Thyroid Cancer

Government officials have now confirmed what they strongly suspected a year ago: The radioactive iodine-131 in some of the region's waterways, also found in minute amounts in Philadelphia's drinking water, is coming from thyroid patients. After patients swallow the chemical in capsule or liquid form, some of it passes into their urine, which then enters the wastewater-treatment system and winds up in rivers that provide drinking water, the officials said. Philadelphia's water is safe, according to officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Philadelphia Water Department, and the city Department of Health.

Rates of thyroid cancer are well above the national average throughout the Philadelphia region. But why? They may be related to broader statistics that show high rates of many types of cancer in the Mid-Atlantic states, for reasons that scientists do not understand. Or, some experts suggest, they may be the result of all the medicine practiced locally - more tests lead to more diagnoses. Thyroid cancer also is found more often in older people, and more of them live here than in many other areas.

We've been nuked. And tens of thousands of us may develop thyroid cancer as a result of fallout from nuclear weapons testing in Nevada in the 1950s, federal health officials said yesterday. Every man, woman and child born before the 1960s was hit by radioactive fallout wafting across the country from blasts at the Nevada Test Site, the National Cancer Institute said. But compared to some places, the Philadelphia area got off easy. Levels of fallout here were lower than the average dose across the country, while parts of Montana and Idaho took the heaviest hits.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who remains hospitalized after surgery related to thyroid cancer over the weekend, may be sicker than Supreme Court officials are willing to admit, several medical experts told the Inquirer Washington Bureau yesterday. His illness, announced just a week before the presidential elections, immediately renewed talk of how the makeup of the court is bound to change over the next few years. Three justices - including Rehnquist - are the constant subjects of retirement predictions and rumors, but none of them, before now, have had the imminent potential for a looming medical issue that could force them from their lifetime appointments.

Question: I heard of a study that showed lower Vitamin D levels in people who are depressed. Does taking Vitamin D help with depression? Answer: Vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, is the hottest vitamin under study these days, with studies coming out every month showing how supplemental D may protect against osteoporosis, heart disease, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis,...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - President Cristina Fernandez didn't have cancer after all. After some of Argentina's leading cancer surgeons completely removed Fernandez's thyroid gland, tests showed no presence of any cancerous cells in the tissue, presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said Saturday. "The Presidential Medical Unit has the satisfaction of communicating that the team at the Austral University Hospital informed that tissue studies ruled out the presence of cancerous cells in the thyroid glands, thus modifying the initial diagnosis," Scoccimarro said.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist did not return to the Supreme Court yesterday. He acknowledged undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for the thyroid cancer he disclosed last week. The news - released the day before a presidential election that could decide who picks Rehnquist's successor - fueled speculation among doctors and court-watchers that the chief justice was quite ill and might be nearing a point where he could not continue in his position. "I'd say that for an 80-year-old man undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, maintaining a full schedule as chief justice is, at the very least, dubious," said Nicholas Sarlis, associate professor of medicine at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and a former top thyroid-cancer researcher at the National Institutes of Health.

Dorothy Sucher, 77, whose $5-a-week reporting for a small-town newspaper 45 years ago led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that bolstered freedom of the press, died Aug. 22 at her home in Silver Spring, Md. The cause was thyroid cancer, her husband, Joseph, said. She was reporting for the nonprofit Greenbelt News Review in Greenbelt, Md., in 1965 when she covered City Council meetings where residents railed against a real estate developer's position. Charles Bresler refused to sell the city a tract for a school unless it agreed to zoning variances on two of his other properties.

On Dec. 20, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission made states an offer that really is too good to refuse. The NRC invited states with nuclear power plants within their borders or nearby to apply for free supplies of potassium iodide, the anti-radiation drug that prevents thyroid cancer in adults and children exposed to radiation. In doing so, the NRC was encouraging states to stockpile the drug - the same simple stuff used in smaller amounts to iodize table salt - so that it would be readily available to residents living within 10 miles of nuclear plants.

Mechthild Schmid Sawallisch, 77, wife of Philadelphia Orchestra music director Wolfgang Sawallisch, died on the morning of Christmas Eve near her home in Grassau, Germany. Sawallisch had been recovering from treatment for thyroid cancer since summer, but a sudden decline forced her husband to rush her to a hospital in the nearby town of Traunstein, the Orchestra announced yesterday. Sawallisch was a friendly and gracious presence, always at her husband's side. Their relationship was unique, for she acted as his confidante, musical critic and companion.

Government officials have now confirmed what they strongly suspected a year ago: The radioactive iodine-131 in some of the region's waterways, also found in minute amounts in Philadelphia's drinking water, is coming from thyroid patients. After patients swallow the chemical in capsule or liquid form, some of it passes into their urine, which then enters the wastewater-treatment system and winds up in rivers that provide drinking water, the officials said. Philadelphia's water is safe, according to officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Philadelphia Water Department, and the city Department of Health.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - President Cristina Fernandez didn't have cancer after all. After some of Argentina's leading cancer surgeons completely removed Fernandez's thyroid gland, tests showed no presence of any cancerous cells in the tissue, presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said Saturday. "The Presidential Medical Unit has the satisfaction of communicating that the team at the Austral University Hospital informed that tissue studies ruled out the presence of cancerous cells in the thyroid glands, thus modifying the initial diagnosis," Scoccimarro said.

Question: I heard of a study that showed lower Vitamin D levels in people who are depressed. Does taking Vitamin D help with depression? Answer: Vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, is the hottest vitamin under study these days, with studies coming out every month showing how supplemental D may protect against osteoporosis, heart disease, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis,...

DETROIT - Anna Fionda, a hairstylist who occupied the first chair at Edwin Paul Salon in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., for 27 years, drove herself to the hospital emergency room on Valentine's Day 2010. She was queasy, dehydrated, and feverish. The next thing she remembers is waking up in a hospital bed on March 13. She had developed a bacterial infection, which led to septic shock, and her body had shunted blood away from her appendages to save her vital organs and brain. Her limbs were black up to her elbows and knees.

GOOD NEWS for DJ Too Tuff , of the legendary Philly hip-hop act Tuff Crew . He's off probation. Too Tuff, born Joseph Hicks , was released from jail earlier this year - he was sentenced on an assault charge stemming from a fight at Silk City (5th & Spring Garden) while on parole for weed possession. Now that he's free to travel, Too Tuff can join fellow original Tuff Crew members LA Kidd , Ice Dog and Tone Love for a European tour in March, when the group will play Paris, Denmark, Wales, London and Amsterdam, performing some of their hits and new material.

Dorothy Sucher, 77, whose $5-a-week reporting for a small-town newspaper 45 years ago led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that bolstered freedom of the press, died Aug. 22 at her home in Silver Spring, Md. The cause was thyroid cancer, her husband, Joseph, said. She was reporting for the nonprofit Greenbelt News Review in Greenbelt, Md., in 1965 when she covered City Council meetings where residents railed against a real estate developer's position. Charles Bresler refused to sell the city a tract for a school unless it agreed to zoning variances on two of his other properties.

Rates of thyroid cancer are well above the national average throughout the Philadelphia region. But why? They may be related to broader statistics that show high rates of many types of cancer in the Mid-Atlantic states, for reasons that scientists do not understand. Or, some experts suggest, they may be the result of all the medicine practiced locally - more tests lead to more diagnoses. Thyroid cancer also is found more often in older people, and more of them live here than in many other areas.

Laura Ladden believes that she has found the correct balance among motherhood, her job as a schoolteacher, and tournament competition, and that's bad news for the best players in the Women's Golf Association of Philadelphia. Ladden, 32, proved her dominance again this week, finishing up her run yesterday with a 12-and-10 victory over Alison Shoemaker at Rolling Green Golf and Country Club to win the Glenna Collett Vare Cup for the seventh time. Ladden, of Penn Oaks, was steady if not spectacular during the scheduled 36-hole match.

William Hubbs Rehnquist, the 16th chief justice of the United States and leader of sweeping efforts to curb federal power and expand state authority, died last night, ending a nearly yearlong fight with thyroid cancer. Court officials said Justice Rehnquist, who was 80, died at his home in Arlington, Va., surrounded by his three adult children. His death ends one of the 20th century's most distinguished Supreme Court careers - one that lasted 33 years - and is likely to touch off a heavily financed and bitterly partisan battle over his replacement.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist did not return to the Supreme Court yesterday. He acknowledged undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for the thyroid cancer he disclosed last week. The news - released the day before a presidential election that could decide who picks Rehnquist's successor - fueled speculation among doctors and court-watchers that the chief justice was quite ill and might be nearing a point where he could not continue in his position. "I'd say that for an 80-year-old man undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, maintaining a full schedule as chief justice is, at the very least, dubious," said Nicholas Sarlis, associate professor of medicine at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and a former top thyroid-cancer researcher at the National Institutes of Health.