First respondersEarly 9/11 responders at greater risk of heart disease

A new study warns that 9/11 responders who arrived immediately after the attacks could be at greater risk of heart disease.

According to researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the emergency workers that first rushed to the crumbling World Trade Center may have breathed in more toxic dust than others who arrived just two days later, putting them at greater risk.

The researchers examined the blood vessel walls of thirty-one 9/11 responders and found that the nineteen men and women who went to work before 13 September had much greater damage to their blood vessel walls than those who arrived later.  

“The workers who inhaled particulate matter at Ground Zero, especially those within the initial ‘cloud,’ received a much higher ‘dose’ of particulate matter, compared with inhaling air pollution,” said Dr. Mary Ann McLaughlin, an associate professor of cardiology and the study’s author.

McLaughlin explained that these particles lead to inflammation in the lining of the artery walls which can result in atherosclerosis, or the hardening of arteries.

Dr. Venkatesh Mani, the study’s co-author and an assistant professor of radiology, said the results of the study imply that individuals with this type of damage to their blood vessels will more likely suffer from heart attacks or strokes.

The study did not specifically examine whether early 9/11 responders actually had more strokes or heart attacks than those who came later, but Mani recommended that those first responders should monitor themselves closely for heart disease.

“Apart from living a healthy lifestyle and regularly following up with their physicians for routine examinations for cardiac assessment, these individuals will also benefit from follow-up MRI imaging on a regular basis, maybe once a year, to examine progression/regression of their [blood vessel] disease,” Mani suggested.

Dr. Gordon F. Tomaselli, the president of the American Heart Association president, said those who first rushed in to help likely did not have the proper breathing apparatuses or protection to limit their exposure to harmful toxins like those who came later.

“More exposure plus less protection equals greater risk,” said Dr. Stephen Kopecky, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “The ones who were there early had a very high exposure to the particulate matter and there is a difference in their arteries.”

Tomaselli also warned that there are several unknown variables that could affect the health of 9/11 responders.

“Rescue workers were under horrific psychological stress and this may have led them to change their behaviors,” Tomaselli said. “The stress could have led to greater incidence of smoking and/or other unhealthy behaviors.”

The study is still in its preliminary stages, and was only recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. The researcher’s data and conclusions will be published in a more finalized state in a peer-reviewed journal.