A study by the Department of Community Medicine at the Institute of Public Health has discovered that those who build boats or sail are at a greater risk of developing leukaemia. This is due to exposure to resins, solvents, paints and petroleum products. The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health , looked at the postcodes of all those diagnosed with acute leukaemia in East Anglia since 1981. The findings showed an increase in cases in those areas adjacent to major estuaries. Compared to a previous study in 1990, the new research shows the relative risk is twice that reported before.
Organic solvents are at least as powerful as radioactivity and can cause cancers.
Osteoarthritis leads to the wearing away of cartiledge in the joint and affects more than one million people. Dr Nigel Loveridge and Dr Jonathan Reeve will spend the next 12 months investigating the causes of these diseases. Their ultimate aim is to identify better treatment and improved exercise regimes to prevent them occurring. This process is modulated by cells which are entombed within the bone itself. We will measure differences in the number and longevity of these cells, and the consequent effects on the rates of bone removal and replacement in bone biopsies taken during hip replacement operations.