Lifestyle and Diet
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy in Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Emitted in the atmosphere, dioxins and dioxin-like compounds tend to deposit on soil and water, therefore, they can contaminate the food chain (198, 199). The intake of dioxins from food has declined dramatically over the past 20 years (200). But it is human activity which has been primarily responsible for the generation of dioxins over the past two centuries. For example, in 1949, an explosion in a Monsanto chemical plant in West Virginia (USA) resulted in the exposure of workers to the dioxin-contaminated herbicide, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (199). During the Vietnam war (1962–1973), Agent Orange, a dioxin-contaminated herbicide containing 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, was used as a defoliant in Vietnam to reduce enemy ground cover (198–199). Studies of the Ranch Hand cohort have revealed that American military exposures to Agent Orange were associated with an increased risk of cancers and diabetes (199).
Biomarkers of Toxicant Exposure
Anthony P. DeCaprio in Toxicologic Biomarkers, 2006
There are numerous cases demonstrating that traditional exposure estimators (questionnaires, proximity to sources, environmental concentrations, constructed scenarios) are not correlated with exposure biomarkers. For example, from 1962 to 1971, the U.S. Air Force sprayed the defoliant known as “Agent Orange” in Vietnam. Service members who were involved in that operation or who later came into contact with the herbicide were potentially exposed to high levels of dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD). Exposures were first estimated using a scenario approach, which involved average dioxin concentrations in the Agent Orange, the number of gallons used during a serviceman’s tour of duty, and the frequency and duration of contact based on job description. However, when these estimates were compared with biomarker measurements of dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) in blood serum, there was no correlation. A subsequent investigation of those with highest measured dioxin levels in their blood did identify some activities that contributed to exposure—such as cleaning contaminated chemical tanks (1, 7, 57).
Towards a New Theory of Antioncogenesis
Nate F. Cardarelli in Tin as a Vital Nutrient:, 2019
Accumulated effects of ingested long-term radioactive substances resulting in cancer at some period remote from the time of ingestion is plausible, but not with a carcinogen. What known carcinogen is not metabolized and the metabolites excreted or reformed into useful biochemicals at a fairly rapid rate? Mercury, lead, and cadmium accumulate with time, their inert, insoluble character not lending itself to ready metabolism; whereas these give rise to serious pathologies, there is little evidence that they cause cancer and considerable evidence that they will destroy tumor cells (probably indirectly). In fact, lung tumors show less Pb, Hg, and Cd content than normal lung tissue.219 A few lipid-soluble organic substances, such as DDT, are indeed accumulated and stored in the body, being gradually released from the storage depots over long periods of time. But where is the incontrovertible evidence that such materials cause cancer years after exposure? The present agent orange furor may negate these words; however, the jury is literally still out.
Evaluation of a Military Informed Care Training with Private Sector Healthcare Providers
Published in Military Behavioral Health, 2022
Elisa Borah, Valerie Rosen, Jessica Fink, Christopher Paine
Deployment-related stressors are much different from civilian stressors; they can include being in a foreign land, exposure to trauma, combat-related injuries or the threat of injury, and exposure to toxic agents (Coll et al., 2011). Military specific exposures should be considered as important military health history during assessment and, if possible, addressed in care plans. These exposures may include receipt of vaccinations, use of or exposure to chemical and biological weapons, radiation-related diseases, toxic embedded fragments from shrapnel injuries, amputations, traumatic brain injuries, and chronic pain. Specific war era morbidities are also important to recognize and assess for. These are often specific to combat theater regions or due to specific weapons or operational approaches used. For example, veterans deployed in support of named operations across Southwest Asia and Afghanistan may contract Gulf War Syndrome or chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia. They may be exposed to infectious diseases such as malaria, brucellosis, shigella, West Nile Virus; and may have exposure to oil well fires, depleted uranium, and sand and dust particles leading to respiratory complications. The National Academy of Sciences (2018) summarized how significantly Agent Orange was related to many health issues in Vietnam Veterans and their offspring. Post-9/11 veterans were exposed to burn pits and depleted uranium (Waszak & Holmes, 2017.) Veterans of all war eras may present with mental illness including PTSD, depression, and substance abuse related to traumatic exposures they may have faced (Hobbs, 2008).
End of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Professional influence on a personal loss
Published in Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 2021
My father was a decorated Vietnam veteran, who served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971. He did not speak of the war, but it left physical and emotional scars that needed no explanation. The deepest of those wounds showed itself when he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in 2017. MDS has been associated with Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.1 Dad began chemotherapy in 2017 with the goal of keeping MDS from turning into leukemia. He hated treatment but hated the idea of dying more. Dad loved being outdoors and chemotherapy made him too tired to spend his days in Florida fishing during his retirement. For the next three years, I watched my father slowly decline. We would FaceTime often and when I asked him how he was doing, it was always the same answer. “I am on the right side of the dirt, so I am fine.” From the beginning, he was clear that if/when it turned into leukemia, he did not want any more treatment. He did not want to die in the hospital. I am grateful he told me.
Large pancreatic mass with chylous ascites
Published in Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 2020
Madhuri Badrinath, Ajay Tambe, Rachana Mandru, Sheikh Saleem, David Heisig
A 69-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of reduced appetite, abdominal pain, and distension in the absence of fever, chills, weight loss, or change in bowel habits. He was a nonsmoker, denied alcohol use, and had a noncontributory past medical history as well as no family history of cancer. A farmer, he reported exposure to Agent Orange many years earlier. His abdomen was soft, distended, and nontender with fluid thrill and positive shifting dullness. The only abnormal laboratory test was a mildly elevated lactate dehydrogenase of 254 U/L (normal range 122–225 U/L). Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed a 20 × 10 × 17 cm soft tissue mass impinging the distal duodenum, replacing the proximal pancreatic parenchyma, and encasing the celiac and superior mesenteric arteries; ascites, lymphadenopathy, and multiple omental nodules were seen (Figure 1). No cirrhosis or hepatomegaly was noted.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Birth Defect
- Defoliant
- Leukemia
- Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Herbicide
- Herbicidal Warfare
- 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid
- 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid
- Dioxins & Dioxin-Like Compounds
- 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin