my older brother served in Vietnam… I received an email from him iyesterday nquiring about our mom (I’ve become her primary caregiver), and he closed with, “… I have to rush now, I’m going to be part of an Agent Orange study… see you soon!”
Well, my brother is nearly 20yrs older than I am, and not being very close in age or relationship, when I responded I didn’t ask anything about it though i have plenty of questions running through my mind… really I don’t want to pry, but feeling concerned.
So is there an ongoing study? Could my brother have been affected (or is it effected?) in some way I’m not aware of? Truth be told, I don’t remember much about the whole controversy, except that they were probably exposed to it, thus resulting in various strange health conditions.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were such a study: it is often useful to get long-term data on the effects of certain types of chemicals. If the study is currently on-going, it might not be in print yet, and so it would be hard to find it in a search.
You could ask him who’s doing the study and information about their research interests will probably be available on their website, as well as conference abstracts and such.
Do you have any particular reason to disbelieve him?
I work in a VA Hospital in Radiology. We regularly see guys come through for chest x-rays, the reason for which is listed as Agent Orange exposure. (Gladly, most of the time their chest x-rays are unremarkable. )
These guys are part of an ongoing program that monitors people that were exposed to Agent Orange. I don’t know if you’d want to call it a “study” per se, but it’s a pretty widely utilized program.
there’s no reason for me not to believe him; i’m simply curious and concerned for his rhealth and how it might have anything to do with his participation with his participation in this study.
RYSDAD:
my brother did mention he was going to VA hospital so I will get a snack and read through the link you provided–thank you!