Posted by Donald (205.188.199.53) on July 18, 1999 at 04:05:52:
I was glad to read about the research in England, however I don't think that the abnormality in the hypothalamus can really be called a "cause" of CH. For many years I have wondered if my exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam was the cause for mine. During one misguided day, I drank several canteens of local water in Quang Tri Province (DMZ), which was the most heavily sprayed region during the war. I wonder if my exposure via ingestion of Dioxin (as opposed to other means of exposure such as inhalation, skin absobtion) may have been the cause of the cause for me. I have never seen any data that indicates that others who were exposed to AO have resulting CH. If anyone knows of such info, please post on this message board. My CH's began while I was still in Vietnam in 1971, and the timing is too glaring to ignore. I have two friends here in Hawaii who also have CH. One is a male who began having them after a serious head trauma. In addition to the trauma though, he also spent 6 months in the hospital getting several surgeries and god only knows what medications. The other friend is a woman who began having CH after having played in the rain one day in Bavaria with a girlfriend of hers. On that day, unbeknownst to them, the heaviest radiation cloud from the Chernobyl disaster was passing overhead. In the following days, both of them developed white spots all over their bodies. The spotting gradually faded and the CH's began. I have read on this site about instances of CH beginning after having dental work.
What I am theorizing here folks, is whether there may be a toxic connection that some or all of us may have in common. I read that there does not appear to be a genetic connection, however there was a case I read about in which two brothers and a father were all diagnosed with CH. Could that be because the three of them were all in the same place at the same time, and that genetics had nothing to do with it?
I would like to ask all of you to recall the timeframe in which the CH's began for you, and to examine whether you may have been exposed to some chemical, toxin, medication, radiation, trauma, etc.
Did you step on a nail or have some other puncture to the skin? Did you work in some environment that may have exposed you to noxious fumes? Was there an animal or insect bite? Did you live near an area like Love Canal in which you may have been exposed to tainted drinking water or other industrial waste?
I think that it may be appropriate to ask the webmaster of this site (God Bless Him!) to expand the survey to include questions which relate to toxic exposure. If men are 73% of the CH family, I am wondering if that may have to do with the fact that men are more likely to be messing around with toxics. Let me have some feedback on this. If there is some statistical significance that we can establish with this then it might raise a red flag to others who have not been affected; ie. the medical community, media and government may pay more attention if there is evidence to indicate that our environment may be doing this to us, and that you or your children may be next.
Quiet Sleep To You All,
Donald