Study comparing Idaho’s MS rate to West’s

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – A study is under way to determine whether Idaho has a higher rate of multiple sclerosis than other Western states because of nuclear testing in Nevada decades ago.

State epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn said the group conducting the study has started by reviewing Idaho death certificates. But she said that may not paint a complete picture, because many people with multiple sclerosis do not die of the disease.

The group also hopes to gather information from Medicaid claims, she said.

If Idaho’s rates appear higher than those of other Western states, then more intensive research will be conducted.

The link and subsequent study was first suggested by Fred Trenkle and Arthur Vandenbark.

Trenkle, of Shoshone, has been working on his own research of multiple sclerosis rates around the Twin Falls region. He first posed the question of a possible link to nuclear fallout during last year’s meeting of the National Academy of Sciences Board of Radiation Effects Research in Boise. Vandenbark, a scientist, sent a letter to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne asking for help obtaining Idaho’s disease rates.

Some components of nuclear fallout have already been linked to several types of cancer. But the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which pays $50,000 to residents with exposure-related health problems in some parts of Nevada, Utah and Arizona, excludes Idaho residents from compensation. Idaho downwinders have been pushing for a change to the law so they can receive the federal compensation.

The study group also includes representatives from the Bureau of Health Policy and Vital Statistics, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Cancer Data Registry, district health departments and a toxicologist from the health department.