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I am a member of a group call U.S. Military Veterans with Parkinson's (USMVP). Over the last 18 months we have researched the issue of PD and chemical exposures of Vietnam Veterans. We have found compelling evidence of the association of service in Vietnam and Vietnam Veterans' chemical exposures to their Parkinson's disease. Over the past year many new studies have came out that support the association. Looking at only the herbicide Agent Orange, we are not dealting with one just one chemical. Agent Orange was a mixture of two herbicides 2,4,-D and 2,4,5-T. The Dioxin TCDD was a byproduct of the production of 2,4,5-T. TCDD is the most toxic dioxion known to man. The levels of TCDD in Agent Orange were up to 1,000 times that found in the civilian formulation of the herbicide 2,4,5-T. This was due to the increased demand for the military herbicide. Mayo Clinic study 2008, alpha synuclein, pesticides and Parkinson's disease found that pesticides and alpha synuclein operated indepedently of each other to increase the risk of Parkinson's disease. That herbicides were significantly associated with the increase risk of Parkinson's disease (OR 2.43 and p=.004). The herbicide 2,4-D was the most reported herbicide by the study group. This is just a small portion of the evidence we have that supports a connection between agent orange and Parkinson's disease. But the chemical exposure was not limited even on a global basis to Agent Orange. On a routine basis, Vietnam Veteran were sprayed with the organophosphate malathion average of every 9 days. BMC Neurology published a study in 2008 showing that organophosphates and malathion are significantly associated with Parkinson's disease. An October study out of Korea, show that TCDD the dioxin in Agent Orange, decreases the viability of neuron cells, increases the DNA damages, increase lipid peroxidation, increases the intracellular calcium levels which causes a hyperphosphorylation of the tau. All of these points are already associated with the development of Parkinson's disease. This study was done on clone neuron cells. A neuroblastoma was created to test the effect of TCDD. I coud go on and on with studys that make the connection. I would be happy to share information and to help educated you on our issue. We presented a portion of our studies to the Institute of Medicine in June of 2008. Thank you in advance for entertaining our position and data. Alan Oates Director Special Project and Research USMPV [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