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In Brief
No Increased Incidence of Thyroid Disease From Hanford Iodine Release
There is no evidence of a relationship between exposure to iodine 131 from the Hanford Nuclear Site and thyroid disease incidence, a new report concludes.
In 1986, it was revealed that the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington, which produced plutonium for atomic weapons, had released large amounts of radionucleotides into the atmosphere, including radioactive iodine 131. However, the risk of thyroid disease from exposure to iodine 131 has been poorly understood.
According to results of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, a retrospective cohort study of more than 5,000 individuals born between 1940 and 1946 in one of seven counties in eastern Washington that were exposed to the radioactive iodine, there was no association between thyroid radiation dose and incidence of thyroid cancer, benign thyroid nodules, total neoplasia, any nodules, autoimmune thyroiditis, hypothyroidism, or autoimmune thyroiditis with hypothyroidism. The study appears in the December 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Millions of Americans Need Screening for Colorectal Cancer, Study Estimates
The capacity exists to screen within a year all 41.8 million Americans age 50 and older who are eligible for colorectal cancer screening but have not been screened if they receive fecal occult blood tests (FOBT). However, screening all of them with colonoscopy could take up to 10 years, according to a new study.
Although colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, only about half of those eligible receive screening. There is also concern about the capacity of the medical system to meet screening demand because some methods require specialists to perform them and are more expensive than FOBT.
In the December issue of Gastroenterology, an analysis of data y from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 41.8 million Americans are eligible for but have not received colorectal cancer screening. All of these people could be screened within 1 year with FOBT followed by diagnostic colonoscopies as needed, but screening these people with only colonoscopies could take up to 10 years, based on current capacity. However, because these results are based are national data, they may not apply to smaller geographic areas.
HHS Secretary Announces Resignation
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson resigned on December 3 but will serve until February 4 or until his successor, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael O. Leavitt, is confirmed. His Department includes the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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