Study supports possible link between Agent Orange exposure and diabetes

March 29, 2000
Web posted at: 4:42 p.m. EST (2142 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Air Force veterans who were exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are showing an increased risk for diabetes, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Air Force.

The findings are the latest results from an ongoing study of Air Force veterans that began in 1982. The report shows the veterans studied who came into contact with Agent Orange were 47 percent more likely to be diagnosed with the illness than a control group of veterans who were not exposed to the chemical.

"This report includes the strongest evidence ... that exposure to Agent Orange is associated with adult-onset diabetes," said Dr. Joel Michalek, a senior investigator on the study panel.

In a news conference Wednesday, Michalek said his committee is asking for additional funding to conduct further studies on the subject.

He cautioned the results do not necessarily mean the dioxins in Agent Orange cause diabetes, but that there appears to be an increased risk of the adult-onset form of the disease -- called type 2 diabetes -- among the study subjects who had higher levels of dioxin.

"Dioxin is related to fat, and diabetes is also related to fat," Michalek said.

The U.S. airmen in the study participated in "Operation Ranch Hand," the Pentagon's code name for the spraying of herbicides in Southeast Asia from 1962 through 1971. During the project, about 19 million gallons of herbicide, 11 million of which were Agent Orange, were dispensed from U.S. Air Force planes.

The "Ranch Hand" study compared health problems of 1,000 Air Force personnel who were working with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, with those of a control group of about 1,300 veterans who were not exposed.

The possible link was first reported early in the 1990s, when preliminary results of the study were released. Wednesday's findings reconfirmed the earlier reports.

The ongoing study found "no consistent or meaningful relation" between dioxin exposure and cancer in the veterans, but has determined that airmen exposed do have higher rates of cardiovascular abnormalities.

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