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Medical oddities....
Here's a medical study I saved, and never got around to posting. I was going to delete it, but it dovetails into family, and intrigues me, so...
Study: Veterans Face Higher Gehrig's Risk
Men who served in the U.S. military during the last century appear to have an unusually high risk of dying from Lou Gehrig's disease, but experts are puzzled over why and are uncertain whether the apparent hazard is real.
The surprising finding comes from a study of men veterans from World War I through Vietnam. It concludes they are about 60 percent more likely than non-veterans to get the often fatal illness, known formally as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Even with the increased risk, however, the disease is still rare for veterans and non-veterans alike.
Dr. Susan Mather, environmental hazards chief at the Department of Veterans Affairs, called the discovery intriguing but added, "This study to me only raises more questions than it answers."
My maternal aunt's husband died of Lou Gehrig's. He was a brilliant man, a surgeon who went to Korea. It took him six years to die. I have several friends who went to Vietnam, and now deal with bizarre medical conditions with no footprint in their known heredity. Both were sprayed with Agent Orange. No, this isn't enough for even a trend.
But it makes me wonder, and think.
I put my uncle into NIGHT CALLS. He's Uncle Karl. Like Karl, my uncle didn't have much use for other people's children--but he seemed to like me as an adult, and I always enjoyed him. He's missed.
Study: Veterans Face Higher Gehrig's Risk
Men who served in the U.S. military during the last century appear to have an unusually high risk of dying from Lou Gehrig's disease, but experts are puzzled over why and are uncertain whether the apparent hazard is real.
The surprising finding comes from a study of men veterans from World War I through Vietnam. It concludes they are about 60 percent more likely than non-veterans to get the often fatal illness, known formally as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Even with the increased risk, however, the disease is still rare for veterans and non-veterans alike.
Dr. Susan Mather, environmental hazards chief at the Department of Veterans Affairs, called the discovery intriguing but added, "This study to me only raises more questions than it answers."
My maternal aunt's husband died of Lou Gehrig's. He was a brilliant man, a surgeon who went to Korea. It took him six years to die. I have several friends who went to Vietnam, and now deal with bizarre medical conditions with no footprint in their known heredity. Both were sprayed with Agent Orange. No, this isn't enough for even a trend.
But it makes me wonder, and think.
I put my uncle into NIGHT CALLS. He's Uncle Karl. Like Karl, my uncle didn't have much use for other people's children--but he seemed to like me as an adult, and I always enjoyed him. He's missed.