An article recently published in the International Journal of Cancer says that airborne exposure to some occupational carcinogens appears to increase the risk of noncardia gastric cancer among men.

Noncardia gastric cancer refers to cancer that is in the middle or lower part of the stomach. Researchers from Sweden recently conducted a clinical study to evaluate potential occupational airborne exposures that may be associated with the risk of developing noncardia gastric cancer. This study included over 256,000 men with 200 different jobs.

Conclusions:

• Workers exposed to cement dust has a 50 percent increased rate of noncardia gastric cancer
• Workers exposed to quartz dust had a 30 percent increased rate of noncardia gastric cancer
• Workers exposed to diesel exhaust has a 40 percent rate of noncardia gastric cancer
• Exposure to asbestos, asphalt fumes, concrete dust, epoxy resins, isocyanates, metal fumes, mineral fibers, organic solvents, or wood dust did not appear to increase the risk of noncardia gastric cancers.

Men exposed to these airborne carcinogens may wish to speak with their physician regarding potential screening measures for noncardia gastric cancer.

Secondhand smoke rears its ugly head once again -- this time in the form of study results revealing high levels of secondhand smoke in the workplace can double the risk of lung cancer for non-smokers.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago looked at results from 22 studies conducted in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, and China. What they found -- and published in the American Journal of Public Health -- is a lung cancer risk 50 percent higher than normal for non-smokers exposed to smoke on the job for more than 30 years. They also found risk increases with level of exposure.

"We believe that our study provides the strongest evidence to date that smoking in the workplace does present a substantial risk to workers -- and particularly to workers who are working in highly exposed areas such as bar workers or restaurant workers," lead researcher Leslie Stayner said.

Previous evidence for increased lung cancer risk caused by secondhand smoke comes from studies of non-smokers married to smokers.

Secondhand smoke -- also known as passive smoke and environmental tobacco smoke -- is smoke from a cigarette, pipe, or cigar as well as smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers and inhaled by non-smokers. It can cause cancer, respiratory problems, and asthma in non-smokers and is leading to increased efforts by communities to ban or limit smoking in the workplace.

This week in France, bans begin in offices, stores, schools, and hospitals. Come January 2008, cafes and restaurants must also comply with bans. For now, smoking in these areas is permitted in hermetically sealed rooms without any services.

Luis Carranza is just eight years old. And he is just a few years -- or perhaps a few months -- away from dying as a result of a weakened immune system due to aggressive treatment for leukemia. The same treatment that at one time brought remission for this boy also attacked his central nervous system, caused seizures, brought on terminal and irreversible brain damage, and eventually sent him into a vegetative state. Luis has traveled a rough road -- and so has his mother who illegally slipped him across the Mexican border into the United States in hopes of treatment to save her young son's life.

Guadalupe Carranza did find salvation for her son in a Texas hospital and for more than one year, Luis received chemotherapy and radiation -- and loads of love from staff and volunteers who helped care for him. Guadalupe was not always there for her son, though, because after locating helpful health care and social services, she was deported to Mexico. She tried to return on many occasions and even received assistance from doctors, nurses, social workers, and attorneys who worked to find a legal way to unite Guadalupe and Luis. But not until Luis fell into a coma did efforts pay off.

After negotiation with border and consulate officials, Guadalupe was granted a humanitarian parole visa and legally crossed into the United States on May 8. The visa allowed her 60 days -- but officials agreed to let her stay until Luis passes away. And so she stays -- by her son's bedside where he rests peacefully in a place that gave him a chance at life. A chance his mother says he never would have had in Mexico.

According to the results of a new study, money cannot buy happiness and won't relieve stress. The more money you have the more stressed you are and the less time you spend enjoying yourself. That's what Princeton University economist Alan B. Krueger and psychologist and Daniel Kahneman, who developed a tool to measure the quality of daily life known as the Day Reconstruction Method, or DRM, which creates an enjoyment scale by requiring people to record the previous day's activities and describe their feelings about the experiences, report regarding the link to happiness and affluence.

Those who earned less than $20,000 a year spent far less time in a bad mood, and far more time involved in leisure activity, then those that made over $100,000. And the voice inside my head shouted, wait a minute! Who were the researchers talking to? If you are one of the 45 million working poor who cannot afford health insurance, how stress-free are you? If you get sick, and cannot afford the treatments you know are out there and available, but you don't have the money to pay for the treatments, how stress-free, happy and content can you possibly be? How much of your free time will you spend in leisure activity when all you can think of is not being able to get well, or a loved one suffering needlessly because good medical treatment cannot be financially afforded and their health is deteriorating as a result? Just a few quick questions that came to mind when I read the news of the study.

What are the odds? Six women working in the same hospital laboratory have been diagnosed with cancer -- and one of the women has already died. Naturally, the other five women are nervous. During the 1970s and 1980s, six women worked together as technicians in the sterile environment of the Mission Memorial Hospital searching for infections or evidence of diseases like leukemia, identifying electrolytes and white blood counts. Within a span of four years, one by one, all six were diagnosed with cancer.

According to one of the six women diagnosed with breast cancer, they were exposed to hazardous toxins and toxic fumes as maintenance workers burned biohazardous medical wastes, plastic IV bags and tubes, petrie dishes, syringes, and infectious materials in the incinerator near the lab. The Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare in B.C. (OHSAH) recently conducted a preliminary investigation of 63 technicians and acknowledges there is a cancer cluster tied to the lab. Further investigation is needed to determine the extent of the damage caused to the health of all those exposed. Of the 63 lab workers, the cancers include -- breast, ovarian, liver, thyroid, lymphoma, and skin cancer. If you would like to read more on how this could happen, and what exactly the maintenance workers were burning that created the toxic fumes, go here.

According to an attorney representing a group of 9/11 first responders who have been diagnosed with brain cancer and other illness -- out of the 7,300 sick workers and family members involved in the case -- 41 have now died. The group states that the toxic dust that filled the air immediately following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers is responsible for their illnesses. 

In a related post, WTC Ground Zero: FDNY paramedic dies of lung cancer, we shared the story of Debbie Reeve, a FDNY paramedic, who spent several months at Ground Zero working in the morgue. Reeve was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a malignant lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Reeve was exposed to asbestos particles in the air caused by the collapsing Twin Towers. According to her physician and her family, her work at Ground Zero is the direct link to the cancer that took her life. She died in mid-March, leaving behind her husband, David Reeve, 45, a FDNY paramedic, and two children, a daughter Elizabeth, who is ten years old, and a son Mark, who is only six years old. Her family said she suffered greatly leading up to her death, as the cancer consumed her body.

In another news story that came out today, a survey completed by the Centers for Disease Control states that people trapped in the dust and debris cloud were nearly three times more likely to experience respiratory symptoms than other building survivors not bathed by the cloud. "That was most surprising to us - the impact of the dust cloud," noted Dr. Lorna Thorpe, deputy commissioner of the city Health Department and head of the World Trade Center Health Registry, which has been tracking the health of more than 71,000 people who worked at or were near Ground Zero on 9/11.

As a nation, we owe these brave men and women whatever they need. Government, state and city agencies should step up and do what is right for our heroes, who ran upstairs into harm's way while everyone was passing them on the way down escaping danger. Who stood in the middle of dense choking dust and debris, to help the injured. Who stayed, and sifted through the heartbreak of destruction to find the lost loved ones of others. This should never have gotten so bad for them they have to go to court to see that right is done.