New Links

Since the events of 9-11-01, many people have become ill, especially the men and women who worked together helping in the relief effort. It was during this time, most of the people became sick. The prolonged exposure to these aerial chemicals made them sick and today they are experiencing the heartwrenching pains of these diseases. As a way of reducing the pain, Rescue workers and Recovery workers talk to each other about their experiences on that day and how they coped since then. The first Link added today is WTCSick.com, a forum in which the ill workers are able to communicate with one another and share their experiences to give hope to one another.

A new project started to provide relief for the Rescue and Recovery workers of 9-11-01 is called the NY Rescue and Recovery Workers Detoxification Project. This project is one of the few which brought true relief to the adverse health effects of working at Ground Zero. This project is provided at no cost and is worth making an effort in trying. This project can be found at nydetox.org

The use of the internet opens a new era in finding information regarding the healths of fellow workers of that event. By being able to communicate, we bring hope to another and make new relationships. The best thing about the use of technology is making word of mouth faster for easier access to information.

Monday Sept 11, 2006 SJU Event

On Monday, September 11th, 2006, Artists4Hope is proud to have a table in front of St. Augustine Hall at St Johns University. We will be there from 11:30 am -1:30 pm providing information on the effects of Mesothelioma on the Rescue and Recovery Workers.We hope to create an awareness of Mesothelioma and what can be done to slow down the fatal effects of this disease.

We will selling our tee shirts to students for $10 each, the 100% proceeds from that event will be sent to the MESO Foundation. For those new to this site, Artists4Hope has donated upwards of $700 in our short existence of 4 months. Come out and visit the table and donate as much as you can.

Latest Check Sent to MESO Foundation

This is the Latest check Artists4Hope is sending to the MESO Foundation. At this rate, we'll be making monthly donations and making headway to finding a cure for mesothelioma. Thank you for all your support. Including this check, in the last 4 months, we have received donations upwards of $700 and sent 100% of the proceeds your donations to the MESO Foundation. Thank you everyone, we couldn't have done it without you.
Look out for our 9-11 Fifth Anniversary Tee Shirts currently on sale. We hope to sell more shirts to help to promote finding a cure to Mesothelioma. These shirts will be sold to the St Johns University Student and Faculty Community via our Charity Executives and Directors. If you'd like to purchase these commerative 5th year anniversary Tee Shirts, please email us at IloveNY_marf@yahoo.com and leave your contact information and they will be delivered within the same day or the next day latest. For others outside of the St Johns University Community who would like to order these shirts, order them directly from us and we will ship them directly to you with multiple shipping options!

Immigrant Workers Rally Over Health Concerns At WTC Site

September 06, 2006
Armed with signs and medical proof, some illegal immigrant workers who spent days at the world trade center rallied Downtown this afternoon, saying they need help with the health problems they've developed since the attacks.

Their protest comes one day after the largest study on the health impact of dust at the World Trade site was released with staggering results.

According to the report released Tuesday by Mount Sinai Hospital, nearly 70 percent of first responders developed new or worsened respiratory symptoms after the attacks. Among those who had no health problems before September 11th, 61 percent developed symptoms after exposure.

Mount Sinai's five-year-long study is based on findings from medical exams conducted between July of 2002 and April of 2004; 9,500 workers were tested.

Many of the immigrant workers say that they are also suffering from respiratory problems from working at the site. The report suggests people who responded right after the attacks experience the worst health effects.

Despite the medical nature of the study, Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed skepticism at the results. "I haven't seen the Mount Sinai study, but I don't believe that you can say specifically a particular problem came from this particular effect," said Bloomberg. His stance is putting him at odds with health care professionals.

"There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center," said Dr. Robin Herbert of Mt. Sinai. "Our patients are sick and will need ongoing health monitoring and treatment for the rest of their lives."

Regardless, the mayor announced a series of initiatives to help those who responded to the Trade Center disaster in the days after 9/11. On Tuesday, he announced that the city is creating a five-year, $16-million environmental health center at Bellevue Hospital to treat those first responders and anyone who feels they are suffering from the effects of the dust they inhaled after the attacks. The new health center is set to open in January.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=62352

Study: 70 percent of WTC workers sickened by lung problems

Sep 5, 3:58 PM EDT
Study: 70 percent of WTC workers sickened by lung problems
By AMY WESTFELDT Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Nearly 70 percent of workers who cleaned up ground zero in a cloud of toxic World Trade Center dust have had trouble breathing, and many will be sick for the rest of their lives, doctors said Tuesday in releasing results of the largest-ever study of Sept. 11 health.
Mount Sinai Medical Center's study is conclusive proof of a link between recovery work at ground zero and long-term respiratory problems, doctors said.

"There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center. Our patients are sick," said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the group that has monitored the health of nearly 16,000 ground zero workers.

Herbert said that most of the patients in the study first came to ground zero between Sept. 11 and Sept. 13, 2001, which exposed them to a higher concentration of asbestos, pulverized concrete, mercury and toxins that will leave them chronically sick.

"Our patients were very, very highly exposed, and are likely to suffer health consequences as a result of that for the rest of their lives," she said.

Herbert was joined by lawmakers who blasted the federal government for not doing enough to protect the workers' health and not spending enough to treat them.

But Mayor Michael Bloomberg cast doubt on the study's claims, saying Tuesday, "I don't believe that you can say specifically a particular problem came from this particular event."

Dr. John Howard, who was appointed by the Bush administration in February to coordinate the various ground zero health programs, called the findings "extremely important" and said they support other researchers' work, including a study of city firefighters.

The study, to be published Thursday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, focused mostly on the so-called "World Trade Center cough," a phenomenon that was little understood immediately after the attacks, but has become the chief concern of health experts and advocates since then.

Ironworker John Sferazo, who spent 30 days on the smoldering debris pile and now takes 26 medications a day to deal with his lung problems, said the White House did too little, too late. "If President Bush wanted this situation to be cleaned up, it would have been cleaned up long before now," he said.

He said he was having trouble getting words out at Tuesday's news conference because he is constantly short of breath and has restrictive airway disease. "I'm lucky if I can run a city block without dropping dead," said Sferazo, 51.

In lung function tests, ground zero workers had abnormalities at a rate double that expected in the general population; these problems persisted for months and in some cases years after the exposure, the study found.

The study said that almost 70 percent of trade center responders had new or worsened respiratory problems during or after the attacks. Sixty-one percent of responders who had no health symptoms before the attacks developed problems while working on the "pile" at ground zero. One third of those tested had abnormal lung function, which Herbert said is a rate twice as high as the nonsmoking population.

The study looked at 9,442 ground zero workers examined between July 2002 and April 2004. They include construction workers, police and firefighters and other volunteers who worked at the site, in the city morgue or at a landfill where more than 1 million tons of trade center debris was carted.

Lawmakers said the government has to develop a coordinated funding program to pay for health care for the workers for the rest of their lives, and said environmental officials failed to warn people about the danger of breathing the air near the site.

"It was obvious that the air was hard to see through, let alone hard to breathe," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The mayor announced that a World Trade Center clinic - including treatment for undocumented workers and the uninsured - will open in January at a public hospital.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NY_ATTACKS_HEALTH_BAOL-?SITE=NYNYD&SECTION=MIDEAST&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT