logo
Radioactive Waste Exposed Children in Missouri to Cancer Risks, Study Finds

Radioactive Waste Exposed Children in Missouri to Cancer Risks, Study Finds

Yahoo4 days ago
Nuclear waste left over from US efforts to develop an atomic bomb from the 1940s and onwards put children living near St Louis, Missouri at a significantly elevated risk of cancer throughout the rest of their lives, a new study suggests.
As part of the top-secret scheme known as the Manhattan Project, radioactive waste from uranium refinement in St Louis was stored in drums or even left out in the open in a rural area north of the city, close to a tributary called Coldwater Creek.
That dangerous practice was only acknowledged in the late 1980s. In the new study, a research team led by scientists from Harvard University looked at the health records of people who had lived close to Coldwater Creek as kids.
Related:
"Our research indicates that the communities around North St Louis appear to have had excess cancer from exposure to the contaminated Coldwater Creek," says environmental epidemiologist Marc Weisskopf from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
The researchers looked at data on 4,209 individuals who spent their childhood in and around Coldwater Creek, putting them into groups based on how close they lived to the creek. This was referenced against cases of cancer in the participants, now aged 55-77.
Overall, 24 percent or 1,009 of the participants reported having had cancer at some point. Of that subgroup, 30 percent lived less than one kilometer away from the creek.
To put it another way, living within a kilometer (nearly two thirds of a mile) of Coldwater Creek was linked to a 44 percent increase in the risk of developing cancer. Considering anyone who had already died of cancer couldn't be included in the study, the association might be even stronger.
While the data can't prove direct cause and effect, that the cancer risk was elevated nearer to the exposure site than at further distances strongly suggests the radioactive contamination from the creek negatively impacted the health of local residents.
"As we continue to recruit more participants… and continue follow-up of existing participants, we may soon be able to improve the precision of our estimates, as well as explore factors that could drive effect heterogeneity," write the researchers in their published paper.
The US Congress has just passed an expanded version of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) – through which citizens affected by radioactive fallout can claim compensation from the government – and Coldwater Creek is covered under the protections.
Previous investigations concluding that there was no link between cancer cases and Coldwater Creek were flawed, the researchers say. The key data in these earlier studies was based on modern-day residents, for example, not those who lived in the area as children.
The team behind the study not only wants to hold the US government accountable for the health risks caused in the past, but also to encourage greater caution in the future development of nuclear projects.
"These findings may have broader implications – as countries think about increasing nuclear power and developing more nuclear weapons, the waste from these entities could have huge impacts on people's health, even at these lower levels of exposure," says Weisskopf.
The research has been published in JAMA Network Open.
Related News
A Single Brain Scan Halfway Through Your Life Can Reveal How Fast You're Aging
Surgeons Resuscitate 'Dead' Heart in Life-Saving Organ Transplant to Baby
Huge Study Reveals 2 Vaccines That Appear to Reduce Dementia Risk
Solve the daily Crossword
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care
4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care

Yahoo

time9 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care

It can be an extremely upsetting situation when a family member needs long-term care. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, demand and costs for care are rising as concerns grow over staffing for the industry. Read More: Find Out: If you're a soon-to-be retired boomer, there are some key things you need to know about possibly requiring help with living needs in your later years. Long-Term Care Can Be a Life-Changing Experience According to Rhonda Vry-Bills, CLTC, from Long Term Care Strategies, 'I wish more people would understand or treat an extended care event as a life-changing income event and not a one-time deductible.' Per Vry-Bills, if you need long-term care and it costs around $13,000 per month for an undetermined length of time, it may be a struggle to pay for that out of your retirement income. Per CareScout, the cost of assisted living communities, nursing home care, and homemaker services all rose around 10% in 2024, while the cost of aides for home health care rose about 3%. Discover Next: You May Be Surprised Who Needs Long-Term Care Don't just expect other retirees to need long-term care. Here's a look at the risk for people aged 65 and older from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: About 20% of retirees will need no long-term care support. Around 20% of retirees are likely to have a severe need. An estimated 25% will have low needs. Approximately 37% will have moderate needs. You May Be Thinking Incorrectly About Who Pays As reported by the New York Times, there's widespread confusion over what Medicare and Medicaid cover and pay for when it comes to long-term care. In general, Medicare covers up to 100 days after a hospitalization for a stay in a skilled nursing facility. Medicaid covers long-term care services for people with low income and assets. 'No one wants to dip into their 401K to pay their cell phone bill and certainly not to pay for a bill for extended care,' Vry-Bills said. 'When retirees do not have the monthly income to pay for home care or facility care, they have no other choice to go to their portfolio.' Vry-Bills added another important consideration is taxes. You may face unexpected taxes when you take out money you intended for retirement purposes to cover long-term care. You Need To Think About Others Stop and think for a moment about who'd be impacted if you needed long-term care. 'When one partner or spouse needs care, their income goes to pay their bill, leaving the community spouse to pay for all of the household expenses and only one income to pay it,' Vry-Bills said. 'Meanwhile, the spouse needing care is invading the portfolio, which is creating taxes, and reducing the overall value of the account, which is designed to generate income for the community spouse.' Vry-Bills said the need for long-term care can also put a strain on adult children who want to support their aging parents. This situation can call for family discussions to decide the best path forward. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on 4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care
4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care

Yahoo

time39 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care

It can be an extremely upsetting situation when a family member needs long-term care. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, demand and costs for care are rising as concerns grow over staffing for the industry. Read More: Find Out: If you're a soon-to-be retired boomer, there are some key things you need to know about possibly requiring help with living needs in your later years. Long-Term Care Can Be a Life-Changing Experience According to Rhonda Vry-Bills, CLTC, from Long Term Care Strategies, 'I wish more people would understand or treat an extended care event as a life-changing income event and not a one-time deductible.' Per Vry-Bills, if you need long-term care and it costs around $13,000 per month for an undetermined length of time, it may be a struggle to pay for that out of your retirement income. Per CareScout, the cost of assisted living communities, nursing home care, and homemaker services all rose around 10% in 2024, while the cost of aides for home health care rose about 3%. Discover Next: You May Be Surprised Who Needs Long-Term Care Don't just expect other retirees to need long-term care. Here's a look at the risk for people aged 65 and older from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: About 20% of retirees will need no long-term care support. Around 20% of retirees are likely to have a severe need. An estimated 25% will have low needs. Approximately 37% will have moderate needs. You May Be Thinking Incorrectly About Who Pays As reported by the New York Times, there's widespread confusion over what Medicare and Medicaid cover and pay for when it comes to long-term care. In general, Medicare covers up to 100 days after a hospitalization for a stay in a skilled nursing facility. Medicaid covers long-term care services for people with low income and assets. 'No one wants to dip into their 401K to pay their cell phone bill and certainly not to pay for a bill for extended care,' Vry-Bills said. 'When retirees do not have the monthly income to pay for home care or facility care, they have no other choice to go to their portfolio.' Vry-Bills added another important consideration is taxes. You may face unexpected taxes when you take out money you intended for retirement purposes to cover long-term care. You Need To Think About Others Stop and think for a moment about who'd be impacted if you needed long-term care. 'When one partner or spouse needs care, their income goes to pay their bill, leaving the community spouse to pay for all of the household expenses and only one income to pay it,' Vry-Bills said. 'Meanwhile, the spouse needing care is invading the portfolio, which is creating taxes, and reducing the overall value of the account, which is designed to generate income for the community spouse.' Vry-Bills said the need for long-term care can also put a strain on adult children who want to support their aging parents. This situation can call for family discussions to decide the best path forward. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on 4 Things Soon-To-Be Retired Boomers Need To Know About Long-Term Care Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Hulk Hogan of WWE fame faced multiple health issues leading up to his death
Hulk Hogan of WWE fame faced multiple health issues leading up to his death

Fox News

time41 minutes ago

  • Fox News

Hulk Hogan of WWE fame faced multiple health issues leading up to his death

WWE superstar Hulk Hogan, 71, died on Thursday after a reported cardiac arrest. Although there has been no confirmation of what led to the fatal event, the famed wrestler had allegedly been facing multiple health issues in the months and years before his death. In an appearance on Jake Paul's "IMPAULSIVE" podcast in September 2024, Hogan admitted that he'd had 25 surgeries in the last 10 years. This included 10 back surgeries, procedures on both shoulders, and knee and hip replacements on both sides. Hogan called out the difference between today's fighting rings and the dangerous equipment of the 1970s, which he described as a 22-foot ring with "lumps" and "boards sticking up." "It was horrible," he said. "The equipment and jumping up and dropping the damn leg for 40 years, when I had the largest arms in the world — I should've been using 'The Sleeper.'" "I probably should've quit earlier, but I just loved doing it — and the money was just crazy." Regardless of the physical consequences of his years in the ring, Hogan stated that he has "no regrets." TMZ Sports reported in March 2025 that Hogan had undergone neck surgery to relieve pain, which was a "quick turnaround" that required little recovery time, according to a representative. Earlier this month, Hogan's wife, Sky Daily, squashed rumors on social media that her husband was in a coma following recent surgery, noting in an Instagram post that "his heart is strong, and there was never any lack of oxygen or brain damage." Daily revealed in her post that Hogan had been recovering from a "major four-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusin (ACDF), which is an intense surgery with a long and layered healing process." "If you look it up, you'll see what the last six weeks have involved … not just for his spine, but also for his vocal cords, and the eating/breathing tubes that are clamped over during surgery," she wrote in a post. "We've been in and out of the hospital to support that recovery." In an op-ed for Fox News Digital, Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, shared that although Hogan will not be remembered for his health struggles and surgeries, they certainly were present. Those included "his admitted steroid use in the 1990s, to multiple knee and hip replacement surgeries, to shoulder and multiple back surgeries, and finally a neck fusion operation which, by many accounts, was followed by a downhill slide in his health, culminating in a fatal cardiac arrest," the doctor wrote. Siegel pointed out that Hogan came from a group of professional wrestlers who had a "high incidence" of steroid and drug use, suicide and heart disease. According to a recent University of East Michigan study, wrestlers between 45 and 54 years old were nearly three times more likely to die prematurely than the general U.S. population. "And those numbers increased the older the wrestler was," Siegel added. "Many of these men didn't even make it to their 70s." "Keep in mind the physical strain of having a large, bulky frame being repeatedly slammed, combined with frequent travel and the emotional stresses of being both an athlete and an entertainer." In 1994, Hogan reportedly admitted under oath — during the trial of then-WWF Chairman Vince McMahon, who'd been charged with steroid distribution — that he had used steroids "for over a decade" before he stopped. "Hulk Hogan lived in pain for decades, but it didn't keep him from being a continuing role model for many, including in his later years," Siegel said. "He came to embody physical and spiritual vitality, and that is what he will really be remembered for." Dr. Bradley Serwer, an interventional cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution in Maryland, noted in an interview with Fox News Digital that without firsthand knowledge of Hogan's medical history, the exact cause of the reported sudden cardiac arrest "remains unknown." "It was reported that he was experiencing good health until he collapsed," Serwer said. "This presentation is quite common for a heart attack with sudden cardiac arrest." The most prevalent cause of sudden cardiac arrest is a heart attack, or ischemic heart disease, the cardiologist shared. "When a heart attack occurs, the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen, resulting in the death of muscle tissue," the doctor detailed. "This condition predisposes the heart to abnormal heart rhythms, such as ventricular fibrillation (Vfib)." Vfib is characterized by "rapid and irregular electrical activity that causes the ventricles [to] quiver and be ineffective," Serwer said. This results in the heart being unable to pump blood to the body, leading to a rapid death. Cardiac arrests that occur outside a hospital have a "significantly low" survival rate of about 10%, according to Serwer. For those who receive cardiac arrest response, like CPR and defibrillation, survival increases by up to 40%.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store