Healthy living
Healthy Living: living in a state of homeostasis as an individual within an environment.
Where does one start with healthy living when they have been affected with Agent Orange? If you’ve been affected, you’ve already been on that journey, whether you knew it or not. To what degree is different for everyone, whether you’ve been directly exposed, indirectly exposed, trans-generationally exposed, severely exposed, and/or minimally exposed. In order to help us navigate our journeys, we want to understand it’s mechanisms of action so that we can pay attention in our own situations as to the extent that it has affected us, and how we can use that information to do things to promote healthy epigenetic changes.
According to a study found on the US National Library of Medicine’s website, titled “Effects of maternal dioxin exposure on newborn at birth among Japanese mother-infant pairs”(1) ; “results suggests that the toxicity of 2,3,7,8-TCDD may be specific to the development of the central nervous system.” It also discussed “In particular, we found a developmental delay in the forebrain, which suggests that 2,3,7,8-TCDD affects the limbic system, …. A functional change in the limbic system ….. may therefore affect both the emotional development and cognitive development…”
In it’s introduction, this study references and utilizes studies which happen to include populations exposed to Agent Orange: “Other occurrences include exposure of Vietnamese populations to the herbicide and defoliant Agent Orange, which contains high levels of dioxins, between 1962 and 1971 as a result of spraying for military purposes. An increase in the incidence of birth defects in the offspring of Vietnamese and U.S. veterans assigned to the defoliated areas has been recorded”
They are referring to a study titled, “Association between Agent Orange and Birth Defects: systematic review and meta-analysis” (2) In this study, they provide that “22 studies including 13 Vietnamese and nine non-Vietnamese studies were identified” and they disclosed “… that the magnitude of association tended to increase with greater degrees of exposure to Agent Orange….”
“Given the availability of unpublished data from Vietnam, there is a need to combine results from all previous studies in a systematic and quantitative way. The present study was designed to fill that gap in knowledge by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of all data, either published or unpublished, relating to Agent Orange/dioxin exposure and birth defects.”
In the end, they concluded, “Parental exposure to Agent Orange appears to be associated with an increased risk of birth defects.” Both parent exposure, not maternal only or paternal only, but both, which means that they see the association of the increased risk of birth defects in the offspring of those exposed to it in general.
“In addition, the results were also consistent with the fact that in the Vietnamese civilian studies, women and men were both exposed so that effects could be both teratogenic and mutagenic, whereas in the studies of North Vietnam and Ranch Hand veterans only mutagenesis was possible since the exposed were males.” Let’s repeat those words one more time. “Only mutagenesis was possible since the exposed were males.” Mutagenesis: the production of mutations either naturally or by a mutagen. “Vietnamese civilian studies, women and men were both exposed so that effects could be both teratogenic and mutagenic”. It causes malformations of embryos and genetic mutations.
It’s important that we pay attention to the studies that try to deny the impacts of Agent Orange because in this study they also found and report that, “out of six non-Vietnamese cohort studies, three were conducted on Ranch Hand veterans who were actually exposed to Agent Orange while all three non-Vietnamese case–control studies considered non-Ranch Hand veterans involved in the Vietnam war who had minimal or no exposure as the exposed……Vietnamese studies …. there is no discrepancy in exposure …”
We refer to these studies because they are representative of the actions and intentions of the defoliant, which is, in our own words “seek out the source of life and destroy it, tell it to kill itself and seek to destroy it’s ability to reproduce”. That’s what it was used for, to tell the plants to stop producing lush green foliage, to stop living healthy. So, we can utilize this knowledge to do things to change the messaging and tell our bodies to live and thrive. How do we change the messaging? Remember that sequencing your own DNA and keeping up to date on the status of your current health will give you a very personalized approach to incorporate epigenetic changes to your lifestyle to promote preferred messaging changes and maintenance.
So, what can we do with this information that these studies provide:
*toxicity is specific to the development of the central nervous system
*and developmental delay in the forebrain
*TCDD affects the limbic system
*the magnitude of association tended to increase with greater degrees of exposure to Agent Orange
*Parental exposure to Agent Orange appears to be associated with an increased risk of birth defects
*effects could be both teratogenic and mutagenic (causing embryo malformations and genetic mutations)
It is likely that we can combine them into a greater understanding that because TCDD is teratogenic and mutagenic, and it specifically affects the development and maintenance of the central nervous system, the forebrain and limbic system, it may be presumable that genetic mutations and malformations of the central nervous system, forebrain and limbic system are side effects that the subsequent generations of those with direct Agent Orange exposure are burdened with. How significantly the person directly exposed experienced the exposure appears to play a role in how much damage is sustained and genetic material impacted. The minimum amount of exposure for no effects to be caused has yet to be tested or confirmed.
What are the limbic system, forebrain, and central nervous systems?
According to Dartmouth Medical School (3) “The limbic system is a convenient way of describing several functionally and anatomically interconnected nuclei and cortical structures that are located in the telencephalon(cerebrum) and diencephalon(a division of the forebrain). These nuclei serve several functions, however most have to do with control of functions necessary for self preservation and species preservation. They regulate autonomic and endocrine function….”
Parts of the limbic system include the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the epithalamus, the subthalamus, and the cerebrum, which is “the largest part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb. In the human brain, the cerebrum is the uppermost region of the central nervous system. The cerebrum develops prenatally from the forebrain.”
Parts of the limbic system : The limbic system is one of the many parts of the brain that regulate visceral autonomic processes (4) of the autonomic nervous system (5). The following structures are, or have been considered, part of the limbic system.
Cortical areas:
Limbic lobe (6): Although it is considered a primitive part of the brain, the limbic lobe extensively contributes to the functioning of memory, learning, motivation, and emotion, as well as endocrine functions and some autonomic bodily functions, like self-awareness, and social skills that make us human, including compulsions, addiction, and mental illness.
Orbitofrontal cortex: a region in the frontal lobe involved in the process of decision-making
Piriform cortex: part of the olfactory system, relates to the sense of smell, and contains a critical epileptogenic trigger zone
Entorhinal cortex: related to memory and associative components
Hippocampus and it’s associated structures: humans have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. It plays important roles in the consolidation and recording of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and is responsible for spatial orientation that enables navigation.
Fornix: structure connecting the hippocampus with other brain structures, particularly the mammillary bodies and septal nuclei, and may be correlated with recall memory
Subcortical areas:
Septal nuclei (7): receives reciprocal connections from the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, midbrain, habenula, cingulate gyrus, and thalamus, and it is considered a pleasure zone
Amygdala (8): related with a number of emotional processes, including feelings like pleasure, fear, anxiety and anger. The amygdala also attaches emotional content to our memories, and suppressing or stimulating activity in the amygdala can influence the body’s automatic fear response.
Nucleus accumbens (9): has been said to be the functional interface between the limbic and motor systems , it is an important player in controlling the biological drives necessary for survival and reproduction; including in locomotion, learning, impulsivity, feeding behavior, reward, pleasure, sexual motivation, and addiction
Diencephalic (10) structures:
Hypothalamus: Is a center for the limbic system, It regulates many autonomic processes, including homeostasis, and links the nervous system to the endocrine system. It’s central neuroendocrine function is it’s control of the anterior pituitary, which regulates various endocrine glands and organs, such as releasing hormones. The hypothalamus is also connected with:
the frontal lobes
septal nuclei
brain stem
medial forebrain bundle
hippocampus
fornix
thalamus
mammillothalamic fasciculus
Mammillary bodies: are part of the hypothalamus that receives impulse signals from the hippocampus and amygdala and projects them to the thalamus, and plays an important role on collective memory
Anterior nuclei of thalamus: receives input from the mammillary bodies and involved in memory processing
Parts of the human forebrain:
The forebrain is one of three primary vesicles that forms at the first stages of development in the human nervous system. The forebrain (prosencephalon) is the forward-most portion of the brain and it controls body temperature, reproductive functions, eating, sleeping, and the display of emotions. While the forebrain is developing from the the anterior end of an embryo, the spinal cord begins to grow from the opposite, posterior end.
As a human embryo continues to grow, the forebrain goes through developmentally crucial stages where nuclei of the nervous system develop and the forebrain separates into the diencephalon (11) (thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, and subthalamus) and the telencephalon (12), which becomes the cerebrum and is the major part of the brain. The cerebrum contains the cerebral cortex, which plays an essential role in consciousness, awareness, attention, perception, thought, memory, and language. The forebrain eventually splits into the right and left hemispheres of the adult brain.
Parts of the central nervous system:
The nervous system is made up of two main parts; the central and peripheral nervous systems. The central nervous system includes the brain and the spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves that branch off from the spinal cord and go throughout the body.
It’s no wonder that TCDD contaminated Agent Orange can cause such a wide variety of health issues and why anyone would want to deny that something can cause such damage. It appears to be just as we suspected, an agent that gets to the source of life and reprograms it to destroy itself and not reproduce functionally. Time will tell and research will continue to reveal how toxic it truly is.
References:
(2) Anh D Ngo, Richard Taylor, Christine L Roberts, Tuan V Nguyen, Association between Agent Orange and birth defects: systematic review and meta-analysis, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 35, Issue 5, October 2006, Pages 1220–1230, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyl038
(3) REVIEW OF CLINICAL AND FUNCTIONAL NEUROSCIENCE - SWENSON: Swenson 2006 Site editor: Rand Swenson, DC, MD, PhD Dartmouth Medical School
(4) The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article Title:Nerve Website Name:Encyclopædia Britannica Publisher:Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Date Published:April 06, 2018 URL:https://www.britannica.com/science/nerve-anatomy Access Date:October 08, 2020
(5) Autonomic Nervous System Author: Jana Vasković • Reviewer: Alexandra Osika • Last reviewed: September 21, 2020 https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/autonomic-nervous-system
(6) Limbic System Author: Lorenzo Crumbie MBBS, BSc • Reviewer: Uruj Zehra MBBS, MPhil, PhD • Last reviewed: September 21, 2020 https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/limbic-system
(7) Septal Nuclei Psychology Wiki https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/brain-anatomy/limbic-system
(8) The limbic system Brain anatomy Queensland Brain Institute The University of Queensland Australia https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/brain-anatomy/limbic-system
(9) Salgado S, Kaplitt M, G: The Nucleus Accumbens: A Comprehensive Review. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 2015;93:75-93. doi: 10.1159/000368279
(10) Northcutt, R. Glenn, Charles R. Noback, and Bengt Kallen. “Nervous System (Vertebrate).” AccessScience, McGraw-Hill Education, June 2018.
(11) Diencephalon Section of the Brain: Hormones, Homeostasis, and Hearing Happen Here https://www.thoughtco.com/diencephalon-anatomy-373220
(12) Oregon State University ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY:14.1 Embryonic Development https://open.oregonstate.education/aandp/chapter/14-1-embryonic-development/