Video

Traffic Pollution Can Inscreas Your Blood Pressure

A Texas Playground Caters Especially to Special Needs Children

BPA in Plastics May be Linked to Asthma

Communication Is Important When It Comes to Prostate Cancer

The Number of Home Births Has Gone Up

Which American Couples Are More Likely to Stay Together?

Workplace Wellness Can Help Reduce the Risk for Heart Problems

Some Parents May Hasten Death for Terminally Ill Children

Fitness Academics

Secondhand Smoke Increases Risk for Heart Disease in Kids

Toddlers Don't Learn Vocabulary From TV

Despite Worries, Most Parents Vaccinate Their Kids Anyway

Food Allergies Can Be Treated With the Allergen Foods

Signs of Heart Disease Could Be As Early as 3 in Obese Kids

The Number of Women Having Strokes is Rising

Thyroid Cancer Higher in Volcanic Areas

Posted on 11/06/2009, 09:00
By --Randy Dotinga

Study finds exposure to toxic compounds may explain the increased cases

FRIDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that living near a volcano puts people at higher risk of getting a type of thyroid cancer.

It's not clear how volcanoes might be related to cancer, but researchers suspect that the toxic compounds they produce could play a role.

Researchers are also unsure of why thyroid cancer rates are rising around the world. It's possibly because of better detection, but the environment is a potential factor as well, they believe.

The study authors examined reports of newly diagnosed thyroid cancers on the island of Sicily from 2002 to 2004. They compared the cancer rates in residents from two areas: those who live in the volcanic area around Mount Etna and those in the rest of Sicily.

Researchers found that those in the province of Catania, near the volcano, had more than double the rate of papillary thyroid cancer -- but not follicular or medullary thyroid cancers -- than other residents of Sicily.

"The striking increase in papillary thyroid cancer incidence that was associated with the Etna volcanic environment leads us to suggest that residents of other volcanic areas could be at increased risk for thyroid cancer and, possibly, of other cancers," the authors write. "Although specific risk factors for thyroid cancer in this volcanic environment are still unknown, identification of these factors could help to better understand the cause(s) of the increasing thyroid cancer incidence in Europe and North America and perhaps to develop prevention measures."

The findings are in a study published online Nov. 5 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

More information

Learn more about thyroid cancer from the National Cancer Institute.

SOURCE: Oxford University Press, news release, Nov. 5, 2009

More news in General...

BigHealthTree.com Disclaimer

Bighealthtree.com Does Not Provide Medical Advice. This site, including the above information, is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or health advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or a qualified health or medical professional before starting any new treatment, changing existing treatment, or altering your current exercise and/or diet program. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 911 (or the emergency services in your area) or your doctor immediately.

Rating: 2.9 / 5 (15 votes)