Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among Vietnam veterans
Article Abstract:
During the Vietnam conflict, the countryside was sprayed with the defoliant Agent Orange, consisting of a mixture of herbicides. This mixture was contaminated with dioxin, a known carcinogen (a compound capable of causing cancer) and teratogen (a compound capable of causing birth anomalies and defects). Recent studies have shown that persons exposed to this compound have an excess risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). In addition, studies have shown that marines who served in Vietnam had a higher proportionate mortality for NHL than those who did not serve in that area. Because of the possible exposure to Agent Orange experienced by troops in Vietnam, a study was conducted to examine the relationship between military service in Vietnam and NHL. The VA Patient Treatment File (PTF), a register listing data on patients discharged from all VA hospitals, was sorted for cases of malignant lymphoma that occurred between 1969 and 1985. The study included 201 males born between 1937 and 1954, who were treated for NHL in VA hospitals. The control group included 358 patients with different diagnoses, who were also in the military service during that period. The case-control analysis of the data collected and compared personal, military, and medical histories. No evidence of excess risk of NHL associated with military service in Vietnam was found. These results are not consistent with earlier reports of significant excess risk of NHL attributed to exposure to this group of compounds. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journal of Occupational Medicine
Subject: Health care industry
ISSN: 0096-1736
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Mortality among Vietnam veterans: with methodological considerations
Article Abstract:
Many studies have suggested that military service in Vietnam, and the associated chemical, drug, and infectious agent exposures, put the veterans at risk for higher death rates from external causes. The results of these studies have shown inconsistencies, which may be accounted for by methodological and sample size variations. This study selected subjects from the VA Beneficiary Identification and Record Locator Subsystem sub-files of deceased, male, Army and Marine Vietnam veterans. The final study group numbered 62,068 men. Cause-specific proportional mortality ratios (PMR), the ratio of deaths from a specific cause to deaths from all causes, were calculated. Three different groups were used: (1) branch specific, Army and Marine, non-Vietnam veterans; (2) all non-Vietnam veterans combined; and, (3) the US male population. PMR's were calculated to establish the expected number of deaths for each group. The PMR's, for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lung cancers, external causes (motor vehicle accidents, poisoning, suicide, and homicide) were reported for Army and Marine personnel and compared with the three different referent groups. Higher rates of death from external causes, laryngeal, and lung cancer were noted in the Army Vietnam group compared with the non-Vietnam group. Marine Vietnam veterans had an elevated PMR for external causes, with a significant excess of homicide deaths, when compared with all non-Vietnam veterans. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journal of Occupational Medicine
Subject: Health care industry
ISSN: 0096-1736
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Paternal military service in Vietnam and risk of spontaneous abortion
Article Abstract:
Some Vietnam veterans were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange and are concerned that this exposure has put them at risk for an increase in reproductive abnormalities. Adverse reproductive effects reported by some Vietnam veterans include loss of libido, sterility, spontaneous abortion and birth defects. The relationship between paternal military service in Vietnam and the long-term risk of spontaneous abortion among 201 wives of veterans who were in Vietnam was investigated. All of the women had had a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) through 27 weeks' gestation. Results were compared with a population of women married to veterans who did not serve in Vietnam and to women married to non-military husbands. The results suggest, however, that the long-term risk of miscarriage is not increased among wives of Vietnam veterans. These findings do not concur with previous investigations. Further research should compare pregnancy loss between partners of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and partners of other men exposed to phenoxy herbicides and dioxin (the components of Agent Orange). This study did not address the possible risks of very early spontaneous abortion or of abortion shortly after service in Vietnam.
Publication Name: Journal of Occupational Medicine
Subject: Health care industry
ISSN: 0096-1736
Year: 1989
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: HMO versus private care medical systems: a study to determine the aging consumers' satisfaction with medical care under these two systems
- Abstracts: Strategies for small community hospitals operating in the shadow of a medical center. Formulating hospital strategy: moving beyond a market mentality
- Abstracts: Malnutrition in patients with pressure ulcers: morbidity, mortality, and clinically practical assessments. The application of collaborative benchmarking to the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers
- Abstracts: Constructivism: a naturalistic methodolgy for nursing inquiry. Psychological well-being of Cambodian women in resettlement
- Abstracts: Assessing the Market for Long-Term Care Services. Contracting Management Services - Options under PRM 2135. How States Pay for Long-Term Care Facility Services under Medicaid