Stress disorder still most common 9/11 illness

Post-traumatic stress disorder remains the most common World Trade Center-related health effect among first responders, according to the third annual report on 9/11 health released yesterday by the office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The 14-page report, compiled by the World Trade Center Medical Working Group, which includes city health officials and experts from area hospitals, also found that respiratory and gastroesophageal problems persist nine years later.

Four times as many firefighters and twice as many emergency medical service workers had below normal lung function for their ages six to seven years after 9/11 as they did before the attacks, the report said.

John Feal, president of the first responders' advocacy group FealGood Foundation, said the report should help persuade lawmakers to pass the $4.7-billion Zadroga bill to reopen the victims' compensation fund.

"It shows we ain't crying wolf," he said.

The bill, named after the late NYPD Det. James Zadroga, was voted down by the House in late July. Its sponsors, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, both Manhattan Democrats, have said they plan to reintroduce it next week.

Of World Trade Center Health Registry enrollees who reported no history of post-traumatic stress disorder before 9/11, 23.8 percent reported symptoms of PTSD, according to the city health department. The registry, operated by the city health department, monitors and surveys 71,000 responders, residents and others exposed to the World Trade Center site.

Dr. Carolyn Greene, deputy health commissioner and a member of the working group, said that despite widespread PTSD among rescue and recovery workers, suicide rates did not increase over the norm in the first four years after the attacks.

"We don't know the reason," she said.

Those who had had another trauma before or after 9/11 were more likely to have PTSD or more severe symptoms, she said.