Marty has lived in downtown Manhattan for nearly 30 years. But since the events of 9/11, he says his health just hasn't been the same.
“I am a runner. I have done the New York City Marathon twice. After 9/11, in 2002, my asthma re-manufactured itself,” he says. “Up until then I had no medication whatsoever.” Now he's taking Advair, an inhalable steroid meant to prevent asthma attacks, at least twice a day. It may seem like only a mild change, but doctors and community advocates say Marty serves as just one example among hundreds, if not thousands, of Lower Manhattan residents who could be suffering post-9/11 health woes.
“There are real concerns out there, especially in light of the catastrophic illness of the first responders, about what may be in store for residents in the future who were exposed significantly to the same hazards,” says Kimberly Flynn, Co-Coordinator of 9/11 Environmental Action. Dr. Joan Reibman heads the Bellevue Hospital World Trade Center Health Impacts Treatment Program, which assess and treat residents of Lower Manhattan.
“We did a study in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health looking at health in the residents the year after the event, and we were able to document a four-fold increase in new onset cough, and a six-fold increase in persistent wheezing in that population,” she says. While the health conditions of some of those people seemed to improve, Reibman says what's happening with resident's health now in 2006 is still very unclear.
“The question is how many of those people continue to have symptoms, and that's what we don't actually know,” she says. Reibman says what doctors need are more answers. She's hoping to get those answers from further inquiries made by the World Trade Center Health Registry survey.
But many residents argue, when it comes to 9/11 health concerns, they've been overlooked, and that the registry is not enough. And while they praise the work that clinics like Bellevue are doing, they'll be formally calling on federal officials to do much more. “What we need to see happen is we need for the federal government to make a commitment to fully fund a program that tracks and treats residents, office workers and students who were exposed to the World Trade Center pollution,” says Flynn.
In the meantime, many residents like Nelson Marty are making a point of staying diligent about their health on their own. “In another 10 years we don't know what's going to manifest,” he says. “That's why I keep checking myself. Every year I go for a full physical to make sure that if there is something I can catch it in time.”
- Kafi Drexel
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=62149
Nelson Marty has lived in downtown Manhattan for nearly 30 years. But since the events of 9/11, he says his health just hasn't been the same.
“I am a runner. I have done the New York City Marathon twice. After 9/11, in 2002, my asthma re-manufactured itself,” he says. “Up until then I had no medication whatsoever.” Now he's taking Advair, an inhalable steroid meant to prevent asthma attacks, at least twice a day. It may seem like only a mild change, but doctors and community advocates say Marty serves as just one example among hundreds, if not thousands, of Lower Manhattan residents who could be suffering post-9/11 health woes.
“There are real concerns out there, especially in light of the catastrophic illness of the first responders, about what may be in store for residents in the future who were exposed significantly to the same hazards,” says Kimberly Flynn, Co-Coordinator of 9/11 Environmental Action. Dr. Joan Reibman heads the Bellevue Hospital World Trade Center Health Impacts Treatment Program, which assess and treat residents of Lower Manhattan.
“We did a study in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health looking at health in the residents the year after the event, and we were able to document a four-fold increase in new onset cough, and a six-fold increase in persistent wheezing in that population,” she says. While the health conditions of some of those people seemed to improve, Reibman says what's happening with resident's health now in 2006 is still very unclear.
“The question is how many of those people continue to have symptoms, and that's what we don't actually know,” she says. Reibman says what doctors need are more answers. She's hoping to get those answers from further inquiries made by the World Trade Center Health Registry survey.
But many residents argue, when it comes to 9/11 health concerns, they've been overlooked, and that the registry is not enough. And while they praise the work that clinics like Bellevue are doing, they'll be formally calling on federal officials to do much more. “What we need to see happen is we need for the federal government to make a commitment to fully fund a program that tracks and treats residents, office workers and students who were exposed to the World Trade Center pollution,” says Flynn.
In the meantime, many residents like Nelson Marty are making a point of staying diligent about their health on their own. “In another 10 years we don't know what's going to manifest,” he says. “That's why I keep checking myself. Every year I go for a full physical to make sure that if there is something I can catch it in time.”
- Kafi Drexel
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=62149
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