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Agent Orange - Graves' Disease


By jimstaro - Posted on 28 June 2010

Agent Orange Exposure Linked to Graves' Disease in Vietnam Veterans, UB Study Finds

June 28, 2010 Vietnam War-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange appear to have significantly more Graves' disease, a thyroid disorder, than veterans with no exposure, a new study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has shown.

Ajay Varanasi, MD, an endocrinology fellow in the UB Department of Medicine and first author on the study, garnered first prize in the oral presentation category for this research at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists annual meeting held in Boston in April.

"Our findings show that Vietnam veterans who came in contact with Agent Orange are more likely to develop Graves' disease than those who avoided exposure," says Varanasi.

"The autoimmune disorder was three times more prevalent among veterans who encountered the dioxin-containing chemical. We also looked at other thyroid diagnoses, but we didn't find any significant differences in thyroid cancer or nodules." Continued

I never heard of this disease before, so immediately checked wikipedia.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Graves_Disease

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease where the thyroid is overactive, producing an excessive amount of thyroid hormones (a serious metabolic imbalance known as hyperthyroidism and thyrotoxicosis). This is caused by ... (snipped) The resulting state of hyperthyroidism can cause a dramatic constellation of neuropsychological and physical signs and symptoms, which can severely compromise the patients’ ability to maintain jobs and relationships.[1]

It is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in children and adolescents, and usually presents itself during early adolescence.[2] It has a powerful hereditary component, affects up to 2% of the female population, and has a female:male incidence of 5:1 to 10:1.[3] Graves’ disease is also the most common cause of severe hyperthyroidism, which is accompanied by more clinical signs and symptoms and laboratory abnormalities as compared with milder forms of hyperthyroidism.[4] About 20-25% of people with Graves' disease will also suffer from Graves' ophthalmopathy (a protrusion of one or both eyes), caused by inflammation of the eye muscles by attacking autoantibodies.

There is no treatment for Graves’ disease. There are, however, treatments for its consequences: hyperthyroidism, ophthalmopathy and mental symptoms.[9] The Graves’ disease itself - as defined, for example, by high serum TSHR-Ab concentrations or ophthalmopathy - often persists after its hyperthyroidism has been successfully treated.[9]

The page explains that this disease can have many (enough) symptoms, but also effects on the skeleton.

If this has happened with U.S. veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, then I wonder how the statistics are for the Vietnamese people. Without knowing any related statistics, I think that surely more or many more of the Vietnamese people have been exposed to this toxic chemical compound from hell made in and by the USA.

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