International Children’s Heart Foundation team arrive at Kharkov Cardiac Children’s unit -Ukraine

“…The iodine shock may also initiate processes which continue to evolve under chronic low-level radiation due to incorporated Cs-137. The artificial radioactivity which has persisted for the last 17 years in the organisms of people living round Chernobyl is due to long-lived radionuclides, mainly strontium (Sr-90), caesium (Cs-134 and especially Cs-137) and uranium derivatives including plutonium….”

International Children’s Heart Foundation team arrive at Kharkov Cardiac Children’s unit for their first day.
There will be 2 children operated on today , one a little girl of 1yr old, called Juravel and a little 1.5 month old girl called Anna.
Please follow our stories of the trip this week.

http://www.facebook.com/Kharkov.ICHF?ref=stream

ICHF has conducted medical mission trips since the beginning of their work in 1993. Our trips have increased over the years so that now there are at least two ICHF Medical Teams every month repairing children’s hearts somewhere in the world. The year 2013 represents our most ambitious schedule to date. There will be 44 trips on the schedule this year!

2013 TRIP SCHEDULE – JANUARY – JUNE

January 26 – February 9		Kharkiv, Ukraine
February 2 -16		Tegucigalpa, Honduras
February 16 – March 2		Santiago, Dominican Republic
February 23 – March 9		Najaf, Iraq
March 16 – 30		Benghazi, Libya
March 23 – April 6		Skopje, Macedonia
April 6 – 20		Guayaquil, Ecuador
April 6 – 20		Kharkiv, Ukraine
April 6 – 20		Basra, Iraq
April 20 – May 4		Tegucigalpa, Honduras
April 27 – May 11		Jimani, Dominican Republic
May 11 – 25		Santiago, Dominican Republic
May 4-18		Najaf, Iraq
May 25 – June 8		Benghazi, Libya
June 1 – 15		Skopje, Macedonia
June 1 – 15		Guayaquil, Ecuador
June 8 -22		Kharkiv, Ukraine
June 22 -July 6		Jimani, Dominican Republic
June 29 – July 13		Basra, Iraq

http://www.babyheart.org/

Photo: The Humidifier finalised arrived at kharkov children's hospital . Dr Polivenok and team will start using this much needed piece of equipment tomorrow. Thank you to Fisher&Paykel , Dr Fatemah Rajah , Andrew Lapish.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kharkiv-Center-of-Cardiac-Surgery/243380055675270?ref=stream&viewer_id=685379936

SHORT VIDEO HERE OF OPERATING ROOM….

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200427953689524&set=vb.225990650786992&type=2&theater

Today in the ICU of the Kharkov children’s heart unit.— at Kharkiv Center of Cardiac Surgery.

Chronic Cs-137 incorporation
in children’s organs

Y. I. Bandazhevsky

S W I S S M E D W K LY 2 0 0 3 ; 1 3 3 : 4 8 8 – 4 9 0 · w w w. s m w. c h

EXTRACT

In Belarus’s Gomel region, which was heavily contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, we have studied the evolution of the Cs-137 load in the organisms of the rural population, in particular children, since 1990. Children have a higher average burden of Cs-137 compared with that of adults living in the same community.

We measured the Cs-137 levels in organs examined at autopsy. The highest accumulation of Cs-137 was found in the endocrine glands, in particular the thyroid, the adrenals and the pancreas.

High levels were also found in the heart, the thymus and the spleen.
Key words: Chernobyl children; radiocaesium; thyroid; adrenals; pancreas; thymus; myocardium

“….Children who have lived in radiocontaminated districts of Belarus since the explosion of the Chernobyl atomic power plant (26 April 1986) suffer from chronic diseases rarely encountered in children from areas of Belarus not contaminated with Cs-137. Much has been written on the pathogenic role of the so-called radioiodine shock, which is due to some tens of short-lived radionuclides the principal of which is iodine-131. The iodine shock may also initiate processes which continue to evolve under chronic low-level radiation due to incorporated Cs-137. The artificial radioactivity which has persisted for the last 17 years in the organisms of people living round Chernobyl is due to long-lived radionuclides, mainly strontium (Sr-90), caesium (Cs-134 and especially Cs-137) and uranium derivatives including plutonium.

When studying the effect of Cs-137 in children it is important to select those born after March 1987 who have not suffered from the iodine shock even in utero. During normal pregnancies, the placenta takes up circulating Cs-137 in the maternal blood protecting the foetus. If the Cs-137 concentration in the placenta exceeds 100 Bq/kg, the foetus suffers.
Newborns take up Cs-137 in the maternal milk. Children drinking cow’s milk and vegetables produced in local villages accumulate increasing amounts of Cs-137. The highest Cs-137 concentration is found in wild berries, mushrooms and game, which are an important resource for poor families…..”

http://www.smw.ch/docs/pdf200x/2003/35/smw-10226.pdf