Agent Orange linked to blood pressure

[unhappycamper]

Agent Orange linked to blood pressure
July 27, 2007

WASHINGTON --Exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam may lead to high blood pressure in some veterans, but the evidence is limited and only suggestive, the Institute of Medicine said Friday.

The IOM, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has been studying the effects of the herbicide Agent Orange on veterans since the early 1990s, and is issuing its seventh update.

Two recent studies of Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange and other defoliants indicated that these veterans have higher rates of high blood pressure, the report said.

Hypertension affects more than 70 million American adults and is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.

The new findings were consistent with other studies that looked at the health effects of herbicides. However, a new environmental study and an earlier study of workers in a herbicide manufacturing plant did not find evidence of an association between herbicide or dioxin exposure and increased high blood pressure.


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uhc note: 30+ years to say "there may a 'problem'? How long will it take for depleted uranium to rise as an issue?