TCE & Autoimmune systems

[JMMRLND]

Amen to that Will you are absolutely right, it all about the almighty dollar. Man you have gotten my fire lit tonight, I am all over the place. I looked at the bibliographies from the ATSDR and I found two that related to autoimmunity is hard for them to defend. You know only scleroderma is listed in the ATSDR, do you think this will change with the health outcomes study. Keep it coming Will.

Jim

[TX Oleander]

I was at Lejeune in 1976. I have Scleroderma & have also have had breast cancer. My Doctors side step my request for a Nexus Letter saying they do not know the reasons for Scleroderma or Cancer. I understand it is necessary to have a Nexus letter. It's so frustrating being sick & trying to plead with your Doctor for a letter & he says all I can do is treat your symptoms.
Any ideas? Anyone else have Scleroderma?

Thanks in advance. Semper Fi

Lea Ann

[JMMRLND]

Lea Anne

This is nonsense. TCE and Vinyl Chloride has been recognized by the American Academy of Rheumatology as a cause (not more than likely), but a cause of Scleroderma. Is your rheumatologist private or VA? You of all people with autoimmune disease has the strongest case. Look up the recent VBA cases dealing with jet fuel and TCE as a cause of scleroderma and lupus. More so in scleroderma and it is on the ATSDR list also.

These doctors don't want to expsoe themselves to any liabilities. When we sign things, there is always a chance that we will be deposed and it is not the testifying as it is time consuming and not profitable. I will give some good sources when I am through with my own case which will be later on today hopefully. But go to Google Scholar and type in Solvents linked to Scleroderma and you should have a lot of abstracts to support your position. I will do my own search for you.

Take care
JIm

[JMMRLND]

Lea Ann

Here are some sources for you.

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/1 ... 3.full.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_scleroderma
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9627022
http://www.ohcow.on.ca/clinics/windsor/ ... JOOHNA.pdf
http://www.wellsphere.com/general-medic ... rma/796564
http://books.google.com/books?id=PyUSgd ... ma&f=false very good source for you
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/database/haz1812003138
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Dis ... auses.html
http://www.scleroderma.org/medical/othe ... 003_1.shtm this is a very strong article from a rheumatologist
http://www.consultox.com/toxicology-vinylchloride.shtml this is the toxicologist i used for a nexus
http://www.scleroderma.org/medical/r&t_ ... 004_2.shtm another strong article from a doctor
http://www.scleroderma.org/medical/r&t_ ... 004_2.shtm
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... O;2-P/full very good research vc/tce

Scleroderma and occupational exposure
by Massimo Bovenzi, MD,' Fabio Barbone, MD,2 Alberto Betta, MD,3 Michele Tommasini, MD,3
Walter Versini, MD3
Bovenzi M, Barbone F, Betta A, Tommasini M, Versini W. Scleroderma and occupational exposure. Scand J
Work Environ Health 1995;21:289-9
.
Objectives A case-referent study was conducted in the province of Trento, Italy, to investigate the possible
association between occupational exposure and scleroderma (systemic and localized variants)

Methods Twenty-one cases of scleroderma were ascertained from the computerized admission files of all of
the local hospitals from 1976 to 1991. For each case, two age- and gender-matched referents were selected that were discharged from the hospital on the same day as the case. The subjects were interviewed with a structured questionnaire which included items for personal, work, and medical history. Exposure to organic solvents,other selected chemicals, silica dust, and hand-arm vibration was carefully investigated.

Results A significant association was found between exposure to organic solvents (aromatic hydrocarbons)
and scleroderma [odds ratio (OR) 9.28, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08-243.81. For the men, the OR
for exposure to silica was 5.20 (95% CI 0.48-74.1), whereas for the women it was 2.11 (95% CI 0.20-22.0)
for exposure to other selected chemicals.
Conclusion. lts of this case-referent study are consistent with those of previous case reports on the important role of occupation in the etiology of scleroderma.In particular, our findings confirm that exposure to organic solvents and silica is associated with this rare connective tissue disease

http://www.jrheum.org/content/31/12/2395.short
http://www.musculoskeletalnetwork.com/d ... 22/1691649 very good

I hope this helps pay attention to what the rheumatologist says.
jim

[usmc_wlh1975]

JMMRLND

if you want to repost this to the information notice, I will delete my copy of it there.

[JMMRLND]

Will

I see you already have, that is a great idea you came up with. Hey read one of your old post about you providing telecommunications for the space lab, I am impressed, I am glad you are part of this site. I will be doing autoimmune stuff on there, as soon as I get my VA file completed.

Jim

[usmc_wlh1975]

I changed the ownership over to you, JMMRLND.

[TX Oleander]

Thank you so much Jim for all the great info! I greatly appreciate it. My Rheumatologist is in private practice. I will make copies of the info for my next appointment in 2 weeks. I agree, these Drs. do not want to testify. I have no family history of cancer or any kind of Autoimmue Disease but yet my Rheumatologist insists I'm predisposed to Scleroderma. Maybe time for a second opinion. Once again I thank you Jim for taking your time to get this info to me.
Take care,

Lea Ann

[nanebrown]

My Rheumatologist is in private practice. I will make copies of the info for my next appointment in 2 weeks. I agree, these Drs. do not want to testify. I have no family history of cancer or any kind of Autoimmue Disease but yet my Rheumatologist insists I'm predisposed to Scleroderma. Maybe time for a second opinion.
Lea Ann

Hi Lea Ann,

If you have not done so already, I would make a copy of the Nexus letter EXAMPLE and give it to your doctor. Many doctors are very limited in time. Having a letter that they can follow helps direct them in what to write/dictate making the process quicker and easier for them, and hopefully more likely to do it. Tell your MD that you need him to write a etter for your VA claim. (in other words, don't ask for them to do it, just say that you need it. They do have the option to make their opinion in it, hopefully with the word "More likely than not").

Here are some links from a previous Nexus Letter posting...
I gave a copy of the sample letter at the end of this one to my MD to follow.
http://veteransinfo.tripod.com/nexus2.pdf
This one has another good example in it.
http://www.veteranscorner.org/thenexusletter.htm
Feel free to give them my copy to follow as an example too.

When I went to my MD, I had everything in order and explained that I needed a letter written regarding my breast CA. This was the purpose of the appointment, not something that I tagged on at the end as an "oh, by the way... can you do this?) I had the following things all lined up to show him -
- my DD214 showing that I was discharged from Camp Lejeune in 1974
- the reports about Camp Lejeune' s toxic drinking water during the time I was there
- studies of benzene exposure which caused breast cancer in rats and clusters of populations
- my medical/surgical treatment records, negative genetic tests and no family history for breast cancer
(I actually made copies of the important things and gave them to him.)

BTW - My surgical oncologist brushed me off, so I went to a medical doctor. He gladly wrote the Nexus letter for me at my first appointment with him. In it, he commented that he reviewed all of my records, etc. It is short and to the point and I have been told that it is a good letter. We shall see....

Good luck and let me know if I can help in any other way.
Nancy

[JMMRLND]

I changed the ownership over to you, JMMRLND.

I accept, Will.

[TX Oleander]

Hi Nancy, Thank you so much for the info. I will do exactly as you did and see if I have better results at my next appointment in two weeks. If not I have another Dr in mind. Congrats on getting your nexus letter. Take care & thank you again.

Lea Ann

[Sherry1965]

Lee Ann - good to see you on here! I did the same thing and my Rheumatologist refused to do a nexus letter - but when I had my C&P exam they said "as likely as not" which in VA terms is a yes to the vet because they are supposed to lean toward the veteran.

I hope you are feeling better Jim! I'm sorry I haven't been on here much. I've been off work all week due to my back/hips and today went for another injection - this time into my hips I PRAY THIS ONE WORKS! I'm so sick and tired of being in pain all the time as I am sure you are as well. Hang in there because I know you are the one who will make this happen if any of us make it!

Sherry

[usmc_wlh1975]

Related research stuff:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1495&p=6763#p6763