Dioxin and diabetes

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

the recent dioxin & diabetes post by G Jeffries I gues David Bell was
responding to probably has the references for the Seveso & Ranch Hand
(agent orange et al) epidem. studies that found strong associations of
dioxins w/ diabetes.

The long incubation period is obviously critical for diseases as diabetes,
which often (alway?) develop/increase over time.  Thus a recent 14-yr
morbidity (ie not mrtality, but disease) follow-up study in the Taiwan
Yucheng (= "oil disease") PCB/furan/some dioxins poisoning incident [PCB
contaminated cooking oil that had been repeatedly heated, oxidizing some of
the PCB's into furans (one O) and possibly dioxins (2 O's)] found no incr.
in diabetes, but emphasized that their cohort (study population) is young
still (mean age, 20 yrs, when exposed, in '79):

Yueliang Leon Guo et al. 'Chloracne, Goiter, Arthiritis and Anemia after
PCB Poisoning:  14-year follow-u of the Taiwan yucheng cohort'  _Env HEalth
Perspectives_ 107:9:715-19 ('99).