Multiple Sclerosis Cluster in El Paso?
An Analysis of the Data
Andre L. Beasley Sr.
University of Saint Francis
Background A Texas resident with multiple sclerosis (MS) contacted the Texas Department of Health (TDH) to report a suspected cluster of MS cases among people that spent their childhood in the Kern-Place-Mission Hills area of El Paso, Texas in 1994 (Henry, Garabedian, Wagner, and Shire, 2007, p. 5). Fifteen individuals that lived in the area from the 1940s through the 1960s, had multiple sclerosis, which was above the national estimates for prevalence of MS cases. Only 3 students should have had MS during the same time period according to national estimates. Some believed that it was caused by air emissions from the American …show more content…
11). Fifty-three percent of the children in the study had lead levels that were 40 g/dl which is extremely high. It was concluded from the study that children in El Paso were exposed to excessive lead due to the smelter that came from ASARCO. Hair samples from the 1950s and 1960s were provided from three MS patients to test for metals. Three samples showed elevated levels of lead and mercury, and two showed elevated levels of zinc and copper. Arsenic and cadmium levels were also significantly higher in two of the girls. Any students that attended Mesita or E.B. Jones from 1948 through 1970 were eligible to be included in the study. A contractor was hired to review the microfiche records and a unique identifier was assigned to each student. School records were used to trace cohort members and self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain demographic and medical information. A neurologist examined the records of those that were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and individuals that may have had the …show more content…
did a fairly good job tackling each of these barriers. They utilized SMRs to determine was constituted “excess” cases. The researchers categorized their cohort based upon elementary school and gender, and ethnicity, but were not extremely specific in terms of latitude and ancestry. The study controlled for uncertainty in diagnosing MS by soliciting the help of a neurologists. There was a great deal of lag between the clinical onset and diagnosis of MS but there was really nothing that could be done about that. Confidence intervals and Poisson variates were used to measure the likelihood of chance being the reason for the higher prevalence estimates found in El
An Analysis of the Data
Andre L. Beasley Sr.
University of Saint Francis
Background A Texas resident with multiple sclerosis (MS) contacted the Texas Department of Health (TDH) to report a suspected cluster of MS cases among people that spent their childhood in the Kern-Place-Mission Hills area of El Paso, Texas in 1994 (Henry, Garabedian, Wagner, and Shire, 2007, p. 5). Fifteen individuals that lived in the area from the 1940s through the 1960s, had multiple sclerosis, which was above the national estimates for prevalence of MS cases. Only 3 students should have had MS during the same time period according to national estimates. Some believed that it was caused by air emissions from the American …show more content…
11). Fifty-three percent of the children in the study had lead levels that were 40 g/dl which is extremely high. It was concluded from the study that children in El Paso were exposed to excessive lead due to the smelter that came from ASARCO. Hair samples from the 1950s and 1960s were provided from three MS patients to test for metals. Three samples showed elevated levels of lead and mercury, and two showed elevated levels of zinc and copper. Arsenic and cadmium levels were also significantly higher in two of the girls. Any students that attended Mesita or E.B. Jones from 1948 through 1970 were eligible to be included in the study. A contractor was hired to review the microfiche records and a unique identifier was assigned to each student. School records were used to trace cohort members and self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain demographic and medical information. A neurologist examined the records of those that were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and individuals that may have had the …show more content…
did a fairly good job tackling each of these barriers. They utilized SMRs to determine was constituted “excess” cases. The researchers categorized their cohort based upon elementary school and gender, and ethnicity, but were not extremely specific in terms of latitude and ancestry. The study controlled for uncertainty in diagnosing MS by soliciting the help of a neurologists. There was a great deal of lag between the clinical onset and diagnosis of MS but there was really nothing that could be done about that. Confidence intervals and Poisson variates were used to measure the likelihood of chance being the reason for the higher prevalence estimates found in El