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PARKINSON'S DISEASE NEWS 16th December 2008 - New review from Viartis AGENT ORANGE Agent Orange is the name given to a herbicide used by the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War as a means of warfare. It got its name from the colour of the barrels it was stored in. It was mainly used to clear the dense jungle within which the opposing forces fought, and also often to destroy the enemy's crops. For more information go to Agent Orange. It has been widely claimed that Agent Orange has caused a wide variety of medical disorders, including Parkinson's Disease. For more information go to Agent Orange and Parkinson's Disease. Vietnam veterans have detailed how they were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and that they subsequently developed Parkinson's Disease. Some herbicides have been shown to cause Parkinson's Disease. For more information go to the Toxic causes of Parkinson's Disease. So there would appear to be the potential for Agent Orange to cause Parkinson's Disease. There have been over 300 published studies on the effects of Agent Orange, many of which detail its medical effects such as cancer, diabetes or severe birth defects. However, their biochemistry is very different from that of Parkinson's Disease. Out of the more than 300 studies concerning Agent Orange, none of them have ever shown that Agent Orange has caused Parkinson's Disease. Claims of Agent Orange causing Parkinson's Disease have usually detailed how Parkinson's Disease was diagnosed many years after possible exposure to Agent Orange. However, with Parkinson's Disease, if somebody is affected by a toxin, they usually suffer the toxic effects at their worst soon after exposure to the toxin. Toxic effects usually then decline very gradually after the person is no longer exposed. So if Agent Orange caused the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, they would have initiated whilst in Vietnam - not decades later. Somebody could be exposed to Agent Orange and quite independently develop Parkinson's Disease. Parkinson's Disease can occur in almost anyone without toxicity being the cause. For more information go to the Causes of Parkinson's Disease. Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn