BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:Indybay-18761398 SEQUENCE:18877224 CREATED:20140909T194600Z DESCRIPTION:9/11/14 SF Action At Japan Consulate-Stop Plans To Re-open Japan's 50 Nuke Plants\nMonthly Speak-out and rally at San Francisco Japanese Consulate\nJapan Consulate 275 Battery St. Suite 2100 SF\nThursday September 11, 2014 at 3:00 PM.\nNo Nukes Action NNA will focus on the continuing radioactive leakage at Fukushima and against the restarting of Japan's 50 nuke plants. The government continues to deny the growing cancer epidemic in Fukushima and Japan and has hidden the number of thyroid cancer surgeries. The government, TEPCO and the US agencies are also saying you can "overcome" radiation and Fukushima can be "decontaminated".\nWe will also speak out against the militarization of Asia which the Abe government is supporting. It has also passed a censorship law and is supporting the arrest of anti-nuclear and other political activists. This is being pushed as well by the Obama administration and both Democratic and Republican politicians who are supporting more bases in Jeju, Korea and a new base in Okinawa, Japan. We need to unite all people of Asia and the US against this remilitarization and fight the danger of imperialist war.\n\nNo Nukes Action Committee\nhttp://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/\n\nThyroid cancer diagnosed in 104 young people in Fukushima\nhttp://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201408240011\nAugust 24, 2014\n\nBy YURI OIWA/ Staff Writer\nThe number of young people in Fukushima Prefecture who have been diagnosed with definitive or suspected thyroid gland cancer, a disease often caused by radiation exposure, now totals 104, according to prefectural officials.\n\nThe 104 are among 300,000 young people who were aged 18 or under at the time of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and whose results of thyroid gland tests have been made available as of June 30. They were eligible for the tests administered by the prefectural government.\n\nOf these 104, including 68 women, the number of definitive cases is 57, and one has been diagnosed with a benign tumor. The size of the tumors varies from 5 to 41 millimeters and averages 14 mm.\n\nThe average age of those diagnosed was 14.8 when the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011.\n\nHowever, government officials in Fukushima say they do not believe the cases of thyroid gland cancer diagnosed or suspected in the 104 young people are linked to the 2011 nuclear accident.\n\nThe figure can be extrapolated for comparison purposes to an average of more than 30 people per population of 100,000 having definitive or suspected thyroid gland cancer.\n\nThe figure is much higher than, for example, the development rate of thyroid cancer of 1.7 people per 100,000 among late teens based on the cancer patients’ registration in Miyagi Prefecture.\n\nBut experts say the figures cannot be compared because the test in Fukushima Prefecture covers a large number of people who have no symptoms.\n\nExperts are divided over whether the cases of thyroid gland cancer diagnosed or suspected in the 104 young people should be linked to the 2011 nuclear accident.\n\nIn connection with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the number of young people diagnosed with thyroid cancer rose only after four years. The cancer is also known to develop slowly.\n\nBut some researchers say that the occurrence of thyroid gland cancer is likely to be increased by the Fukushima nuclear accident.\n\n“Many people are being diagnosed with cancer at this time, thanks to the high-precision tests,” said Yoshio Hosoi, professor of radiation biology at Tohoku University. “We must continue closely examining the people’s health in order to determine the impact of radiation exposure on causing thyroid tumors.”\n\nBy regions, 27.7 people per 100,000 people have been diagnosed with definitive or suspected thyroid cancer in the Aizu region, located 80 kilometers or farther from the crippled nuclear plant. The number could increase after thorough examinations are completed for people in the region\n\nAround 35 people per 100,000 have been diagnosed with definitive or suspected cancer in the Nakadori region, which includes Fukushima city and several municipalities designated as mandatory evacuation zones, and the coastal Hamadori region.\n\nHokuto Hoshi, who chairs a panel that discusses matters related to the prefectural survey on the health impact from radiation on Fukushima’s residents, said the panel’s subcommittee will soon analyze the test results to determine the impact of the accident on the thyroid tumor rate.\n\n“In order to scientifically compare the results of the development rates of each region, we must take into account age and other characteristics (of the 104 people),” he said.\n\nThe prefecture also plans to continue medical checkups on residents in the prefecture and use the test results as a basis for comparison in the future, prefectural officials said.\n\nBy YURI OIWA/ Staff Writer\n\nFukushima Collaborative Clinic Monthly Bulletin Issue 3 \n\nDear friends all over the world,\n\nPlease find attached the Fukushima Collaborative Clinic (FCC) Monthly Bulletin Issue 3. \n\nOn 24 August, 2014, the Fukushima Medical University (FMU) published the result of the first round thyroid examination for around 368,000 subjects (around 296,000 recipients, i.e. a consultation rate of 80.5%) at the Oversight Committee for Fukushima Health Management Survey (FHMS).\n\nAccording to the report, they found 46 cases with malignant abnormalities and 57 cases with confirmed diagnosis of cancer.\nHowever the Chair of the Committee, Hokuto HOSHI, remained outrageously to state at news conference, "We understand that the frequency of thyroid cancer has not increased as an effect of the nuclear plant accident until today." \nThey are desperately trying to forget Fukushima nuclear plant disaster ever existed by corrupting science.\n\nWe would be grateful if you could tell us your views and comments to our FCC monthly bulletin.\n\nIn Solidarity,\n\nInternational Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba (National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba)\nGeneral Secretary\nH. Yamamoto\nH. Yamamoto \n\n\nFukushima Collaborative Clinic Monthly Bulletin\n\nIssue 3\n\nMarch 15, 2014\n\nReport on the Results of Thyroid Blood Tests\n\nReport on the Results of Thyroid Blood Tests\n\nAKIYOSHI Hiraiwa\n\nPhysician at the Fukushima Collaborative Clinic\n\nThe following is a summary of the test results of the examinees of both thyroid ultrasound screenings and thyroid blood tests during thirteen months from December 1, 2012—the opening day of our clinic—to the end of December 2013. The summary is followed by some speculations regarding the results.\n\n1. Subjects:\n\n704 people received thyroid ultrasound screening, 254 of which were then administered blood tests. The examinees were both male and female, from 1 to 73 years of age. On March 11, 2011 — the time of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident — 175 of the examinees were under 18 years of age, with the remaining 79 of age 18 or older.\n\n2. Purpose of blood tests:\n\nNeoplastic lesions, such as cysts and nodules, can be detected by ultrasound images. However, ultrasound images do not display disturbances of hormone-secretory function or evidence of inflammatory disease. These diseases can be found only by conducting blood tests. It is preferable for all examinees to receive blood tests concurrently with ultrasound screenings, but this was not done for two reasons. Firstly, the range of health insurance coverage is limited to some extent by law. Therefore it\n\nis prohibitively expensive to give uniform treatment to every examinee. And secondly, there are many children among the examinees, making it somewhat problematic to draw blood from all of them. Therefore, we could not give everyone a blood test.\n\n3. Test items:\n\n(1) Examination to check hormone-secretory function:\n\nTSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland to regulate the release of thyroid hormones. A low TSH level confirms hyperthyroidism and a high TSH level confirms hypothyroidism.)\n\nFT3 and FT4 (Free T3 and Free T4 are the free hormones that are secreted by the thyroid gland. A high FT3/FT4 level confirms hyperthyroidism and a low FT3/FT4 level confirms hypothyroidism.)\n\n(2) Thyroglobulin (Thyroglobulin is a protein produced by the thyroid gland, and is a precursor to thyroid hormone. A high level of thyroglobulin results from inflammation or the presence of tumours. But the presence of thyroglobulin alone is considered insufficient as a marker of cancer.)\n\n(3) Anti-TPO antibody and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (These antibodies are the autoantibodies resulting from abnormalities in the immune systems present in the thyroid gland. The former is an antibody against peroxidase and the latter is an antibody against thyroglobulin. High levels of these antibodies indicate hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.)\n\nThese test items are identical to the secondary, thyroid blood tests administered by Fukushima Medical University for those who were classified as B level risks (according to the thyroid ultrasound screening tests conducted by the Fukushima prefectural government).\n\n4. Results:\n\n200 (78.7%) remained within normal limits for all six test items, and 54 (21.3%) had abnormal or suspicious findings. The abnormal or suspicious findings are as follows;\n\n(1) The examinees suspected of having latent chronic thyroiditis (latent Hashimoto’s thyroiditis); either because of the presence of anti-TPO antibody, or anti- thyroglobulinantibody, or the presence of both antibodies, indicate high levels. But the FT3/ FT4 remains within normal limits and hormone secretions function normally— 34 cases (24 out of them have significantly high level results\n\nand the remaining 10 have mild to high level results).\n\n(2) The examinees suspected as having latent hypothyroidism; the results of FT3 and FT4 remain within normal limits but the TSH results indicate high levels — 6 cases.\n\n(3) The examinees suspected of having latent hyperthyroidism; the results of FT3/FT4 remain within normal limits but the TSH results indicate low levels — 6 cases.\n\n(4) The examinee identified as having hyperthyroidism (Basedow's disease) — 1 case.\n\n(5) The examinees identified as only having high levels of thyroglobulin — 7 cases\nThe following table is the list of the above findings classified according to age under 18 and age 18 or over.\n\n5. Discussion\n\n(1) Blood examination result:\nThe incidence of abnormal findings and\n\nsuspected cases was 14.3 % for the subjects under age 18 and 36.7 % for age 18 and older in our blood examination result. Compared with young subjects, the incidence of abnormalities and suspected cases for the subjects for age 18 and older was more than twice as high. However, it may be not surprising, considering that thyroid diseases, in general, are found mainly in middle-aged and older populations.\n\nIn this examination, the 34 cases of latent chronic thyroiditis and its suspicion were the\n\nii\n\nmost frequent abnormality, accounting for 13.4% of the total. For subjects under age 18, latent chronic thyroiditis and its suspicion accounted for 9.1%; for age 18 and older, 22.8%, which is significantly higher than the former.\n\nThe general ratio of people who have anti- TPO antibody and anti-thyroglobulin antibody higher than normal levels is not known. There is no reliable statistical report on large scale populations not exposed to radiation. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the 9.1% positive rate for the subjects under age 18 is extraordinarily high or not. As for the age 18 and older, the 22.8% positive rate may be said to be close to the positive rate of general populations, considering for example that the positive rate in the comprehensive medical examination at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo is 18%.\n\nLatent chronic thyroiditis is the precursory stage of chronic thyroiditis (Hashimoto's thyroiditis or Hashimoto's disease), one of the auto-immune diseases caused by abnormalities of the immune system. After a long trajectory, some latent chronic thyroiditis may develop into hypothyroidism with symptoms of swollen thyroid glands and decreased thyroid hormone- secretion. This stage of the disease, patent chronic thyroiditis (Hashimoto's disease), needs to be treated with medication. Chronic thyroiditis sometimes temporarily presents symptoms of hyperthyroidism, such as an increase of thyroid hormone-secretion. In addition, it is confusing that the hyperthyroidism (Basedow's disease) also shows high positive rate of anti-TPO antibody and anti-thyroglobulin antibody. It is generally accepted that heredity\n\nis one of the risk factors of chronic thyroiditis; many of the patients have a family history of Hashimoto's disease or Basedow's disease.\n\nLatent chronic thyroiditis need not be actively treated. It is highly suggested, however, to continue medical examinations and follow-ups at 6 or 12 months intervals.\n\n(2) Relation between ultrasound and blood examination findings:\n\nWe have found no conclusive answer. Nodules or suspected nodules were found in 12 out of 34 subjects showing latent chronic thyroiditis or its suspicion. In regard to the group with clearly high anti-TPO antibody and anti-thyroglobulin antibody, nodules or its suspected nodules were found in 10 out of 22 subjects (44%). Therefore, it might be said that there can be some correlation between chronic thyroiditis and the formation of nodules.\n\n(3) Effects of radiation:\nAs mentioned above, owing to insufficient\n\nepidemiological data, it is difficult to judge whether the incidence of latent chronic thyroiditis in this examination is extraordinarily high or not.\n\nAlthough chronic thyroiditis can generally occur independently of radiation exposure, several reports suggest that radiation exposure increases incidence of chronic thyroiditis. “Autoimmune thyroiditis is one of the first functional consequences of irradiation” (Yablokov et al., 2009).\n\nDr. Shun’ichi Yamashita, international award winning Professor of Faculty of Medicine at Nagasaki University, wrote, “there are\n\niii\n\nsome noteworthy reports that production of autoantibody is a concomitant of development of thyroid cancer and irradiation increases frequency of positive findings of thyroid autoantibody” (Yamashita, 2003). He also noted that thyroid cancer and chronic thyroiditis had been found in 7.6 % and 22.6 % respectively of the 446 children with thyroid nodules by the cytodiagnostic examination conducted after 1993 in areas near Chernobyl (Yamashita, 2002) pointed out, “exposure to over certain amount of radiation can cause, after several months, thyroid gland cell deaths and consequent decrease of thyroid hormone-secretion— hypothyroidism.”\n\nAlmost all of hypothyroidism occurs from chronic thyroiditis (Hashimoto disease), the precursory stage of which is latent chronic thyroiditis. Therefore, we would like to continue our analysis, taking into account that there may be a close relation between these diseases and radiation, and comparing our analyses with research outcomes of other current studies by radiation and thyroid experts.\n\nUnder 18 years of age\n\nAge 18 or older\n\nTotal\n\n< Table1 >\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNo abnormal or suspicious findings\n\n150\n\n85.7%\n\n50\n\n63.3%\n\n200\n\n78.7%\n\nLatent chronic thyroiditis or its suspicious findings\n\n16\n\n8.6%\n\n18\n\n22.8%\n\n34\n\n13.4%\n\n\n\n\nSuspicious findings of latent hypothyroidism\n\n5\n\n2.9%\n\n1\n\n1.3%\n\n6\n\n2.3%\n\nSuspicious findings of latent hyperthyroidism\n\n4\n\n2.2%\n\n2\n\n2.5%\n\n6\n\n2.3%\n\nHyperthyroidism\n\n0\n\n0.0%\n\n1\n\n1.3%\n\n1\n\n0.4%\n\n\nHigh levels of thyroglobulin\n\n0\n\n0.0%\n\n7\n\n8.9%\n\n7\n\n3.1%\nSubtotal\n\n25\n\n14.3%\n\n29\n\n37.7%\n\n54\n\n21.3%\n\n\n\n\n\nTotal\n\n175\n\n100%\n\n79\n\n100%\n\n254\n\n100%\n\nReferences Cited (in this document)\n\nYablokov, Alexy V et al., 2009, Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, New York Academy of Sciences, 83 p.\nYamashita, Shun’ichi, 2002, Antei yosozai no yoboteki fukuyo ni kansuru teigen kosshi (Outline of recommendations on the preventive use of stable iodine tablets) (Working Group on Disaster-Prevention Measures in the Vicinity of Nuclear Plants, etc. of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.\n\nYamashita, Shun’ichi, 2003, III. 20. Hoshasen Yuhatsusei Kojosen gan (Chapter III. 20 Radiation Induced Thyroid Cancer),Yoshio Ban, ed., Kojosen Shikkan No Subete (Comprehensive Handbook of Thyroid Disorders), Nagai Shoten, Osaka, 339-401 p.\n\niv\n\nFukushima Collaborative Clinic Monthly Bulletin\n\nIssue 3 (March 15, 2014)\n\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/09/18761398.php SUMMARY:SF Action At Japan Consulate-Stop Plans To Re-open Japan's 50 Nuke Plants LOCATION:Japan Consulate 275 Battery St. Suite 2100 SF URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/09/18761398.php DTSTART:20140911T220000Z DTEND:20140911T233000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR