I just heard something about illness...

BMD'sPeanut Posted: Jul 21, 2005 01:34 PM

I just heard something about illness...

Someone here said that Suffolk County has the highest rate of breast cancer in the nation. Is this true? Has anyone heard this?

jes81276 Posted: Jul 21, 2005 01:34 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

I know it's high, but I was unaware that it was the highest in the nation - pretty scary!!!!

JanuaryBride06 Posted: Jul 21, 2005 01:35 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

Yes - the rate is about one in nine women.

Kathy116 Posted: Jul 21, 2005 01:52 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

Yes: and I'm pretty sure the highest is Stony Brook, Setuaket, Port Jefferson, Miller Place (not good because I grew up and still live around here).

I think these cities were singled out in Newsday a few years ago, but I may be wrong.

hbradio Posted: Jul 21, 2005 01:54 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

I heard this a long time ago....

SuzBride Posted: Jul 21, 2005 01:54 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

yeah - i heard that. For a while they were speculating that it could be linked to the ground water!

I could totally see this as being true, when I went to college in Maine I had long healthy nails, and now I can't grow them at all (they always break). Coincidence?

LFitzy79 Posted: Jul 21, 2005 02:35 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

I have heard this a lot over the years, there have been a lot of clusters of breast cancer...like 10 cases within 4 blocks of each other...weird stuff like that.

tray831 Posted: Jul 21, 2005 03:04 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

I do know about less than a year ago, there was a group of women on the news who all had it, going thru it, etc....and they were all within blocks of each other in Islip.

bxgell2 Posted: Jul 21, 2005 05:03 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

I don't believe it's the highest in the nation, but it's up there on the list for high numbers, along with Nassau County. Some suggest it's the drinking water, others say it's the high numbers of power lines over a densley populated area. Keep in mind though, breast cancer runs very high in certain populations naturally (i.e. Ashkenazi jews), and Long Island has a particularly high number of Ashkenazi Jewish residents, so that may explain the correlation as well.

TracyInQueens Posted: Jul 21, 2005 05:29 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

Several years ago I remember someone also mentioning the use of lawn services (and all those chemicals) as a factor.

marymoon Posted: Jul 21, 2005 06:29 PM

Re: I just heard something about illness...

I've been hearing this for years about Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties, that they ave extmely high breast cancer rates and no definitive cause is found. Some say power lines, ground water, etc. I think the water thing would explain why it doens't effect NYC, ut only the surrounding areas, because most of NYC uses water form upstate reservoirs, not from underground local water sources