14
finger has been noted previously in children in the
unexposed group, but not in children of exposed
parents.
Miscarriages andStillbirths
During the past year two questionable miscarriages occurredin the exposed women, and two
miscarriages and one other questionable oneoccurred in the unexposed women. Thus, during the
past two years the incidence of miscarriage appears to be no greater in the exposed than in the
unexposed women, andthe previously reported
suggestive increase in incidence in the exposed
women is no longer apparent. Unfortunately it
was notpossible to have a physician examine the
products of miscarriage.
illnesses
There were few majorillnesses reported in the
Rongelap population during the past year. Two
unexposed people were hospitalized for surgical
procedures: No. 867, as mentioned above, had her
Fallopian tubes tied following severe post-partum
hemorrhage, and No. 855 had a hemorrhoidecto-
mv: recovery in both cases was uneventful. No
epidemics of disease occurred tn the population,
and the dispensary record of the health aide
showed the usual numberofcases of upperrespir-
atory infections including a notable number of
cases of acute bronchitis. Gastroenteritis was frequent as noted in the past. A number of cases of
otitis media and skin infections including the prevalent fungus and impetigenouslesions were treated, and also a small numberof minor wounds and
injuries.
In spite of the complaint at the village meeting
of sickness from eating fish, the health aidereported no casesof fish poisoning during the past
year. He did report that several members of a few
families had developed a sickness 8 to 24 hours
after eating arrowroot flour (as mentioned at the
village meeting). The affected people developed
inflammation and burning of the mucous membranes of the mouth whichpersisted for about a
week, Several] also had diarrhea of one-day dura-
tion shortly after eating the flour. Theseillness occurred at two separate times, in June and September 1960. Since most families were not sick from
eating the arrowroot flour, it was concluded that
in the families in which sickness developed the
flour had not been properly prepared. It is known
that improper preparation mayresult in the type
of sickness described.
During the interview the health aide admitted
that someof the people had at times eaten coconut
crabsin spite of the fact that they had been requested not to. Since the individuals involved were
not named, it was not possible to attemptto correlate Sr®® urinary levels with crab ingestion.
ADULT EXAMINATIONS
Table 3 shows the various abnormalities noted
in the exposed and unexposed adult population
examined. In Appendix 6 the variousclinical findings are enumeratedfor each individual.
Certain abnormalities such as moderate to
severe arteriosclerosis and cataracts showed a
higher percentage incidence in the exposed group;
however, the increases in both cases werelikely
related to the larger percentageof older people
in the exposed group.In the exposed group 20%
of the adults were >65 years of age compared
with 7% of the unexposed adults. Taking this into
consideration, it does not appear that the abnor-
malities in the two groupsare verydifferent. and
no evidence of anvincreased incidence ofdegenerative diseases or other diseases is apparent in the
exposed group. Several of the older people in the
exposed grou» (No. 57, F, age 107; No. 46, M. age
86. No. 35, M. age 82; No. 56, F, age 78: and No.
28, F. age 73 showed marked infirmities ofold age
with such findings as arteriosclerotic heart disease,
kyphoscoloisis. osteoarthritis, and cataracts with
blindness and had to beassisted to the examination room. Only two unexposed people were in
this age bracket (No. 862, M, age 88 and No. 946,
M, age 85). They showed similar infirmities, but
could walk alone.
Cancer Detection Survey
Examinations as thorough as possible under:
field conditions were carried out for the detection
of malignancy. All tumors including presumably
benign tumors were recorded. No malignantlesions were detected in either the exposed or unexposed groups.
Pelvic examinations were carried out on the
sexually mature females (except when pregnant).
Cervical erosions, lacerations, and prolapse were
noted with great frequency. Papanicolaou’s staining was done on vaginal and cervical smears.