Battling Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome -- A Plan for Recovery from Chemical Neurotoxins

18 million gallons of Agent Orange were reported to have been used in South Vietnam, where over 6,250 square miles still cannot be farmed 30 years later due to the contamination. Agent Orange wasn't alone. There was a rainbow arsenal of herbicides, including Agent Blue (which contained arsenic), Agent Pink, Agent White, Agent Green, Agent Orange II (Super Orange), Agent Purple, Silvex, Dinoxol, Trinoxol, Diquat, Bromacil, Tandex, Monuron, Diuron, and Dalapon.

Although the herbicides were widely used in the U.S., they usually were heavily diluted with water or oil. The military sprayed herbicides in Vietnam that were 6 to 25 times the rate suggested by the manufacturer.

To make matters worse, to destroy large areas of forest and jungle with fire, the military started dropping incendiaries on defoliated areas. What they didn't know was that burning cancer-causing dioxins significantly further increased their toxicity. The American soldiers in Vietnam, South Koreans, and Vietnamese continued to live in a chemical mist -- they slept with it, drank it in their water, ate it in their food, breathed it in, and bathed in it.

Laboratory tests later revealed that as little as 2 parts of dioxin per trillion in the bloodstream was sufficient to cause death and abnormal births; many GIs were returning home from Vietnam with 50 parts per trillion and more in their bloodstream. Dioxin was still found in the sperm of men who fought in Vietnam over 20 years later.

Thousands of U.S., South Korean, and Vietnamese veterans of the Vietnam War and civilians are now suffering from various lifelong chronic medical problems after being exposed to defoliants such as Agent Orange (2,4,5-T), which were contaminated with carcinogenic dioxin. Studies have indicated that dioxin poisoning and its effects are also able to pass to offspring.

Common medical problems include an abnormally high number of soft tissue cancers such as lung cancer, Hodgkin's disease, liver cancer, stomach cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, nasal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, prostate cancer, and other cancers, nervous system disorders, immune system damage, liver dysfunction, painful skin conditions like chloracne, systemic injury, chronic pain, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, fibromyalgia, multiple myeloma, wild mood swings, anxiety, chemical sensitivities, and birth defects. Living with these medical conditions makes it difficult for a person to function as a productive member of society, often leading to unemployment, isolation from family, homelessness, hunger, and a host of other problems. (For severe cancer sufferers, consider purchasing a copy of the book The Cure for All Advanced Cancers containing a natural program with a 95% success rate.)

On a cellular level, Dioxin, like many other chemicals, drugs, antibiotics, and toxic elements can attach to receptors for transport into cells where it can damage the nucleus, DNA, and mitochondria, where 90% of the body's energy is produced, leading to an inability to properly process and use nutrients, neural dysfunction, lack of oxygen delivery to the body, a weakened immune system, and many other related problems. In a dysfunctional and toxic body with a weakened immune system, disease can flourish.

According to the Department of Defense, as of Nov. 22, 2004, 21 percent of the 361,226 active duty soldiers who have deployed and returned from service in Iraq and Afghanistan since January 2003 have reported medical concerns relating to mental health, dermatological, and pulmonary ailments, and many were concerned by the environmental exposures they experienced in the field.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have experienced undiagnosed illnesses they believe are linked to the war, according to Congress' auditing arm. These ailments include chronic fatigue, loss of muscle control, diarrhea, migraines, dizziness, memory problems, and loss of balance.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi's panel found that more recent studies suggest the veterans' illnesses are neurological and apparently are linked to exposure to neurotoxins such as the nerve gas sarin, the anti-nerve gas drug pyridostigmine bromide and pesticides that affect the nervous system. "Research studies conducted since the war have consistently indicated that psychiatric illness, combat experience, or other deployment-related stressors do not explain Gulf War veterans illnesses in the large majority of ill veterans," the review committee said.

Veterans have also frequently been exposed while in the military to a large number of foods that have been irradiated to prolong their shelf life, and these irradiated foods are making their way into our grocery stores. Although a small radiation label is now required on many of the foods, the marking is intentionally deceptive, made to look as if it represents something natural, in the shape of a green circle with what appears to be a flower inside of it.

And of course there are fumes from trucks, choking smoke from oil fires, dust from demolished buildings, and so on -- many sources of toxic health hazards, yet none likely as hazardous as the rainbow arsenal of herbicides.

Although Veterans and others have been fighting for years for recognition of their conditions, treatment of their resulting health problems, and compensation for their injuries and suffering to little avail, for those who received treatment, the treatment may be worse than the disease itself. Chemotherapy and other forms of radiation, drugs, invasive surgery, and other unnatural therapies do more harm to the body than good. One of the leading causes of death in this country is from orthodox medicine, whether it be from physician error, drug side effects, or from other related causes.

Please visit the NatureGem web site at http://www.naturegem.com and link to the full article on Agent Orange for valuable information and resources that will show you how you can help your body heal itself naturally. There is no magic pill, but there are many lifestyle, diet, and natural treatment options that will help move you in the right direction quickly after years of cumulative damage and help stop the damage from progressing. It may seem like a lot of changes to make, but the dietary and lifestyle changes quickly become habit.

Most people don't realize that they are still continuously taking in large amounts of toxic elements in their food and water that can hinder recovery. You can make great progress without much money through a strict non-toxic diet and lifestyle, but if you do have money, take advantage of the potent supplements available and proven natural treatments from naturopathic practitioners. If you take no action, odds are you will get worse. The proof will be in how you feel. Most people improve quickly by adhering strictly to the guidelines provided on the NatureGem web site, especially eliminating toxic ingredients they have been ingesting.

For more information on how to help your body heal itself of any disease naturally without drugs or chemicals, information on drug side effects, and harmful disease-causing chemicals in the foods you eat and your environment and how to avoid them, please visit the NatureGem web site at http://www.naturegem.com.

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