|
Washington:
Rule Change On Veterans' Health Care Veterans needing
help for health problems stemming from source: 23jan04 |
WASHINGTON - A study has found an increased risk of prostate cancer and melanoma among Air Force veterans of the Vietnam War who sprayed the chemical defoliant Agent Orange, the Air Force said Thursday.
The cancer incidence was found to be 1.46 to 2.33 times higher than among the national population.
An analysis of the study is to be published in the February edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The Air Force released a synopsis of the article, which was written by members of an Air Force group that has been studying the Agent Orange matter for more than 20 years.
Betty Anne Mauger, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the Air Force did not plan to release the study or the article before publication.
The study is to be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences, which will report its results to the Veterans Affairs Department.
From 1962 to 1971, the Air Force sprayed an estimated 11 million gallons of defoliants, mainly Agent Orange, over Vietnam to destroy jungle cover for communist troops in a campaign known as Operation Ranch Hand.
American veterans and many Vietnamese have blamed a variety of illnesses, including birth defects, cancers and nervous disorders, on exposure to the defoliant.
Vietnam's government says about 1 million Vietnamese are victims of Agent Orange, including veterans, civilians living in affected areas and their descendants. The U.S. government maintains there is no proven direct link between dioxin and many of those illnesses.
Since it began health examinations of veterans in 1982, the Air Force has studied the issue of whether long-term health damage to Ranch Hand flyers and ground crews can be attributed to Agent Orange.
source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040122/ap_on_he_me/agent_orange_1 23jan04
WASHINGTON - Air Force veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War have a higher-than-average risk of prostate and skin cancer, military researchers reported on Thursday.
The ongoing study of 2,000 Vietnam veterans shows for the first time an elevated risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Previous studies have found increased risks of prostate cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and also diabetes. "A new analysis of cancer incidence among Air Force veterans of the Vietnam War found increased risks of prostate cancer and melanoma in those who sprayed Agent Orange and other herbicides," the Air Force Surgeon General's office said in a statement.
It does not find the veterans are any more likely to die of these cancers than the general population.
"It's just because we have new numbers, new exams," a spokesman said. "The guys are getting older, so we are seeing higher incidences."
Between 1962 and 1971 an estimated 20 million gallons of herbicides, including Agent Orange, were used to strip Vietnam's thick forests to make bombing easier.
Veterans exposed to the powerful pesticides have complained for years about a variety of health problems, and in the late 1970s the government started to investigate them systematically.
The latest study, to be published next month in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, is not the last word on cancer and Agent Orange, the Surgeon General's office warned. It has many weaknesses and must be studied along with other research.
For this particular study veterans called the Ranch Hand group are being examined regularly. Operation Ranch Hand was the unit responsible for the aerial spraying of herbicides and medical experts say they got the highest exposure to Agent Orange, which contains dioxins and other toxic chemicals.
Starting in 1986, their blood was tested for dioxin, a chemical that builds up in the body and that can cause cancer and birth defects.
"The dioxin determinations were accurate but were measured 15 to 30 years after service in the Ranch Hand unit," the surgeon general's statement said.
"The study interpretations are limited because other environmental exposures were not measured."
source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040122/hl_nm/health_orange_dc_1 23jan04
|
To
send us your comments, questions, and suggestions click
here |