Published Monday, September 23, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
A Pittsburgh doctor specializing in neuromuscular diseases will speak to the local myasthenia gravis support group at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Suburban Restaurant in Hermitage.
Dr. David Lacomis, who directs the neuromuscular division of the department of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, will talk about new findings in research about the autoimmune disorder and new treatments.
Also called the "rag doll disease," myasthenia gravis is a disorder in which the body's immune system destroys receptor cells in the muscles so the nerves cannot stimulate the muscles to work.
Lacomis is also the physician of Jeff Vermeire, son of local orthopedic surgeon Dr. David A. Vermeire. Jeff Vermeire learned he had the condition three years ago, when he was 18. His father started the support group in March.
"He has a little clout," Vermeire said of his son's doctor. "I would like not only for him to come to talk to us, but would like him to know a little about the situation we are in here."
The "situation" is the high incidence of people with myasthenia gravis in Mercer County and in the Shenango Valley. When he started the support group, the count was 18 or 19 in the valley and 25 in the county. He said that has grown to about 25 diagnosed with the disease in the valley and 32 in the county.
According to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Inc., there are about 17 cases for every 100,000 people. Twenty-five cases among the Shenango Valley's 44,000 people amounts to more than 50 for every 100,000, or more than double the national average. Thirty-two cases among the county's 120,000 people is almost double the national average, Vermeire said.
"I feel there are more cases, but it's difficult to find out because of client confidentiality," Vermeire said. "It's not a reportable disease. The only way I can get their names are if they call me."
Vermeire spoke to the state Department of Environmental Protection's Citizens Advisory Council Wednesday evening in DuBois about his concerns that pollutants in this area may be contributing to the high incidence of the disease.
He called the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. site in Sharon and the River Road Landfill in Hermitage as prime suspects for contaminating local drinking water. He claimed that PCBs and dioxins have spilled from the sites into the Shenango River, which is the drinking water source for about 75,000 people.
"This area also has a higher-than-average incidence of other diseases, such as cancer ... diabetes, heart disease and thyroid disease," he said.
Vermeire got involved with researching the disorder when his son and two of his former classmates at Hickory High School were diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. Calling the three a "cluster group," he said two other cluster groups exist in Mercer County: three nurses from UPMC Horizon, Greenville, and three women who attend St. John's Episcopal Church in Sharon. Recently, the mother of one of his son's former classmates also was diagnosed with the disease.
Vermeire would like to see a study done in the Shenango Valley and was told by Lacomis to ask the state Department of Health to get involved and to contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
His son, a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, is stable for now. "He had to be hospitalized for a few days in July, and he's only allowed to carry 12 credits (which is the low end of full-time studies) so that he gets enough rest," he said. "One of the most important things for me is to find out who else has it."
For more information, call (724) (342)-6200.