Much medical data unrelated to radiation
exposureis acquired during each medical mission. Some of this information, from exposed
and unexposedindividuals, is relevant to health
care throughout the Marshall Islands. Consequently, public health reports, based on medical
team observations unrelated to radiation, have
been submitted periodically to the Health Services of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The
topics during this reporting period have included
the following:
1) Serum lipids in Marshallese
2) Pediatric growth and development (an
analysis prompted by observations of medical team physicians that Rongelap children, following their transfer to Mejato,
were not maintaining their positions on
charted growth curves)
3) Pediatric audiometry
4) Dental conditions on Rongelap and
Utirik
5) Chlamydia infections in Marshallese
women
6) Large optic disks (a relatively frequent
finding by medical team ophthalmologists)
Some significant observations in these and
earlier public health reports were published in
medical journals. Moderately elevated serum
uric acid levels were noted in many Marshallese
and the frequency of this finding and that of
gout were analyzed (Adamsetal., 1984). Toxoplasmosis was identified as a serious health
hazard in the Marshall Islands, with an estimated 200 persons beingvisually impaired and
an incidence of chorioretinitis of 273 cases/
year/100,000 seropositive persons (Adams et
al., 1987). Hepatitis B, the subject of aserological
survey described in a previous Brookhaven
National Laboratory report (Adams et al.,
1985), constituted anotherserious public health
problem (Adamsetal., 1986). The prevalence of
anemia in children was described, and normal
ranges for hemoglobin level and erythrocyte
mean corpuscular volume for Marshallese
children were derived (Dungy et al., 1987). The
latter were found to be identical to those of
children in the United States. Because of the
devastating effects of diabetes mellitus among
the Marshallese, an effort was madeto determine if a dietary deficiency of chromium, atrace
element that is relevant to glucose tolerance,
contributed to the problem. The analytic proce-

dure used was too insensitive to quantitate
blood levels of chromium, but during the analysis it was found that brominelevels were higher
than those reported for any other population
(Wielopolski et al., 1986). The reason for thisis
unknown; further, the levels of bromine that
were detected fall far short of its known toxic
levels. The observation by team ophthalmologists of large optic disks in many persons
prompted another report to the Marshallese
Health Services because the associated increase
in disk cupping could be misconstruedby physicians as representing glaucoma. The high prevalence of the condition indicates Marshallese
are unique among all populations in whom such
measurements have been obtained (Maiseletal.,
1989).

Procedures:
The exposed population, which now numbers
163, must be considered at increased risk for
malignant disease as a late complication of
radiation injury. Therefore, the medical program has in place a cancer-oriented annual
health evaluation. The examination follows the
guidelines of the American Cancer Society and
includes a medical history, complete physical
examination, advice on decreasingrisk factors
for cancer, advice on self-detection of lesions,
annual pelvic examinations and Papanicolaou
smears,stool testing for blood, blood count, and
urinalysis. Several new diagnostic procedures
were incorporated into the medical missions in
the past three years. Because of the development of x-ray films and cassettes that significantly decrease radiation exposure, annual
mammographyis offered to all exposed women
and to all unexposed women forty years of age
or older. For persons over the ageoffifty years,
flexible sigmoidoscopy is offered every three
years or wheneverclinically indicated. An ultra- sound machine has been acquired that greatly
increases the diagnostic capabilities of the medical team, especially in managing acute problems seen at the time of team visits. For thyroid
diagnosis, needle biopsy of selected thyroid
noduleshas beeninstituted in an effort to avoid
surgery and the subsequent loss of normal thyroid tissue in patients with benign nodular
lesions. Because of earlier medical program
observations it is known that the exposed are at
greaterrisk for certain endocrine problems and
for this reason they receive annual thyroid-

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