My father served in Vietnam and was
exposed to large amounts of Agent
Orange. He died in 1989 while we
lived in England. He had originally
been diagnosed with some form of
"viral infection", then was later
diagnosed with "hepatitis non-A
non-B". hepatitis non-A non-B is
what they used to refer to hepatitis
C as, since there was no official
test for it and no treatments at the
time. Also he had had for quite some
time before hand,
several
upper-digestive problems. At the
time of diagnosis with hepatitis
non-A non-B (
hepatitis C), it
was assumed that he contracted it
through a blood transfusion he
received during open-heart surgery
about 6 or 7 years earlier. In the
past few days, while researching my
own medical condition, I came across
information regarding some health
effects caused by Agent Orange that
I was previously unaware of:
esophageal and digestive
complications, and liver
complications that sometimes mimic
the symptoms and effects of
hepatitis C. Is it possible that
what we thought to be hepatitis C
was actually caused by Agent Orange?
Now, regarding my medical problem.
I have a very prominent
connective tissue disorder. I
have so far been unable to find any
doctor knowledgeable enough to
diagnose it. After my own research,
I feel that it may be a form of
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) (info
at
http://www.ednf.org/index.php).
There only seems to be one
contradiction: EDS is completely
hereditary, due to the fact that
it's caused by mutated genes and/or
DNA breaks; No one in my entire
family history has had this
disorder. I think that I may be the
exception to the rule, because
although no one in my family has/had
it, Agent Orange would have the
ability to cause a gene mutation
that would create similar problems
to EDS. By the way, I was born in
1984. Does anyone know if there is a
correlation between AO and
connection tissue disorders in the
children of Vietnam Veterans?
I
also have asthma.
I would appreciate any info on the
Hepatitis C issue or the EDS issue.
I know that it would be "too-little
too-late" for my father, but it's
not too late for me....and I have my
son to worry about, if it is
genetic. Thank you for taking the
time to read this.
____________________
Reply:
What Agent Orange gets
blamed for is a whole lot more than it
can do.
Scientists have said that the immune
issues they find in Vietnam vets are not
the kind of thing that Dioxin would do.
BUT, the other chemical that should be
on the list for all soldiers &
civilians, too, is 2-butoxyethanol
Pres FDR died of it; Pres Eisenhower had
the diarrhea from it
Too long to mention is right,
and so are the health concerns of the
children with adrenal and thyroid, yes,
yes and more, more, more
Proof of harm is
AIHA or IMHA