Diabetes a common problem among vets
By: JO CIAVAGLIA (Mon, Oct/03/2005)
Frank Yocum survived an enemy booby trap, but like some other Vietnam War veterans, he returned home with a time bomb inside his body.
Doctors discovered it 35 years later. Other Vietnam vets, though, could be carrying one, too, but don't realize it, he and others said.
Three years ago, Yocum was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition where the body makes too little insulin or cannot properly use the insulin it makes to convert blood glucose to energy.
Type 2 diabetes is more common among Vietnam vets than in the general U.S. population, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. An estimated 6 percent of Americans have the disease, while 9 percent of an estimated 2.3 million Vietnam vets have it.
In fact, the federal government now recognizes diabetes as one of a myriad of disabling health conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.
But some vets, including Yocum, believe many others aren't aware that the condition, which most often occurs in adults over age 40, could be related to their military service.
"I had no idea, none at all. I didn't think about Agent Orange," Yocum, 55, said. "I didn't think I'd wind up with any of that stuff. Nobody thinks of that."
Agent Orange is the chemical herbicide the U.S. government sprayed in enemy areas of Vietnam to defoliate the jungle that hid the enemy. It was used between 1962 and 1971.
In 1977, Vietnam veterans started reporting serious health symptoms, which they traced to Agent Orange exposure. After initial denials of a connection, followed by years of study, the Veterans Administration determined that Agent Orange could have contributed to veterans' health problems.
That determination made Vietnam veterans eligible for disability compensation for a number of diseases, including Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, neuropathy, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers and some soft-tissue cancer.
Agent Orange appears to raise diabetes risk only slightly, officials said. A family history of the disease, physical inactivity and obesity remain the most important risk factors.
Still, in 2000, the VA added Type 2 diabetes to the list of "presumptive" diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure and noted on the VA Web site that Vietnam vets were eligible for compensation and benefits.
The Bucks County Military Affairs office said they continue to inform veterans of the diabetes eligibility through its newsletter, which is published four to six times a year.
The problem is most veterans aren't involved with the local VA or other military groups. Thus, they have no easy way of finding out about benefit information, local veterans said.
The 2000 U.S. Census said 52,755 military veterans live in Bucks County. It's unclear how many are Vietnam vets.
Since 2001, the county has processed 54 claims from Vietnam vets diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Every few weeks, new claims are processed, said Dan Fraley, the county military affairs director.
Typically, a Vietnam vet with diabetes can get a 10 to 20 percent disability rating, which amounts to $220 a month, plus diabetes medicine and testing supplies from the VA, Fraley said.
After diabetes was added to the list of eligible illnesses, the county mailed notices to veteran posts, 800 doctors and county hospitals urging them to have patients get in contact with the VA. The notification also included the 13 types of cancer the VA recognizes as frequently occurring in Vietnam vets, Fraley said.
Out of that mailing, the county had three inquiries - all for cancer, Fraley said.
That doesn't surprise Jesse Hill, president of the Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans.
"You don't put them together; you don't associate diabetes and the cancer. The guys think that one doesn't have anything to do with the other," he said. "It's like anything for all vets, they don't tell you until it's too late."
For Yocum, there was no family history of diabetes. Before losing 120 pounds, he was obese - and 90 percent of Type 2 diabetes cases involve overweight patients.
After he was diagnosed with diabetes, he went to the VA for medical help.
There, he met other veterans who suggested his illness might be related to his Marine service.
In 1967, Yocum stepped on a Viet Cong booby trap. Shrapnel ripped through his body. He spent nine months in a Navy hospital before returning home on disability.
Yocum said he had no clue his diabetes could be connected with his time in the jungles of Vietnam. Most veterans he has had contact with don't know it either.
One of them is James Savage, 65.
The Warminster man was drafted and served two years as an Army explosive storage specialist, mostly in the Cam Rahn Bay region. He remembers how Agent Orange was sprayed, filling the air like a smoky fog.
Two years ago, after Savage lost his health insurance, he contacted the VA and applied for prescription drug benefits. In his late 30s, Savage said he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and he also underwent cataract surgery.
After filing the paperwork, a VA worker told him he should apply for disability compensation for Agent Orange exposure. It was the first time that he heard about it.
"Unless [Vietnam] vets have some reason to go to the VA, they don't know," said Savage, who was approved for disability compensation for his diabetes. "The military never made any attempt to notify us."
Hill has heard that complaint many times before.
"A lot of us don't know what our benefits are and now it's been so long, a lot of guys just gave up, so to speak," he said. "They should have taken care of this when we first came home. I think they're waiting for all us to die."
Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at 215-949-4181 or jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com