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Date: July 27, 2007
Contacts: Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer
Michelle Strikowsky, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail <news@nas.edu>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Data Suggest a Possible Association Between
Agent Orange Exposure and Hypertension, But the Evidence Is Limited
WASHINGTON -- A new report from the Institute of Medicine finds suggestive but limited evidence that exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War is associated with an increased chance of developing high blood pressure in some veterans. The report is the latest update in a congressionally mandated series by the IOM that reviews every two years the evidence about the health effects of these herbicides and the type of dioxin -- TCDD -- that contaminated some of them.
The committee that wrote the report also concluded that there is suggestive but limited evidence that AL amyloidosis is associated with herbicide exposure. Characterized by the accumulation of protein deposits in and around organs, this rare condition affects one in 100,000 people annually in the United States. The committee based its conclusion on the fact that AL amyloidosis shares many biological and pathological similarities with multiple myeloma and certain B-cell lymphomas, which have been found to be associated with exposure to herbicides.
A finding of "limited or suggestive evidence of an association" means that scientific studies of adequate quality have yielded information pointing to a possible statistical link or plausible biological means by which exposure to the chemicals of concern could result in a particular health effect, but that contradictory results from other studies, biases, or other confounding factors limit the certainty of the evidence.
Two recently published studies of Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange and other defoliants provide evidence that these veterans have higher rates of hypertension. Defined as blood pressure exceeding 140/90, hypertension affects more than 70 million American adults and is a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular ailments. It is often associated with age, race, being overweight, or having diabetes.
The two new studies were able to adjust for the impact of common risk factors for hypertension on the results. The results also were consistent with findings from several other studies that looked at the health effects of herbicides and their contaminants on Vietnam veterans but were not adjusted for known risk factors and had poorer measures of exposure. At the same time, a new environmental study and an earlier study of workers in an herbicide manufacturing plant did not find evidence of an association between herbicide or dioxin exposure and increased incidence of high blood pressure. Given the studies' limitations and inconsistent results, the committee found the cumulative body of evidence suggestive of, but insufficient to conclude with certainty, an association between high blood pressure and herbicide exposure.
The committee also reviewed studies that provide intriguing findings on rates of ischemic heart disease and exposure to defoliants or dioxin. However, many of the studies did not have information necessary to adjust for the impact of weight, smoking, and other known risk factors on the results, and their measures of heart disease were somewhat imprecise. The committee members could not agree on whether these factors distort the studies' results.
The report presents scientific data only and does not imply or suggest policy decisions that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs might make. Also, the findings relate to exposures and outcomes in populations. Researchers' abilities to pinpoint the health risks faced by individual veterans are hampered by inadequate information about veterans' exposure levels during their service in Vietnam.
U.S. forces sprayed Agent Orange and other defoliants over parts of southern Vietnam and surrounding areas from 1962 to 1970. Most large-scale sprayings were conducted from airplanes and helicopters, but herbicides also were dispersed from boats and ground vehicles or by soldiers wearing back-mounted equipment.
The report series is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. A committee roster follows.
Pre-publication copies of Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2006 are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
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[ This news release and report are available at http://national-academies.org ]
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Review of the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of
Exposure to Herbicides - Sixth Biennial Update
John J. Stegeman, Ph.D. (chair)
Former Chair
Department of Biology
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, Mass.
Richard A. Fenske, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Industrial Hygiene and Safety Program
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, and
Director
Pacific Northwest Center for Agricultural Safety and Health
University of Washington
Seattle
Jordan Firestone, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor of Neurology, and
Director
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic
University of Washington
Seattle
Peter H. Gann, M.D., Sc.D.
Professor and Director of Pathology Research
University of Illinois
Chicago
Mark S. Goldberg, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
McGill University
Montreal
Claudia Hopenhayn, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Department of Epidemiology
College of Public Health
University of Kentucky
Lexington
Nancy I. Kerkvliet, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology
Oregon State University
Corvallis
Linda A. McCauley, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., R.N.
Nightingale Professor of Nursing and Associate Dean for Nursing Research
School of Nursing
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
DeJuran Richardson, Ph.D.
Professor of Mathematics and Computer Sciences
Lake Forest College
Chicago
Hollie I. Swanson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology, and
Assistant Professor
Toxicology Program
College of Medicine
University of Kentucky
Lexington
Mary K. Walker, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology/Toxicology, and
Director
Toxicology and Environmental Disease Graduate Program
College of Pharmacy
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque
Stephen D. Walter, Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
Hamilton, Canada
INSTITUTE STAFF
Mary Paxton, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Study Director
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