Spring Break
'World Trade Center Cough'
A look at some of the physical effects of the towers falling
Rourke Decker
Issue date: 9/24/08 Section: Health
His lungs were a study in contrasts-his right lung still spongy and pink, his left lung rigid and white. As I hefted the cancerous lung from his chest cavity, I was startled to discover that it felt like a chunk of concrete in my hands. I could only imagine the constant agony this gentleman must have endured in his waning years-reduced, no doubt, to laboring for breath from his one good lung as his heart hammered against the hostile, inflexible mass that no longer permitted it any room for expansion. Here's the tragedy: Judging by the appearance of his good lung, this man probably never smoked a cigarette in his entire life; he was simply doing his job.
This sobering moment was one of many fascinating experiences I had while studying anatomy and physiology this past summer. Here at UW-La Crosse, students have the unusual opportunity to learn "A&P" on human cadavers. Every year a fresh cadaver arrives at Ms. Kerry Hoar's anatomy lab. Every year a lucky group of students hones their dissection skills under Kerry's watchful eye. The cadaver then remains in the department as a valuable educational tool for four years, after which it is returned for cremation and burial. This summer the new cadaver presented with a condition known as mesothelioma, a rare form of malignant cancer associated with long-term occupational exposure to asbestos. Last week, as our nation commemorated the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, I found myself contemplating that damaged lung.
In the weeks and months that followed 9/11, reports Andrea Kane on CNN.com, tens of thousands rescue and recovery personnel labored at ground zero without the benefit of proper respirators or masks. Inhaling "caustic dust" and smoke containing a plethora of noxious chemicals-including asbestos-over seventy percent of workers succumbed to an array of health concerns, ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the mysterious ailment dubbed the "World Trade Center cough."
This sobering moment was one of many fascinating experiences I had while studying anatomy and physiology this past summer. Here at UW-La Crosse, students have the unusual opportunity to learn "A&P" on human cadavers. Every year a fresh cadaver arrives at Ms. Kerry Hoar's anatomy lab. Every year a lucky group of students hones their dissection skills under Kerry's watchful eye. The cadaver then remains in the department as a valuable educational tool for four years, after which it is returned for cremation and burial. This summer the new cadaver presented with a condition known as mesothelioma, a rare form of malignant cancer associated with long-term occupational exposure to asbestos. Last week, as our nation commemorated the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, I found myself contemplating that damaged lung.
In the weeks and months that followed 9/11, reports Andrea Kane on CNN.com, tens of thousands rescue and recovery personnel labored at ground zero without the benefit of proper respirators or masks. Inhaling "caustic dust" and smoke containing a plethora of noxious chemicals-including asbestos-over seventy percent of workers succumbed to an array of health concerns, ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the mysterious ailment dubbed the "World Trade Center cough."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Bear Shields
posted 9/26/08 @ 8:24 AM CST
It seems you are left totally unawares of EPA study into the cover-up of the Hazmat nature of the incident. Asbestos and fiberglass were not the worst dangers that we rescuers (and the civilian population) were exposed too. (Continued…)
Post a Comment