The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program Reviewing Autoimmune Study

The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program is reviewing a study to be published in a forthcoming issue of the American College of Rheumatology’s Journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology, and currently available online, regarding the risk of new-onset autoimmune disease in individuals with exposures related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

The study, “Nested Case-Control Study of Selected Systemic Autoimmune Diseases in World Trade Center Rescue/Recovery Workers,” by Webber, et al. was funded through a NIOSH Cooperative Agreement. A draft of the study is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.39059/abstract. According to the study abstract, the authors conclude that prolonged WTC-site work post-9/11 may be an important predictor of systemic autoimmune disease.

Read more : http://www.cdc.gov/wtc/autoimmune.html