New statistics show a staggering increase in thyroid cancer surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. As of January this year, 16 new cases of thyroid cancer have been diagnosed in children - raising the total to 103 diagnoses.
These cases have all been confirmed, according to a report from March 31, identifying the cancer as definitive papillary thyroid cancer, with an additional nine suspected cases. This problem stems from the lack of urgency and restrictions put in place by the Japanese government, which barred researchers from performing critical evaluations that may have predicted such outcomes.
Upon confirming these results, the interim committee overseeing the testing performed on Fukushima residents deemed the spike in cases of thyroid cancer an excess incidence. While the committee still scrambles to find another source to blame the rise in pediatric thyroid cancer, such as over-diagnosis, they haven't completely ruled Fukushima out. In fact, this lasting health damage shouldn't come as a surprise to most experts, considering the spike in cancer rates reported after similar events occurred in Chernobyl.
Shinichi Suzuki, head of the the Fukushima Thyroid Examination, said in a statement:
There is a striking similarity between the [age] profiles of patients diagnosed during the period of latency after Chernobyl in Ukraine and currently in Fukushima. In contrast, patients diagnosed in Ukraine after the period of latency, when radiation-induced tumors started to manifest, displayed principally a different age pattern. No such patient has been diagnosed in Fukushima thus far."
One professor, who conducted independent research on 65 Fukushima residents one month after the fallout, reported that he found a substantial amount of radioactive iodine in 50 of their thyroids, or 77%.
When asked about the release of these revealing statistics, Ina Westerman, a representative for a reputable health community, said We can't help but wonder how different this outcome would have been if Japanese officials had taken the proper steps to investigate the real damage caused by the fallout. If they would have taken a queue from similar events of the past, something could have been done to protect these children from a life-altering disease.
Those interested in learning more about the rise in thyroid cancer in residents surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi power plant should visit http://bit.ly/1WGBSQk.
