Posted on 11/12/2013 11:58:47 AM PST by logi_cal869
I'm pasting the whole interview here:
The Mita clinic in Kodaira city, Tokyo, has carried out blood examination and thyroid ultrasound examination on 1,500 patients, including children. Mamarevo Magazine here interviews Dr. Mita, the head of the clinic, about what he has seen through the blood exam.
Kanto usually consists of metropolitan Tokyo, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi and Kanagawa prefectures.
The original article in Japanese is in Mama-revo magazine website
Q: Please tell us about the examinations that are conducted by the Mita clinic.
A: Since October 2011, we have carried out blood examinations, which include ‘differential white blood cell count’, and thyroid ultrasound examinations. The WBC (white blood cells) consist of 5 different kinds of cells: neutrophil, lymphocyte, eosinocyte, basophil, and monocyte. The ‘differential WBC count’ consists of comparing the ratio of occurrence between these five cell types. Workers who work in environments with high radiation levels have to take ‘ionized radiation health checks’, which particularly focus on ‘differential WBC count’.
In the current situation, thyroid ultrasound examinations have been getting a lot of attention, but I consider differential WBC count to be rather important as well, for assessing the effects of radiation.
Q: Do you mean that we can understand the impact of radiation on humans by checking differential WBC count?
Mita: Yes. Blood is produced in the bone marrow which is one of the organs that are most vulnerable to radiation. If the bone marrow is exposed to high doses of radiation, the quality and ratio of blood corpuscle cells can be changed. The values of differential WBC count can be affected easily by even tiny inflammation in the body. So, in our clinic, we first take a close look at patient’s condition such as the symptom of inflammation and liver function. If a patient is diagnosed with such conditions, we ask him/her to undergo the blood examination only after full recovery.
It is possible to see tendencies of areas by evaluating the data of hundreds and thousands of people.
So, if the mean value of the result of the collective blood exams is not very good, it can indicate the need for decision-making of whether one should keep living in the area.
By the way, in the ongoing Fukushima Health Management Survey in Fukushima prefecture, the differential WBC counts have been conducted only on residents who have resided in the evacuation zone. But I think that all the residents in Northern Kanto and Metropolitan Tokyo areas should be encouraged to take this examination.
Q: You have found changes in the children’s differential WBC counts. Could you tell us about it?
Mita: Yes. Our patients mostly come from Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, and other Northern Kanto areas. I have found an obvious decline of neutrophil value in leukocyte (WBC) of these children.
The pediatricians’ general textbook says that reference value of neutrophil for healthy children (6-12 years old) is between 3000 and 5000. 3000 is considered as the threshold value. But the mean number of neutrophil values of the children who have visited our clinics since the accident has decreased to 2500. The mean value should normally be 4000, but it has shifted to 2500. It is lower than the threshold value of 3000. I think this points at a serious problem.
|
|
Younger than 1 month
|
Younger than 1 year old |
1-5 years old |
Older than 6 years old |
|
WBC (leukocyte) |
7000-25000
|
7000-15000 |
7000-11000 |
6000-10000 |
|
Neutrophil |
5000-15000
|
4000-8000 |
2500-5000 |
3000-5000 |
|
Lymphocyte |
3000-14000
|
4000-11000 |
3000-7000 |
2500-45000 |
|
Neutrophil % |
60±10%
|
60±10% |
40±10% |
65±10% |
|
Lymphocyte % |
30±10% |
30±10% |
40±10% |
25±10%
|
The table from 日本医師会雑誌 第141巻 特別号(１)小児／思春期治療 最新マニュアル
Japanese doctors assciation magazine, Volume 141, Special volume (1)Pediatric/adolescent treatment, the latest manual.
Q: What would happen if the ratio of neutrophil in WBC declines?
Mita: Decrease of neutrophil does not directly cause lowered immunity strength. Neutrophil usually takes up 60% of all leukocytes and it kills bacteria and fungus which enter the body by incorporating them inside its own cell. Neutrophil functions as the last bastion of the immune system, which means that there are a number of stages in the system before neutrophil is called upon to suppress the actions of bacteria and fungus. So, a decline of neutrophil value does not mean it immediately causes weakness in catching cold and infectious diseases. But we should be careful that extremely low values of neutrophil can lead to fatal illnesses such as septicemia in the case of aggravated colds.
Q: Can you give some concrete examples of the kind of symptoms we will see when the value of neutrophil decreases?
Mita: Even if the level of neutrophil is low, that doesn't necessarily mean that children will feel bad or that they will be vulnerable to disease. Like I said before, it means that once a child becomes sick and the condition doesn't improve, the risk of that child’s condition becoming serious increases. Furthermore, not only will the value of neutrophil become abnormal but you will also see some changes in the physical condition.
In the summer of 2011, there were many children with bloodshot eyes; and what we saw most were children with dark circles under the eyes. We also had increased occurrence of sinusitis. Previously, these patients got better soon after they were given proper treatment; however, we are seeing more cases of sinusitis accompanied with mild case of asthma continuing for longer periods. And when these children spend some time in the West, they get better. If at all possible, I would like them to move away from East Japan.
Q: Is the decrease in the value of neutrophil caused by the radioactive contamination?
Mita: Since radioactive substances coming from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have reached Tokyo, and huge amounts of contaminated waste is being burned here as well, I cannot deny the possibility that we are inhaling radioactive substances contained in the air. Again, let me repeat that after the nuclear accident, enormous amounts of nuclear substances were released in the environment. Therefore, if we see an increase in symptoms that are different from the ones we've seen before, we physicians should "first consider the effects of radioactivity."
Q: What should be done if the value of neutrophil is low?
Mita: As far as the numerical values of tests taken by children at our clinic are considered, even if the neutrophil value is low, we have seen that in most cases these children will recover after spending more than two weeks in Western Japan.
When we tested a child whose original neutrophil value was 1,000, after the child had spent some time in Nagano, the level had recovered to 4,000. We've also had a child whose value was 0 (zero), but the level rose to 2,000 after spending about 2 months in Kyushu and then eventually to 4,000.
But if the value is really low, some children have difficulty recovering to the average level of 4,000 even after evacuating to the West. So my advice is: if you see some abnormal changes in the numerical neutrophil value, you should evacuate to a place that is not contaminated.
The value of neutrophil has been relatively stable among children who have evacuated to a clean place even for a few weeks at a time. But my real hope is to have not just children but also adults move away from Tokyo.
Q: Have you seen some abnormal values of neutrophil among adults as well?
Mita: I have not seen any real change among adults, but their conditions are definitely different compared to how it was before the nuclear accident.
With elderly people, it takes more time for asthma to heal. The medication doesn't seem to work. We also see more patients with diseases that had been rare before; for example, polymyalgia rheumatica is a disease common among those above age 50 and contracted by 1.7 people out of every 100,000. Before 3.11, we had one or less patient per year. Now, we treat more than 10 patients at the same time.
Q: How do you evaluate the overall results of the thyroid ultrasound scan tests?
Mita: We didn't observe any serious results among the children we tested. However, we have found two mothers in their 30s with thyroid cancer. Women are more likely to contract some kind of thyroid disease, and it is possible that the radioactivity may have caused the nodules to develop into cancer. It is also possible that we may always have had a certain number of young people with thyroid microcarcinoma that eventually developed into real cancer as the young patients became older. And it just so happens that now, by conducting close examination, we have come across these cases of thyroid cancer.
Ten years after the Chernobyl accident, the number of adult thyroid cancer patients rose as well. So, I think we need to give regular checkups not just on children but on adults as well. I want doctors to rise as well.
Q: Isn't it true that after the Chernobyl accident, local doctors were aware of the effects seen among their patients.
Mita: Yes. I think doctors who knew their patients well should become aware of the strange things that were happening to them. But since we don't know exactly how much these patients were exposed to radiation, it is really difficult to present a cause and effect relationship.
What we need to do is to have one group of people who have been exposed to radiation and another group who have not been exposed; then conduct the same tests. But we don't even know how much the people in Tokyo were exposed in the first place. It would also mean having to bring in hundreds of healthy children and take blood samples. That's something, which is simply beyond the reach of one single physician. In other words, it's impossible under the present state to collect the kind of data that would be printed in a prestigious science magazine. Still, as long as I know that something strange is clearly happening, I can't just sit here doing nothing.
After 3.11, I've asked a group of doctors many times to "conduct blood tests on children," but all they said was "there are no effects caused by radiation," without any explanation. These types of tests need to be conducted for the next 20 or 30 years in order to understand the effects. We've already wasted the first two-and-a-half years, but since we have the data from Belarus and Ukraine, doctors should study and learn properly about the effects of radiation on the human body, listen to the sayings of patients and conduct investigations.
Q: How can we get our blood tested?
Mita: Try to be honest and tell your doctor that you are concerned about the effects of radiation; therefore, you would like to have your blood tested. Some doctors may give you an unhappy look, but this is the only way we can change their way of thinking. I recommend people to get their blood tested along with the thyroid ultrasound scan test once every year.
Below is a list of items to be included in the blood test:
・Blood count (white blood cell count, red blood cell count, hematocrit, hemoglobin, blood platelet count, differentiated white blood cell)
・Blood biochemistry (AST, ALT,γ-GTP, TG, GDL-C, LDL-C, HbA1c, fasting blood-sugar level, serum creatinine level, uric acid)
・Thyroid function test (FT4, TSH)
・CRP (check for inflammation)
However, this statement,
"...and huge amounts of contaminated waste is being burned here as well..."
makes me want to call BS, as Japan's air regs are more strict than CA. I can't imagine they burn anything, let alone possible contaminated materials.
But some stuff I'm reading lends me to believe we can only get the true picture by picking needles like this Dr.'s interview out of the propaganda haystack...
When did that happen? I lived on the Kanto Plain in the late 90's and the pollution absolutely sucked. They also used incinerators to burn most of their trash.
The base I was stationed at had a commercial incinerator right across the fence from base housing that spewed filth into the air around the clock. It was bad enough that our exposure was entered into our medical records.
They have been forced to burn all the Tsunami wreckage. That apparently opened the floodgates and the contaminated items got thrown into the mix. There are backyards in northern Tokyo that measure higher radiation levels then the mandatory Chernobyl evacuation levels set by the Soviet government.
Interesting, remarkably more truthful, necessarily cold assessment of determining “the problem” without leaping to any political statement, pro or con, about whether any possible problem exists.
Well, those 'in the know' are well aware of how the US military observes no environmental restrictions on burning waste...
That stated, glad my comment, accurate or not, was so interesting to post for you.
I checked that out: I was completely unaware that they were burning wreckage that was contaminated (they are).
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/04/fukushima-to-burn-highly-radioactive-debris/
Definitely way past due to get my handheld radiation monitor...
You might want to stop eating shellfish from the Pacific also.
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