Agent Orange

Agent Orange and "Super Orange" were the nicknames given to a herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange was used from 1961 to 1971, and was by far the most used of the so-called "rainbow herbicides" utilized during the program. Degradation of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) released dioxins, which have caused harm to the health of those exposed during the Vietnam War. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.

Studies of populations highly exposed to dioxin, though not necessarily Agent Orange, indicate increased risk of various types of cancer and genetic defects; the effect of long-term low-level exposure has not been established.

- Since the 1980s, several lawsuits have been filed against the companies who produced Agent Orange, among them being Dow Chemical, Monsanto and Diamond Shamrock (produced only 5%[1]). U.S. veterans obtained a $180 million settlement in 1984, most affected veterans receiving a one-time lump sum payment of $1,200. American veterans of the war on Vietnam were seeking recognition of Agent Orange, compensation and treatment for maladies that they and their children suffered from; many Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange have not been able to receive promised medical care through the VA medical system and only with rare exception have their affected children received healthcare assistance from the government. Vietnam veterans and their families who brought the original Agent Orange lawsuit stated 25 years ago that the government "is just waiting for us all to die".

They alleged that most of those still alive will succumb to the effects of toxic exposure over the next several years, before age 65. Elsewhere, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand veterans obtained compensation in and out-of-court settlement that same year. In 1999, South Korean veterans filed a lawsuit in Korea; in January 2006, the Korean Appeal Court ordered Monsanto and Dow to pay $62 million in compensation. However, no Vietnamese have obtained compensation, and on March 10, 2005 Judge Jack Weinstein of Brooklyn Federal Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against the chemical companies that produced the defoliants/herbicides.

- Agent Orange, given its name from the 55 US gallon orange-striped barrels it was shipped in, is a roughly 1:1 mixture of two phenoxy herbicides in ester form, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). These herbicides were developed during the 1940s by independent teams in England and the United States for use in controlling broad-leaf plants. Phenoxy agents work by mimicking a plant growth hormone, indoleacetic acid (IAA). When sprayed on broad-leaf plants they induce rapid, uncontrolled growth, eventually defoliating them. When sprayed on crops such as wheat or corn, it selectively kills just the broad-leaf plants in the field - the weeds - leaving the crop relatively unaffected. First introduced in 1946, these herbicides were in widespread use in agriculture by the middle of the 1950s and was first introduced in the agricultural farms of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
At the time Agent Orange was sold to the U.S. government for use in Vietnam, internal memos of its manufacturers reveal it was known that a dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD), is produced as a byproduct of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T, and was thus present in any of the herbicides that used it. The National Toxicology Program has classified TCDD to be a human carcinogen, frequently associated with soft-tissue sarcoma, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). 2,4,5-T has since been banned for use in the US and many other countries.

Although the herbicide 2,4-D does not contain dioxin, its impact on health and environment has not been thoroughly studied, and it remains one of the most-used herbicides in the world today.

Diseases associated with dioxin, again not necessarily Agent Orange, exposure are chloracne, soft tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A link has also been found to diabetes, in a study by the Institute of Medicine. Diseases with limited evidence of an association with Agent Orange are respiratory cancers, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, Porphyria cutanea tarda (a type of skin disease), acute and subacute transient peripheral neuropathy, spina bifida, Type 2 diabetes, and acute myelogenous leukemia found only in the second or third generation. Diseases with inadequate or insufficient evidence of an association are hepatobiliary cancers, nasal or nasopharyngeal cancers, bone cancer, female reproductive cancers, renal cancer, testicular cancer, leukemia, spontaneous abortion, birth defects, neonatal or infant death and stillbirths, low birth weight, childhood cancers, abnormal sperm parameters, cognitive neuropsychiatric disorders, ataxia, peripheral nervous system disorders, circulatory disorders, respiratory disorders, skin cancers, urinary and bladder cancer. Diseases with limited or suggestive evidence of no association are gastrointestinal tumors such as stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and rectal cancer, and brain tumors.

Use Outside of Vietnam in September 2000, the United States Veteran's Association (VA) recognized that Agent Orange was used in Korea in the late 1960s. Republic of Korea troops are reported to have done the spraying, which occurred along the demilitarized zone with North Korea. The VA has also acknowledged that Agent Orange was used domestically by U.S. forces, as well as in Canada during the same time period
Effects of the program

The New Jersey Agent Orange CommissionIn 1980, New Jersey created the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission, the first state commission created to study its effects. The Commission's research project in association with Rutgers University was called "The Pointman Project". It was disbanded by governor Christine Todd Whitman in 1996. New York Times, 3 July 1996.

During Pointman I, Commission researchers devised ways to determine small dioxin levels in blood. Prior to this, such levels could only be found in the adipose (fat) tissue. The project compared dioxin levels in a small group of Vietnam veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange with a group of matched veterans who had not served in Vietnam. The results of this project were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1988. (Vol. 259 No. 11, 18 March 1988).

The second phase of the project continued to examine and compare dioxin levels in various groups of Vietnam veterans including Army, Marines and brown water riverboat Navy personnel. In addition, the Commission was the only agency to examine such levels in women who served in Vietnam

En.wikipedia.com

HIV and AIDS

HIV is a virus that damages a person's immune system, the body's defence against disease. AVERT explains how the virus is transmitted, the treatment options and how you can protect yourself against infection.

What is HIV?
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. A person infected with HIV is infected for life - there's no cure.
Over time, as the immune system weakens, a person with HIV may develop rare infections or cancers. When these are particularly serious, the person is said to have AIDS.
Half of new HIV diagnoses in the UK are people infected during heterosexual sex

How's it transmitted?
HIV can only be passed on if infected blood, semen, vaginal fluids or breast milk get inside another person's body.
The two main ways in which a person can become infected are:
- Vaginal or anal sexual intercourse (without a condom) with an infected person
- Using a needle or syringe that's already been used by someone who's infected

An infected pregnant woman can also pass the virus to her unborn baby, before or during the birth, or through breastfeeding. Improved treatment and care for women with HIV means far fewer children are now born with HIV in the UK.



Other potential routes of transmission include:
- Giving and receiving first aid, although transmission will only occur if significant amounts of HIV-infected blood pass from one person to another
- Contact with used needles and syringes, if infected blood is transferred
- Giving and receiving oral sex, although there are very few proven instances of this, and usually transmission will only occur if a person has cuts or sores in their mouth
- Seeing a dentist, doctor or nurse, although it's extremely rare for HIV to be passed from a healthcare professional to a patient, as all medical instruments are sterilised or used only once
- In extremely rare cases, through fighting or biting
- Kissing, although generally this won't pass on HIV as saliva doesn't contain a high enough concentration of HIV, and the only risk would be if both people had noticeably bleeding cuts and sores in their mouths
- Sport, if HIV-infected blood gets into a wound or cut



The risk of transmission through any of the above is small, but it exists so care should always be taken.
Although blood transfusions and use of blood products are a potential route of transmission, all blood and organ donors in the UK are screened for HIV before the blood or body organ is used. Other countries may not have the same standards as the UK, so always check if you're travelling outside the UK.



You can't get HIV...
from hugging, kissing, sneezes, coughs, sharing baths or towels, swimming pools, toilet seats or from sharing cups, plates or cutlery, and you can't get HIV from any animal or insect, including mosquitoes

Who's affected?
An estimated 63,500 adults aged 15 to 59 are living with HIV in the UK, according to the latest (2005) figures, but a third of those people haven’t been diagnosed, which means they don't know they’re infected.
In some communities in the UK, particularly gay and African communities, there are a higher number of people who have HIV.

What are the symptoms?
There are no immediate signs or symptoms after infection. Research has shown that after a few weeks some people experience flu-like symptoms, but these usually go undiagnosed. The only way to know if you have HIV is to be tested.


Getting tested
If you're worried you could have caught HIV, it's important to get tested. The test is free and available from your GP or from any genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. GUM clinics are usually within a hospital and are completely confidential - your GP won't be informed without your consent. You can also go anonymously.

The test looks for HIV antibodies in the blood. It normally takes three months for antibodies to develop, so if you have a test soon after possible infection the result may be inaccurate. You'll need to be tested again after three months to get a definite result.


A trained counsellor will explain the test procedure and discuss possible results. You normally have to wait one week for a result.


To find a GUM clinic:
- Call the Department of Health's sexual health helpline on 0800 567123
- Use the fpa's GUM clinic search

There are also special rapid testing clinics. Pregnant women attending antenatal services and women attending some gynaecology services will be offered an HIV test.
Myth: Now better treatments are available, HIV isn't a very serious problem in the UK.Fact: If you're diagnosed with HIV it is almost certain that you'll eventually need to take anti-HIV drugs every day for the rest of your life. Unpleasant side-effects range from diarrhoea to changes in body shape. HIV can become resistant to the treatment, which means you have to switch drugs and, eventually, some people are left with no alternative drugs. AIDS still kills thousands of people in western countries.

What's the treatment?
There's no cure for HIV, but there are drugs called antiretrovirals that can help prevent someone infected with HIV from becoming ill. These drugs can significantly increase the life expectancy of someone with HIV. The drugs must be taken every day for life, otherwise the treatment will stop being effective and the person affected may become ill.
Drug treatment is free in the UK.
Treatment consists of taking several drugs together, which is known as combination therapy. Typical combinations include two drugs from the NRTI group (nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, also known as 'nukes') plus an NNRTI ('non-nuke') or a protease inhibitor.
Newer types of antiretrovirals such as entry inhibitors are usually reserved for people who have to switch treatments because of side-effects, or because the first drug combination stops working.

Research continues around the world to develop a HIV vaccine. Progress is being made, although it's likely to be a number of years before such a treatment is widely available.
Advice and support
Go to your GP, a genitourinary medicine clinic or a sexual health clinic. All services are confidential.
You can call fpa's helpline on 0845 122 8690 or THT Direct on 0845 122 1200.


Myth: If you're taking antiretroviral drugs then you can't transmit HIV to other people.Fact: Antiretroviral drugs affect parts of the body in different ways, so even if you have very low levels of HIV in your blood your sexual fluids may be much more infectious. If you have HIV, you must always avoid unprotected sex.

BBC.com