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State studies cancer cases
Posted by BEN RAINES January 31, 2008 6:38 AM
Categories: Top Stories
After years of pressure from the mother of a child diagnosed with leukemia, the Alabama Department of Public Health has initiated a "pilot investigation of Baldwin County cancer cases."
State epidemiologists are visiting families touched by cancer in Fairhope, Daphne and other Eastern Shore communities this week as they try to figure out whether an unusually high number of people in Baldwin County -- from infants to the elderly -- are suffering from several rare cancers and neurological diseases.
The state investigators are focusing on cancers of the blood, bones, nervous system and brain. They are also looking for neurological diseases such as muscular dystrophy and ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. More common illnesses, such as cancer of the breast, prostate, lung and skin, are not being considered in this investigation as there are common risk factors for them, including family history and exposure to sunlight or cigarettes.
After her 4-year-old daughter's diagnosis in 2004, Lesley Pacey, who lives in Point Clear, compiled a list of dozens of people that she knew of with leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, brain cancer, ALS and muscular dystrophy. Several of the children on the list were playmates of her daughter's.
She first asked state health officials for help in 2005, but said little happened at the time, although a town meeting was held. During that meeting, state toxicologist Neil Sass said he would conduct an investigation, including issuing questionnaires to the families involved. But Pacey and others at the 2005 meeting said there was no follow-up and no questionnaire.
"The state kind of dropped it after the meeting. They quit calling me back," Pacey said Wednesday.
Since then, Pacey, who serves as a Press-Register correspondent, has discovered several dozen additional cases of the various illnesses, including a large number affecting children from 18 months old to about 10. Pacey's list includes 47 people with rare cancers, and 40 people with ALS, all living between Satsuma and Weeks Bay.
The number of ALS cases in particular -- which appears to be much higher than would be expected given the number of people living in the area -- has attracted attention from research scientists in other states.
Several out-of-state universities have expressed interest in conducting health assessments along the Eastern Shore, citing apparently elevated incidences of multiple kinds of rare but deadly diseases and cancers.
About a month ago, during a conference call with Pacey and scientists from a university and several federal agencies, Sass said he would reopen his agency's investigation. The state effort began this week with two-hour interviews with about 10 of the families on Pacey's list. More interviews will follow in the next few weeks, according to state officials.
"Lesley has done a lot of leg work, and all of it has been high quality as far as I'm concerned," Sass said. "We're trying to look at people and their cancers and see if they have the same sources and types of exposure. The Centers for Disease Control says there is like an 85 percent failure rate in finding a link, but that doesn't mean it's not worth looking into."
Sass said his department wants to document anyone in the area with soft tissue cancers and rare neurological conditions, including people who may have died in the last few years.
"The more people we talk to, the better chance we have of finding out if there is any connection. If people know of cases that Lesley doesn't know of, or that we don't know of, get in touch with us. The broader the database, the easier it will be to find a link," Sass said.
Pacey said she was amazed at how quickly her daughter deteriorated in the weeks before she was diagnosed.
"She was pale and cried a lot for about two weeks, just real whiny," Pacey said. "But she was only 4. I didn't know what was going on. Then she started turning gray."
Pacey made a doctor's appointment for the next day. By the next morning, her daughter's eye had swollen shut, in response to some unknown infection. She was diagnosed with leukemia within 24 hours.
"It turns out she was really close to death. They said her organs would have started shutting down within 24 hours," Pacey said. "We wouldn't have had time to do chemo or anything. That was the amazing thing, she had only been sick for two weeks."
Pacey, whose daughter is now in remission, said her list began after news of her child's diagnosis spread through Fairhope.
"So many families called and said they had been through this. It just didn't seem right."
CONTACT INFORMATION
People with illnesses on the list can e-mail Lesley Pacey at baldwinclusters@..., or contact state health officer Neil Sass at 334-206-5973. Please provide a name, address, phone number, diagnosis and diagnosis date, if possible.%%ehead%% %%bodybegin%%
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MICAH's Mission
Ministry to Improve Childhood & Adolescent Health
P.O. Box 275
Winterville, GA 30683
706.742.7826 (phone)
706.543.1799 (fax)
website: http://www.micahsmission.org/
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The Lord has told you what is good. He has told you what he wants from you: Do what is right to other people. Love being kind to others. And live humbly, trusting your God. - Micah 6:8 - The International Children's Bible
MICAH's Mission
Ministry to Improve Childhood & Adolescent Health
P.O. Box 275
Winterville, GA 30683
706.742.7826 (phone)
706.543.1799 (fax)
website: http://www.micahsmission.org/
<°))))>< <°))))>< <°))))>< <°))))>< <°))))>< <°))))><
The Lord has told you what is good. He has told you what he wants from you: Do what is right to other people. Love being kind to others. And live humbly, trusting your God. - Micah 6:8 - The International Children's Bible
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