Increased aggressive-growth basal cell carcinoma in the VA population of Palo Alto, California.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8959949

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

We have noted a high frequency of aggressive-growth basal cell carcinomas (BCCS) in our patient population. Subtypes observed with increased frequency include morpheaform, infiltrative, and micronodular.

OBJECTIVE:

Our purpose was to examine the frequency of histologic subtypes of all BCCs seen in the dermatology clinics in the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in an 18-month period.

METHODS:

We reviewed 432 consecutive primary BCC biopsy specimens taken from 252 patients.

RESULTS:

Aggressive-growth BCC was observed in 20.7% of biopsy specimens, including 13.4% morpheaform, 5.7% infiltrative, and 1.6% micronodular subtypes. The mean age of the patient population was 70 years, with a standard deviation of 9.1 years.

CONCLUSION:

Our observed percentage of aggressive-growth BCC is substantially higher than in most other large studies. A high frequency of aggressive-growth BCC coupled with the increasing incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer may have significant implications for future health care resource allocation.

Agent Orange Exposure Appears to Double Risk of Invasive Skin Cancer

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april042014/agent-orange-ame.php

(HOUSTON) - (note: last year, Portland VAMC cancer researcher Dr. Mark Garzotto published in Cancer his dramatic findings which also used the word, "double." In that case, published in the journal Cancer, Agent Orange exposure doubled risks for highly aggressive prostate cancer. This is a remarkable piece of research.)

Even four decades later, veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War have twice the risk of developing unusually invasive nonmelanotic skin cancers compared with the general population, according to a recent study.

“We noticed a lot of veterans coming into our clinic had very aggressive squamous and basal cell carcinomas, and it seemed like there was a connection to Agent Orange exposure, but a literature search failed to find any studies that showed an association in humans,” said Mark Clemens, MD, assistant professor of plastic surgery, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Previous studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between 2-, 3-, 7-, 8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), the highly toxic contaminant in Agent Orange and nonmelanotic invasive skin in animals.

As of 2009, more than 485,000 veterans with Agent Orange exposure had registered with the VA. DoD and the VA recognize and provide benefits for many TCDD exposure-associated diseases, including peripheral neuropathy, amyloidosis, B-cell leukemia, birth defects, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ischemic heart disease, multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, soft-tissue sarcomas and chloracne.

Currently, however, skin cancer is not presumptively associated with Agent Orange exposure. The latest Institute of Medicine update to the Veterans and Agent Orange report concluded that there is “inadequate and insufficient information to determine whether there is an association between exposure to Agent Orange and basal cell or squamous cell cancer.”1

READ MORE: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april042014/agent-orange-ame.php

Maine wants U.S. benefits for guardsmen trained at Gagetown

Washington pushed to acknowledge National Guard members exposed to heath risks from Agent Orange

The state government of Maine is going to Washington D.C. to try to get help for members of the state's National Guard who trained at CFB Gagetown.

Over the years thousands of Maine guardsmen trained in the woods at the New Brunswick base where Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants were used.
Maine Gov. Paul Lepage has directed senior veterans department officials to ask Washington to acknowledge the hazards Maine National Guard members faced in New Brunswick. If the U.S. federal government agrees, the veterans will receive benefits they are currently not eligible to receive.
"It would allow them to get benefits that they would deserve - if it has been determined that whatever illness they have was a direct result of exposure," said Peter Rogers, the communications director for Maine's Department of Defence, Veterans and Emergency Management.
In 2007, Ottawa set aside almost $100 million for Canadians harmed at Base Gagetown by defoliants like Agent Orange.
But thousands of troops from Maine's National Guard also trained year after year in the woods at the New Brunswick base.
Rogers, who is a retired major, visited multiple times.
"You have artillery going off, you get the dust," said Rogers. "Any time you're driving on the different tank trails you have dust that kicks up. So the potential for exposure was very large."
About 300 veterans of the Maine National Guard have so far registered with the department, indicating health issues that could be linked to their chemical exposure at CFB Gagetown,
Peter Ogden, Maine's director of veteran services, suspects many more than 300 former members have health issues related to their time spent training at Gagetown.

Town Covers Up Agent Orange Scandal at Former Air Force Base

TruthstreamMedia.com/April 3rd, 2014

Whistleblower’s documentation of toxic contamination is ignored to protect community’s image, while reporters and advocates marginalized as ‘unprofessional troublemakers’ and ‘conspiracy theorists.’

Was Agent Orange, the notorious toxic defoliant used in the Vietnam War, buried improperly near the now-closed Chanute Air Force Base outside of Rantoul, Illinois?  

There are several whistleblowers and journalists that have been trying to bring the story to the public’s attention and implement the proper safety measures, but it seems several forces at work in the town and near the former base are less interested in containing the potential contamination that in maintaining the town’s reputation.
Reporter Bob Bajek wrote in his April 1, 2014 piece:

A day after publication, the Rantoul Press’ general manager, Tim Evans, talked to me about the Agent Orange stories. Evans, a hefty 59-year-old newspaperman, said these stories “weren’t what community newspapers were about and made the town look bad.”
[...] Evans told me the Rantoul Press would never publish any story about the possibility of dioxin in the water because it would ruin the town. Evans said no newspaper or news organization would pick it up.

Hazardous chemicals expert and Chanute Restoration Advisory Board Member Doug Rokke brought forward documents and testimony from the whistleblower Michael Glasser showing that he handled and disposed of Agent Orange and other harmful chemicals near the base in the 1960s and is now 100% disabled from his activity in pesticide management and now has bladder, prostate and urethra cancer from his time in the service.

READ MORE: http://truthstreammedia.com/tag/dioxin/

Agent Orange impact focus of town meeting

http://helenair.com/news/local/agent-orange-impact-focus-of-town-meeting/article_a5f177ce-bd4d-11e3-8275-001a4bcf887a.html

Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange herbicide may face a host of medical problems, as well as their children and grandchildren.

This was the focus of a town hall meeting Saturday morning at Fort Harrison VA Medical Hospital, organized by the Montana State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America.
The first such meeting in Montana, it drew about 50 vets and their family members from as far away as Kalispell and Hot Springs. It was one of about 80 VVA town meetings being held across the country.
Currently the Veterans Administration recognizes 50 illnesses or diseases connected to exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide — ranging from Parkinson’s and Hodgkin’s diseases to a host of cancers, according to meeting handouts.
However, the VVA veterans group suspects that many more diseases and health problems, particularly ones impacting children and grandchildren of Vietnam vets, are linked to Agent Orange and are not recognized by the Veterans Administration. So far, the VA recognizes 19 birth defects connected to Agent Orange for children born to female Vietnam vets, but only one of these — spina bifida — for children of both male and female vets, according to the handouts.
The main purpose of the town meetings is to reach Vietnam vets and have them learn more about the potential effects of exposure to the dioxin, said speaker Nancy S. Switzer of the VVA and the wife of a Vietnam vet.
“As a wife, mother and grandmother, Agent Orange dioxins have touched my life in an awful way,” she said.
Her husband, who was in the infantry in Vietnam and lost his leg due to a combat injury, now has prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of his body. Her daughter has a severe learning disability, her son is suffering from a rare heart condition and her granddaughter had a severe birth defect.
READ MORE: http://helenair.com/news/local/agent-orange-impact-focus-of-town-meeting/article_a5f177ce-bd4d-11e3-8275-001a4bcf887a.html

Researchers Set to Launch Phase 3 Trial for Parkinson’s

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=4042
A $23 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will support a new Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the drug isradipine as a potential new treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The study is being co-lead by the University of Rochester and Northwestern University.

“Isradipine has been demonstrated to be safe and tolerable in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” said University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry neurologist Kevin Biglan, M.D., co-principal investigator of the study. “This new study will determine whether the drug can be an effective tool in slowing the progression of the disease and could, thereby, complement existing symptomatic treatments and improve the quality of life of individuals with the disease.”
“If it proves to be effective, this drug will change the way we treat Parkinson’s disease, and the major advantage of it is that isradipine is already widely available, inexpensive and will allow for rapid translation of our research into clinical practice,” said Tanya Simuni, M.D., principal investigator of the study, professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Although we now have very effective symptomatic treatments to manage Parkinson’s, the development of a disease-modifying intervention remains a critical goal.”
Isradipine is a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug to treat high blood pressure. Researchers suspect that the drug may also be effective in treating Parkinson’s for a couple reasons. First, population scale studies have shown that people taking the drug for high blood pressure have a lower incidence of Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, isradipine is in a category of drugs called calcium channel blockers, meaning they inhibit certain cellular functions. Researchers speculate that overactive calcium channels may play a role in the death of the dopamine producing cells in the brain that is one of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s. 
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that erodes an individual’s control over their movements and speech. Over time, Parkinson’s patients experience stiffness or rigidity of the arms and legs, slowness or lack of movement, and walking difficulties, in addition to tremors in their hands, arms, legs, jaw or face.
READ MORE: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=4042

April is Parkinson's Awareness Month

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/parkinsonsdisease.asp  

If you are a Veteran who was exposed to herbicides during service and have developed Parkinson's disease, there may be a link. Learn more and find out if you qualify for VA benefits.
  
The tulip became the international symbol of Parkinson’s disease in 1980 when a horticulturalist honored Dr. James Parkinson by naming a tulip after him. To honor all those who have Parkinson’s disease or who are affected by it, the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN) is pleased to announce the launch of the  
2014 Tulip Tribute Garden.

Canaries In The Coal Mine, So To Speak

The butterfly effect: Do monarchs’ woes signal broader problems?

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/03/31/3852697/the-butterfly-effect-do-monarchs.html?sp=/99/406/ 

ANGANGUEO, Mexico — On a high mountain slope in central Mexico, a patch of fir trees looks dusted in orange and black. In fact, millions of monarch butterflies cloak the trees. The forest murmurs with the whir of their flapping wings.
Every year, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies _ each so light that 50 together weigh barely an ounce _ find their way on what may be the world’s longest insect migration, traveling the length of North America to pass the winter in central Mexico.
Yet the great monarch migration is in peril, a victim of rampant herbicide use in faraway corn and soybean fields, extreme weather, a tiny microbial pathogen and deforestation. Monarch butterfly populations are plummeting. The dense colonies of butterflies on central Mexican peaks were far smaller this year than ever before.
Scientists say Mexico’s monarch butterfly colonies _ as many as several million butterflies in one acre _ are on the cusp of disappearing. If the species were to vanish, one of the few creatures emblematic of all North America, a beloved insect with powerhouse stamina that even school kids can easily identify, would be gone.

The advent of genetically modified corn and soybean varieties that

can withstand herbicides has added to that loss. Now farmers employ glyphosate herbicides, such as Monsanto’s Roundup, that kill weeds 

with a vengeance. It’s had a huge impact on milkweed, which before

could grow among crops or at the edges of fields.

“The crops survive but any weeds, including milkweed, don’t,” Wilson said.

Faced with vast reductions in milkweed, the size of the colonies of monarchs escaping northern winters has shrunk radically in central Mexico.

d more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/03/31/3852697/the-butterfly-effect-do-monarchs.html?sp=/99/406/#storylink=cpy

READ MORE: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/03/31/3852697/the-butterfly-effect-do-monarchs.html?sp=/99/406/

NOT April Fool! Monsanto Threatens To Sue Over GMO Labeling in Vermont

http://www.nationofchange.org/monsanto-threatens-sue-over-gmo-labeling-vermont-1395844844
If Monsanto gets their way though, not only will the bill get stalled in the Senate, but Monsanto points to the fact that the state will have to spend around a million dollars just to defend the bill in court.

The citizens of Vermont want GMO foods to be labeled. As NaturalSociety’s Anthony Gucciardi reported in 2013, a bill which has already passed the House awaits a final O.K. by the Senate. If Monsanto gets their way though, as made evident in heated testimony given at the Statehouse this past Wednesday before a Judiciary Committee, not only will the bill get stalled in the Senate, but Monsanto points to the fact that the state will have to spend around a million dollars just to defend the bill in court.

You can guess who is on Monsanto’s latest pay-roll. Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee warned that, although he ‘supports a labeling bill’, he feels that there are potential litigation costs which could hinder state finances. He also mentions that dairy would also be excluded from the bill, but currently there is no GMO dairy in Vermont.

Agreeing with Monsanto’s interests and testifying that the new law would have to be defended is Assistant Attorney General Bridget Asay, stating that even if the state was successful in passing a GMO-labeling bill, the legal challenge could end up costing more than $5 million, and the state would not be able to recover legal fees. She estimates that the total cost would include potential reimbursement for a victorious plaintiff – Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, and their poison-filled coffers.

If That's Not Enough Department

Dow The Other Monsanto

http://www.nationofchange.org/dow-other-monsanto-1395841065#comments

Da Nang airport dioxin contaminated soil project set for April

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/98368/da-nang-airport-dioxin-contaminated-soil-project-set-for-april.html
VietNamNet Bridge – The first stage of efforts to treat dioxin contaminated soil with In-Pile Thermal Desorption (IPTD or thermal remediation) at the Da Nang Airport Project will kick off next month.

Head of the Military Science Office of Air Force-Air Defence Command, Colonel Do Duy Kien made the announcement yesterday (March 25) at a community outreach session on environmental remediation efforts at the site.
"Contractors have filled up 45,000 cubic metres of dioxin-contaminated soil in the containment and all equipment is ready for the treatment of contaminated soil and sediment with thermal remediation," Kien said.
The session, which was attended by more than 80 community representatives and the city's authorities, aims to share information with community representatives about progress on the Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at the Airport.
"The Air Force-Air Defence also completed clearing unexploded ordnances (UXOs) on an area of 31.8ha as well as setting up a power sub-station with 12,800KVA," Kien added.
"As proposed by USAID, the command will clear 5.7ha of the entire area of Sen Lake again in April and May. The second phase of excavation of dioxin contaminated soil at the airport will continue from 2014 and 2015," Kien said.
The contaminated soil and sediment will be heated by 1,254 heating wells to a temperature of 335 degrees Celsius over four months, with approximately 95 per cent of the dioxin estimated to be destroyed within the structure.
Vice chairman of the city's People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said the project would be the first of six other dioxin "hot pots" in Viet Nam.
USAID Viet Nam Mission Director, Joakim Parker said: "The project remains on schedule and on target to complete the clean up in 2016. This owes a great deal to the excellent co-operation among USAID and our Vietnamese government partners, especially Viet Nam's Ministry of National Defence, its Air Defence-Air Force command and Da Nang People's Committee," he said.
READ MORE: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/98368/da-nang-airport-dioxin-contaminated-soil-project-set-for-april.html

EU, US plan up to $1bn in aid to Vietnam

http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/18726/eu-us-plan-up-to-1bn-in-aid-to-vietnam
The European Union (EU) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have announced a plan of up to $1 billion in development aid for Vietnam to improve state governance, healthcare, social welfare, and agent orange/dioxin treatment between 2014 and 2020, the two organizations said last week.
The EU said last Wednesday that it will supply funding worth 400 million euros ($550 million) from now until 2020, up 100 euros (nearly $140 million) compared to the 2007-2013 period. 
David O'Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer of the European External Action Service, said that the EU will continue expanding development aid to Vietnam even in the context that the European economy has yet to fully recover and it has had to reduce assistance to many other countries.
USAID, meanwhile, announced Tuesday last week that it will arrange a budget of at least $344 million for the implementation of three objectives in many areas in Vietnam from 2014 to 2018.
READ MORE: http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/18726/eu-us-plan-up-to-1bn-in-aid-to-vietnam

Dioxin contamination at Vietnam airport worse than thought

http://tuoitrenews.vn/features/18652/dioxin-contamination-at-vietnam-airport-worse-than-thought
Agent Orange/Dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa airport in the southern province of Dong Nai, formerly a major military airbase of the U.S. Army, is even worse than the alarming rate confirmed before.
More seriously, the toxic chemical was found flowing toward the Dong Nai River, just hundreds of meters from the hot spot, and in densely populated areas located alongside the river and airport.
Dozens of hectares, including five to seven hectares of ponds and lakes, at the airport have been found with dangerously high concentrations of dioxin, a pollutant that inflicts great damage on human health, causing cancer together with reproductive and developmental problems, and increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and immune malfunction.
28 new sites contaminated
Apart from 13 sites at Bien Hoa airport confirmed of Agent Orange/Dioxin contamination, Vietnam has recently unearthed 28 other sites covering dozens of hectares at the facility seriously polluted with the toxic chemical.
The 28 new sites probed at the airport were all confirmed to be contaminated with Agent Orange/Dioxin, according to the National Steering Committee on Tackling Consequences of Toxic Chemicals, or Committee 33, the body under the Vietnamese government in charge of coping with the consequences of toxic chemicals used by the U.S. during the war in Vietnam.
Of the 28 new sites, sixteen were identified as seriously polluted, as they surpassed the rate of 8,000 parts per trillion (ppt), Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper said in an article published on March 23.
READ MORE: http://tuoitrenews.vn/features/18652/dioxin-contamination-at-vietnam-airport-worse-than-thought