DoD Releases Study on Link Between Agent Orange and Diabetes

[darrels joy]

The Department of Defense released today the latest report of the Air Force Health Study on the health effects of exposure to herbicides in Vietnam, which includes the strongest evidence to date that Agent Orange is associated with adult-onset diabetes. This supports the findings from earlier reports in 1992 and 1997.

The Air Force Health Study summarizes the results of the 2002 physical examination of 1,951 veterans, which is the final examination of the 20-yearepidemiological study.

The Ranch Hand Study was named after the operation responsible for spraying herbicides in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to deny cover and destroy crops of the North Vietnamese Army.

Since the first examination in 1982, the Air Force has tried to determine whether long-term health effects exist in the Ranch Hand pilots and ground crews, and if these effects can be attributed to the herbicides used in Vietnam, mainly Agent Orange and its contaminant, dioxin.

The report, along with many other studies on herbicide and dioxin exposure, will be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. Based upon this review, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs can ask Congress for legislation on disability compensation and health care.

Results from the 2002 physical examination support adult-onset diabetes as the most important health problem seen in the Air Force Health Study. They suggest that as dioxin levels increase, not only are the presence and severity of adult-onset diabetes increased, but the time to onset of the disease is decreased.

A 166 percent increase in diabetes requiring insulin control was seen in those with the highest levels of dioxin. This is consistent with the strong evidence found in animal studies.

Cardiovascular disease findings were not consistent, but separate studies have found an increased risk of cardiovascular death in Ranch Hand enlisted ground crews, the subgroup with the highest average serum dioxin.

Overall, Ranch Hand pilots and ground crews examined in 2002 had not experienced a statistically significant increase in heart disease relative to the comparison group. Associations between measures of cardiac function and history of heart diseases and herbicide or dioxin exposure were not consistent or clinically interpretable as adverse.

Other findings included an increase in the frequency of reported acne after service in Southeast Asia in Ranch Hand enlisted ground crew members, but the lack of corresponding patterns of skin lesions observed at the physical examination rendered this finding difficult to interpret.

Finally, several blood tests regarding liver function and blood lipids were elevated and did tend to increase with dioxin level. However, these tests may be elevated for many reasons, do not constitute a disease by themselves and cannot be explained by other findings in the study.

At the end of the 20 years of follow-up, Ranch Hand pilots and ground crews as a group exhibited no statistically significant increase in the risk of cancer relative to comparisons. Differences by military occupation were inconsistent.

Most importantly, the Ranch Hand enlisted ground crews, the subgroup with the highest dioxin levels and presumably the greatest herbicide exposure, exhibited a 14 percent decreased risk of cancer. These results do not suggest that herbicides or dioxin exposure are related to cancer in these veterans.

The report emphasizes three major limitations to the study. First, the results cannot be generalized to other groups, such as all Vietnam veterans or Vietnamese civilians, which have been exposed in different ways and to different levels of herbicide. Second, the size of the study makes it difficult to detect increases in rare diseases, thus small increases in rare diseases may be missed by the study. Third, other variables that were not
considered in this report could be confounding factors influencing the results.

The report is available on the Air Force Health Study Web site at:
http://www.brooks.af.mil/AFRL/HED/hedb/default.html

[Arrow]

Well I see DOD is still beatin' the same drum with their Ranch Hand report on herbicides and cancer in Vietnam Veterans. They quote the Ranch Hand report and ignore that IOM findings contradict the Ranch Hand report regard cancer and herbicides in our Vietnam Veterans. On the other hand they referenceNASin this lastest news release.

They are eitherdeliberately misleadingorjustcan't find someone to help them keep their ducks in a row!I'll pass on being avolunteer for that job!Organized confusion is what it is!

This report, Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2002, is the fourth in a series examining the impact of chemical defoliants, including Agent Orange, and their contaminants on human health. In previous updates on the health risk to veterans posed by exposure to Agent Orange and other chemicals used in Vietnam, all forms of leukemia were considered collectively when examining research on links between exposure to herbicides and the risk for cancer. The combined evidence was found to be inadequate or insufficient to determine whether any association exists between leukemia and exposure to the herbicides or contaminants in them. However, a recent re-examination of the evidence revealed sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to herbicides sprayed during the Vietnam War and the risk for development of a specific form of leukemia - chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) - in veterans.

Although classified as a form of leukemia, CLL shares many traits with Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, both of which previously have found to be positively associated with herbicide exposure. Both CLL and lymphomas originate from malignant B-cells, and CLL can transform into an aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma known as Richter's Syndrome. The report made recommendations for future scientific studies on the health effects of herbicides and contaminants used in Vietnam, including further investigation of glioblastomas and astrocytomas.




IOM Report on Herbicides and Our Vietnam Veterans

Agent Orange Links

[urbsdad6]

I am grateful for the fact that 99% of the recon I was on was far, far away from the vills and the defoliant areas. Prayers out for all of you affected by Agent Orange and the current crop of Vets suffering from agents known and unknown in the last and current war in Iraq. I just wonder if 35 years from now the Government will finally admit to chemical agents and radiation from DUM's used by either side during the Gulf War and the current War on Terrorism to be a cause for increased incidences of cancer, newborn deformities, etc. in our veteran population. A Government that isn't prepared to take responsibility for it's Veterans health post war shouldn't be in a war. Why does it take a committee, to check on the committee that checked on the committee that requested the study have to take place other than to CYA the Government and shirk their responsibility to Veterans and their families.

Doc Urb