text: Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| TOKYO (AP) — A new study says children living near the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer at a rate 20 to 50 times that of children elsewhere, a difference the authors contend undermines the government's position that more cases have been discovered in the area only because of stringent monitoring. 
   
   Toshihide Tsuda, a professor at Okayama University, speaks during a press conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. A new study says children living near the... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this March 29, 2011 file photo, children watch their father being screened for radiation at a shelter in Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo. A new study says children living near the Fukushima nuclear... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this March 15, 2011 file photo, a child is screened for radiation exposure at a testing center in Koriyama city, Fukushima Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, after a nuclear power plant on the... (Associated Press) 
   
   Toshihide Tsuda, a professor at Okayama University, listens to a reporter's questions during a press conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. A new study says... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this March 24, 2011 file photo, a young evacuee is screened at a shelter for leaked radiation from the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo. A new... (Associated Press) 
   
   Most of the 370,000 children in Fukushima prefecture (state) have been given ultrasound checkups since the March 2011 meltdowns at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The most recent statistics, released in August, show that thyroid cancer is suspected or confirmed in 137 of those children, a number that rose by 25 from a year earlier. Elsewhere, the disease occurs in only about one or two of every million children per year by some estimates. 
   
   "This is more than expected and emerging faster than expected," lead author Toshihide Tsuda told The Associated Press during a visit to Tokyo. "This is 20 times to 50 times what would be normally expected." 
   
   The study was released online this week and is being published in the November issue of Epidemiology, produced by the Herndon, Virginia-based International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. The data comes from tests overseen by Fukushima Medical University. 
   
   Making sense of the relationship between radiation and cancer is precarious: It's scientifically impossible to link an individual cancer case to radiation. Looking harder with routine check-ups, like the one in Fukushima, leads to quicker discovery of tumors, inflating the tallies in a so-called "screening effect." 
   
   Right after the disaster, the lead doctor brought in to Fukushima, Shunichi Yamashita, repeatedly ruled out the possibility of radiation-induced illnesses. The thyroid checks were being ordered just to play it safe, according to the government. 
   
   But Tsuda, a professor at Okayama University, said the latest results from the ultrasound checkups, which continue to be conducted, raise doubts about the government's view. 
   
   Thyroid cancer among children is one sickness the medical world has definitively linked to radiation after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe. If treated, it is rarely fatal, and early detection is a plus, but patients are on medication for the rest of their lives. 
   
   Scientists are divided on Tsuda's conclusions. 
   
   In the same Epidemiology issue, Scott Davis, professor at the Department of Epidemiology in the Seattle-based School of Public Health, said the key limitation of Tsuda's study is the lack of individual-level data to estimate actual radiation doses. 
   
   Davis agreed with the findings of the World Health Organization and UNSCEAR, or the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, both of which have carried out reviews on Fukushima and predicted cancer rates will remain stable, with no rises being discernable as radiation-caused. 
   
   David J. Brenner, professor of radiation biophysics at Columbia University Medical Center, took a different view. While he agreed individual estimates on radiation doses are needed, he said in a telephone interview that the higher thyroid cancer rate in Fukushima is "not due to screening. It's real." 
   
   Conclusions about any connection between Fukushima radiation and cancer will help determine compensation and other policies. Many people who live in areas deemed safe by the government have fled fearing sickness, especially for their children. 
   
   An area extending about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the nuclear plant has been declared an exclusion zone. The borders are constantly being remapped as cleanup of radiated debris and soil continues in an effort to bring as many people back as possible. Decommissioning the plant is expected to take decades. 
   
   Noriko Matsumoto, 53, who used to work as a nurse in Koriyama, Fukushima, outside the no-go zone, fled to Tokyo with her then-11-year-old daughter a few months after the disaster. She had initially shrugged off the fears but got worried when her daughter started getting nosebleeds and rashes. 
   
   "My daughter has the right to live free of radiation," she said. "We can never be sure about blaming radiation. But I personally feel radiation is behind sicknesses." 
   
   Andrew F. Olshan, professor at the Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, noted that research on what follows a catastrophe is complex and difficult. 
   
   "Dr. Tsuda's study had limitations including assessment of individual radiation dose levels to the thyroid and the ability to fully assess the impact of screening on the excess cases detected," he said. 
   
   "Nonetheless, this study is critical to initiate additional investigations of possible health effects, for governmental planning, and increasing public awareness." 
   
   ___ 
   
   Follow Yuri Kageyama: http://twitter.com/yurikageyama ||||| Background: After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011, radioactive elements were released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Based on prior knowledge, concern emerged about whether an increased incidence of thyroid cancer among exposed residents would occur as a result. 
   
   Methods: After the release, Fukushima Prefecture performed ultrasound thyroid screening on all residents ages <=18 years. The first round of screening included 298,577 examinees, and a second round began in April 2014. We analyzed the prefecture results from the first and second round up to December 31, 2014, in comparison with the Japanese annual incidence and the incidence within a reference area in Fukushima Prefecture. 
   
   Results: The highest incidence rate ratio, using a latency period of 4 years, was observed in the central middle district of the prefecture compared with the Japanese annual incidence (incidence rate ratio = 50; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 25, 90). The prevalence of thyroid cancer was 605 per million examinees (95% CI = 302, 1,082) and the prevalence odds ratio compared with the reference district in Fukushima Prefecture was 2.6 (95% CI = 0.99, 7.0). In the second screening round, even under the assumption that the rest of examinees were disease free, an incidence rate ratio of 12 has already been observed (95% CI = 5.1, 23). 
   
   Conclusions: An excess of thyroid cancer has been detected by ultrasound among children and adolescents in Fukushima Prefecture within 4 years of the release, and is unlikely to be explained by a screening surge. 
   
   This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially. 
   
   Copyright (C) 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. ||||| Overview of the Fukushima Health Management Survey 
   
   Presented at ‘The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster – One Year Later’ at Simon 
   
   Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, on 10-11 March 2012. 
   
   Shunichi Yamashita, M.D., Ph.D. 
   
   Vice President 
   
   Director, Radiation Medical Science Center 
   
   Seiji Yasumura, M.D., Ph.D. 
   
   Professor, Department of Public Health 
   
   Vice Director, Radiation Medical Science Center 
   
   Background 
   
   The accidents that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the Great East Japan 
   
   Earthquake on 11 March 2011 have resulted in long-term, ongoing anxiety among the residents of Fukushima, Japan. 
   
   Soon after the disaster, Fukushima Prefecture launched the Fukushima Health Management Survey to investigate 
   
   long-term low-dose radiation exposure caused by the accident. Fukushima Medical University took the lead in 
   
   planning and implementing this survey. The primary purposes of this survey are to monitor the long-term health of 
   
   residents, promote their future well-being, and confirm whether long-term low-dose radiation exposure has health 
   
   effects. 
   
   Survey population 
   
   The Fukushima Health Management Survey consists of a basic survey and 4 detailed surveys, namely, the thyroid ultrasound examination, comprehensive health check, mental health and lifestyle survey, and pregnancy and birth survey. The target population of the basic survey is about 2.05 million. To be selected for the basic survey, individuals had to be either a registered resident of Fukushima Prefecture during the period of 11 March to 1 July (including those evacuated or transferred to residence registration in another prefecture); a resident of Fukushima Prefecture who was registered in another prefecture during the period of 11 March to 1 July; a resident of another prefecture who commuted to Fukushima Prefecture during the period of 11 March to 1 July; or a resident of another prefecture who temporarily stayed in Fukushima Prefecture during the period of 11 March to 25 March. The detailed surveys targeted selected people on the basis of the particular criteria used for each survey. 
   
   External exposure dose, as indicated on the basic survey, and information from the detailed surveys will be linked and maintained in the database for later analysis. 
   
   Basic Survey 
   
   The Basic Survey is a questionnaire targeting roughly 2,050,000 residents of and visitors to Fukushima Prefecture as of 11 March 2011. Estimated external radiation doses were calculated based on recorded movements of respondents in the four months following the nuclear accident. 
   
   Detailed Surveys 
   
   Thyroid Ultrasound Examination: The examination covers roughly 360,000 residents aged 0 to 18 years at the time of the nuclear accident. The initial screening is to be performed within the first three years after the accident, followed by complete thyroid examinations from 2014 onwards, and the residents will be monitored regularly thereafter. 
   
   Comprehensive Health Check: The program aims at early detection and treatment of diseases as well as prevention of lifestyle-related diseases. Its main target includes 210,000 former residents of evacuation zones whose lifestyle changed drastically after the accident. Additional tests such as differential leukocyte count are performed apart from the routine tests included in the general medical check-up at the workplace or by the local government. 
   
   Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey: The survey aims to provide adequate care mainly for evacuees who are at a higher risk of developing mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and stress. 
   
   Pregnancy and Birth Survey: The survey aids in providing appropriate medical care and support to mothers who were given a Maternal and Child Health Handbook between 1 August 2010 and 31 July 2011 and to their children. ||||| Fukushima Study Links Children's Cancer To Nuclear Accident 
   
   Enlarge this image toggle caption Chris Meyers/Reuters/Landov Chris Meyers/Reuters/Landov 
   
   Updated at 3:40 p.m. ET 
   
   A new analysis of data from Fukushima suggests children exposed to the March 2011 nuclear accident may be developing thyroid cancer at an elevated rate. 
   
   But independent experts say that the study, published in the journal Epidemiology, has numerous shortcomings and does not prove a link between the accident and cancer. 
   
   The work, led by Toshihide Tsuda of Okayama University, is based on a large public health survey that was set up in Japan's Fukushima prefecture following the accident. As part of the survey, children who were living near the plant at the time of the accident have been offered regular thyroid screenings. 
   
   Thyroid cancer can be caused by radioactive iodine released in a nuclear accident. Children are particularly susceptible because their thyroids are growing rapidly. Thyroid cancer was listed as a possible health risk in a World Health Organization report on Fukushima, though the report stated it would be difficult to link cancer cases to the accident. 
   
   In the past year or so, the Fukushima Health Survey of more than 150,000 children has turned up 25 "suspicious or malignant cases" of thyroid cancer. Thyroid screenings in previous years have also found numerous cases. 
   
   Enlarge this image toggle caption Wally Santana/AP Wally Santana/AP 
   
   Japanese officials believe the screening process itself may be behind the numbers. Increased vigilance might be turning up thyroid abnormalities that otherwise would have gone undetected. 
   
   But the new paper contradicts that view. The increase in cancer is "unlikely to be caused by a screening surge," the paper says. It says thyroid cancer rates are highly elevated throughout Fukushima. 
   
   Other researchers are skeptical of the new result. Geraldine Thomas, a professor at Imperial College who has studied thyroid cancer from Chernobyl, says the analysis incorrectly compares the screening in Fukushima to clinical cases of thyroid cancer in which patients are already sick. The comparison falsely suggests thyroid cancer in Fukushima is elevated by as much as 50 times compared with the general population. "This is not a very good paper to be basing opinions on," she says. 
   
   More accurate comparisons between residents within different parts of Fukushima prefecture show no statistically significant variations in cancer rates, she says. 
   
   David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University, adds that the study makes no effort to trace the exposure of patients. "It's simply relating geographic regions to cancer risks and not looking at individual radiation doses," he says, adding that without that information, it's virtually impossible to connect the screenings to the accident. 
   
   "It really doesn't tell us the whole story," he says.
target: – For four years, nearly all kids living in Japan's Fukushima prefecture have received ultrasounds to gauge the effects of the nuclear disaster there in March 2011. Now a research team says the alarming results are in: Children living near the nuclear plant have thyroid cancer rates that are 20 to 50 times higher than those found in children elsewhere, the AP reports. Per a study being published in the November issue of Epidemiology, of the 370,000 or so kids 18 and under in the Fukushima region who received thyroid exams since the disaster, 137 of them have suspected or confirmed cases of thyroid cancer, a number that rose by 25 from last year, the AP notes. "This is more than expected and emerging faster than expected," lead author Toshihide Tsuda tells the AP. Thyroid cancer cases in children outside the prefecture are estimated to be around one or two out of every million kids per year. Children's thyroids are particularly vulnerable to cancer—radioactive iodine released during nuclear meltdowns can cause it—because they're growing so quickly, NPR notes. Tsuda and his team claim that the numbers aren't simply the result of a "screening effect"—in which more routine checkups like the ones in Fukushima have simply found tumors earlier and more often—as the Japanese government has suggested. Other experts, however, aren't so sure how accurate Tsuda's study is and note the complexity of studying such an issue. The director for Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research, for example, tells NPR that just tying certain geographic areas to higher cancer rates doesn't prove anything without looking at individual radiation exposure, a claim that's echoed in a report by the World Health Organization.(The residents of the Japanese town of Nahara are finally allowed back—but many don't want to go.)