Posted on 11/22/2017 8:59:27 AM PST by blam
Veterans returned to the U.S. after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam a half century ago, but hundreds of them may be dying from a silent bullet — a slow-killing parasite living in the men decades after the war, a new study revealed.
Liver flukes, parasites that infect a human when raw or undercooked fish is eaten, are being investigated as the cause of a rare bile duct cancer among veterans who served in the Vietnam War. It could take years for symptoms to show up, but when they do, the host is left with tremendous pain and given just a few months to live.
The Department of Veterans Affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes and the cancer. More than 20 percent of the 50 blood samples submitted to the study came back positive or bordering positive for liver fluke antibodies, said Sung-Tae Hong, the tropical medicine specialist who carried out the tests at Seoul National University in South Korea.
Gerry Wiggins, who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, agreed to take part in the study even though he didn’t have any symptoms. The 69-year-old said he has already lost friends to the disease. To his surprise, liver fluke antibodies were detected in him.
"I was in a state of shock," he said. "I didn't think it would be me."
Further tests showed two cysts on his bile duct what could develop into cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma. They were removed and Wiggins is doing well.
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(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Thank-you for posting. Good Information.
Would a Diatomaceous Earth treatment or a regular de-worming help?
Or are we gonna let a few more thousand die while we come up with a multi million dollar treatment?
Ping to just a few fellow VietVets off the top of my head.
If any of you have better lists...
Then, it was the dysentery and Malaria, fungus and boils.
Next, the privilege of getting hit and all those new complexities to our lives.
After that, the fun of the homecoming and the know-it-alls.
Next, it was prostate cancer.
Now it's carcinogenic liver flukes.
Weren't we the lucky ones!
don’t forget the black syph and your schwanze falling off.
Thank you very much for the ping, shibumi.
War is an earthly version of hell.
Thank you sincerely for your service.
I had a good friend who served in Vietnam.
He came down with leukemia.
The VA is supposed to automatically find “service related” for Vietnam Veterans with leukemia.
The Fort Harrison, MT VBA came back with “not service related”.
He died several months ago from the leukemia.
I despise the VBA.
I knew a couple of guys who wished it would fall off.
Dysentery was my favorite part.
(That was the only time in my life I wasn’t overweight.)
Headed for my 4th surgery for a skin disorder picked up playing in the sandbox. Asia has wonderful things to offer the American Soldiers in exchange for their treasure.
Thanks, blam.
Never ate fish in Vietnam, either in 68-69, or in 2000.
Those poor bastards that had to spend the rest of their lives on some God forsaken island in the Pacific. </sarc>
Thanks for posting...
Great post.. I guess the flukes were suppressed by strong immune systems until they stopped being strong. Looking into this one. Immun / parasit ping.
Blam, Thank you for posting this article.
A Ping for all who served in Vietnam regarding source of bile duct cancer.
So, how do you go about getting this test? I suspect my Kaiser GP would just give me a blank stare.
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