9/11 Survivors Are at a Higher Risk to Develop Heart Disease

9/11 survivors are still at risk of developing many health conditions

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Survivors of the terrorist attacks from September 11^th, 2001, are not completely safe, not even today. Due to being exposed to toxic fumes and dust, they are at risk of developing heart or respiratory diseases. This highlights the importance of monitoring the survivors for a longer period of time.

In September 2001, the Pentagon and the World Trade Center were attacked, and almost 3,000 died. When the two towers fell down, huge clouds of toxic chemicals and dust spread into the air. This puts the survivors in great danger even so many years after the tragic incident.

Exposure to dust clouds led to many health conditions

There have been a few studies which looked at how survivors were affected. Some of them linked their exposure to those toxic clouds to the development of asthma, cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Other studies analyzed the mental health issues which affected them, and one of the most prominent condition was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

What the studies didn’t do was to make a clear difference between the effects of the toxic fumes during the attacks and other harmful substances which they have been exposed to during their lives. Therefore, this new study, published in the journal Injury Epidemiology, links chemical exposure to chronic disease. The evolution of the survivors has been monitored for a period of 11 years.

Survivors are at risk of having a heart attacks even so many years after the attacks

After analyzing the results of different studies and reports which monitored the survivors’ condition, they identified a series of diseases related to being in the vicinity of the attacks. They discovered 327 diabetes cases, 308 asthma cases, 297 cases of non-tumorous lung disease, and 92 cases of heart disease. Also, most of them had a higher risk of suffering a heart attack even after 10 years.

Therefore, there is clear evidence that exposure to the dust cloud led to various health conditions in the survivors. This is why researchers want to keep monitoring these victims and see what other diseases they might develop, and if they suffered any other effects.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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Tara Hamilton

Tara has graduated from the University of Oregon, with bachelors degree in Spanish Literature in 2010. She lived in Miami for one year and travelled extensively before settling down in El Paso.