Mystery blood clots felling U.S. troops

This is a totally new twist on the Gulf War Syndrome....


WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Unexplained blood clots are among the reasons a number of U.S. soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom have died from sudden illnesses, an investigation by United Press International has found.

In addition to NBC News Correspondent David Bloom, who died in April of a blood clot in his lung after collapsing south of Baghdad, the Pentagon has told families that blood clots caused two soldiers to collapse and die. At least eight other soldiers have also collapsed and died from what the military has described as non-combat-related causes.

A disturbing parallel has also surfaced: soldiers becoming ill or dying from similar ailments in the United States. In some cases, the soldiers, their families and civilian doctors blame vaccines given to them by the military, particularly the anthrax or smallpox shots.

www.upi.com...

I guess that's a part of the evil plan.. to conquer the world. Colin Powell is the leader and Bush is just "officially" in charge.

Could it possibly be Deep Vein thrombosis or a pulmonary embolism? The most sobering lessons about PE are those obtained from a careful study of the autopsy literature. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and PE are much more common than usually realized. Most patients with DVT develop PE and the majority of cases are unrecognized clinically. Untreated, approximately one third of patients who survive an initial PE die of a future embolic episode. This is true whether the initial embolism is small or large.
Most patients who die of PE have not had any diagnostic workup, nor have they received any prophylaxis for the disease. In most cases, the diagnosis has not even been considered, even when classic signs and symptoms are documented in the medical chart. Sadly, appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic management often is withheld even when the potential diagnosis of PE has been considered explicitly and documented in the chart.

Thats DOCTOR Nerdling to you

So why so many concentrated in one area dying of the same thing in a short span of time?

Colin Powell's plan! to kill the U.S. army in non combat situation thingies and replace it with an alien army.

In the US PE is the third most common cause of death i with at least 650,000 cases occurring annually. It is the first or second most common cause of unexpected death in most age groups. The highest incidence of recognized PE occurs in hospitalized patients. Autopsy results show that as many as 60% of patients dying in the hospital have had a PE, but the diagnosis has been missed in about 70% of the cases. Surgical patients have long been recognized to be at special risk for DVT and PE, but the problem is not confined to surgical patients.
PE can generally occur within those in a repetitive or no action situation, such as guard duty or computer technicians.

If you think that's bad, take a look at the long-term health & medical problems caused by the "anti-chemical warfare" drugs that soldiers were ordered to take (without such drugs being entered into the soldiers' medical records) during the first Gulf War...

The government is still reeling under the sheer *volume* of lawsuits related to that...

Going to war is a dangerous thing. I just hope it is not going to spread.

Personally...having heard of this, somewhat before, I believe it is whats called or termed: DVT: "Deep Veinous Thrombosis" - a potentially fatal condition that goes often undetected until too late.

I have a friend, who trained at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA. for hot weather training exercises. The conditions at Irwin are similar to Middle Eastern desert terrain and conditions.

DVT results from a clump of fat (thrumbus) detaching from an occluded blood vessel, then getting lodged in the lungs, where it becomes an "embolus". Thing is, a vessel does not necessarily have to be obstucted to the point where major problems arise. I believe that the Olympic Skater Tara Lipinski had the very same problems, and she is certainly not a textbook case of "bad health". Sitting and dehydration--not drinking enough fluids--, whether in cramped conditions..ie: inside a tank, airplane, etc., for long periods of time can dislodge a clot.

As per this article, the BBC had a couple health columns last year about long airline flights and blood clots:
"Research call after DVT death"
Link:
news.bbc.co.uk...

One way to avoid this, is to take an aspirin (natural blood thinner) a day.

Also, Orthostatic hypotension is a common occurrence among tank crews who sit for extended periods, then get out of the vehicle and stretch, their blood flows back into the extremities, particularly legs that have had the circulation cut off, and as a result, the supply of blood to the brain is lessened, and they pass right out. It's rarely fatal, though, unless they're standing atop the back deck or on the turret and fall, that being a cause of an occasional serious injury or fatality.

The Merck Manual has a nice and informative page on dehydration:
"Dehydration"
Link:
www.merck.com...

Electrolyte depletion will bring on clots in any aged individual, despite health, especially if on their feet or sitting for long periods of time in very hot, stressful situations.

I do have my suspicions on the experimental anthrax vaccine that was and is given to those going to IRaq and the Middle East, I believe.
I am also wondering if a lipid profile was done on each soldier.


I took the liberty of 'googling' Mark Benjamin....seems he has a nack for writing articles which are used as "propaganda" or "tools" for various anti-war/anti-Bush/anti-America outfits:

"4,000 U.S. Non-Combat Evacuations in Iraq
Mark Benjamin"
Link:
www.upi.com...

Used by:
Link: www.veteransforcommonsense.org...

Another......
"Pentagon Papers Leaker Seeks Leaks on Iraq"
Link:
www.commondreams.org...


regards
seekerof

[Edited on 8-10-2003 by Seekerof]