**invade Testicle**multiple Lipomas Linked To Gulf War Report***

[supportmyfellowvet]

Hello: :D

In January 2006 I wrote a post that detailed my scare with the many cases of the Lipoma disorder I had found in Veterans medical records. I posted my scary experience below this post so please read before you go on.

I must say that it's been almost 4 years later and I've found some interesting evidence that should be looked at more carefully.

On one occasions I did find a case that ruled in favor of a veteran being service connected for multiple lipomas. I also found another who was exposed to agent orange in 1996 and was denied. Not sure if that person appealed. However, I did come across this "ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS" in 2002. It lists the multiple symptoms of Gulf War Veterans and included are "lipomas".

I recently went to the Veterans hospital to have 5 very large lipomas out of my 45 removed. And of course every time I explain where I believe they come from they smirk! Every nurse, every xxxxxxx doctor, every student. The funny thing is they've never spent a day in the dirt fighting for this country and it's offensive.

This condition is actually called: Dercums Disease a.k.a. Adiposis dolorosa

A service connected disorder that has been granted compensation in the past.

Thanks for hearing me out!

"Among the 19 skin conditions, only

“miscellaneous benign conditions” were

significantly more prevalent in disabled Gulf

War veterans than in healthy Gulf War veterans

(12.6% vs. 4.1%). There were no differences in

the rates of this group of benign conditions in

disabled Gulf War veterans, compared to

disabled Bosnia and era veterans (12.6% vs.

10.5%). This diverse group of benign skin

conditions included congenital nevi, urticaria,

lipoma, dermatofibroma, and vitiligo."

2002 Report see link --->

http://www.research.va.gov/resources/pubs/...ulfWarRpt02.pdf

------------------------------

2001 Post (below)

Hello all~!

I thought someone might benefit from my story. I’m not sure where to begin, but I do feel that sharing this information with others is important.

It wasn’t long ago that I worked in the laboratory at the V.A. hospital. The hospital will remain nameless; however, I have an extensive science background in the cellular biological sciences. I was asked to review lab data directly for the directing Physician. In particular this information came to me when medical students who were taking notes on the floor had to have their work reviewed prior to being entered into the medical charts.

The VA is always backlogged as you all know so processing this stuff became mundane. I noticed after about the 50th doc, that almost every veteran had the same symptom and condition. I was worried but didn’t tell anyone what I thought I’d found, nor spoke to anyone but family until now. I thought nothing of it but coincidence. The next day I processed about forty five more docs and by the end of week found one hundred and ninety one cases of this problem. This is when I began to worry. But who and what would I do about it. Go tell all VETS in the hospital? No way!!!

Even though I’m aware of how to read medical docs, I truly wouldn’t have found this disorder, but was lucky enough to inquire about the sudden emergence of this problem during my last hospital visit a week earlier. The first Physician couldn’t even tell me what it was. The second knew but referred me back to my nurse who said they were lipomas. It’s a small to large fat sac that will suddenly appear out of nowhere on the trunk, forearms, thighs, ribs, legs and back.

I was told by the primary care nurse who visits many patients, that this was nothing to worry about. I beg to differ; after seeing the medical notations myself I do believe this is related to either the Persian Gulf War or to vaccinations given to soldiers. According to clear medical documentation I’ve read in JAMA lipomas are a primary in older patients over the age of 65 with a history alcohol use, and or parents with severe alcohol use. In some cases this may be hereditary, but they are rarely and I mean rarely found in anyone under the age of 65. A genetic predisposition to such ailment is rare and for me to find this many documented cased at a V.A. hospital in patients less than 65 yrs. old remains a mystery.

I bring this small issue to the table first, because there are so many other manifested side effects in V.A. patients. Side effects that are a constant in all V.A. medical records, I believe this and other small health things we take for granted or maybe ignore sometimes have been a common problem across state lines.

What’s bothers me about this is that it wouldn’t surprise me if the V.A. is banking on the fact that we never figure out that there are commonalities in abundance within medical records. I hope this helps. I had approximately 3 lipomas in 1996 and then a gradual increase with a period of spurious growth in 2000 to 35. I’ve had one removed because it became so large; another biopsied (neg for cancer) because they weren’t sure why so many showed up and rapidly.

I’m way under the age of 65 and way too young to see anything like this ruin my life. I hadn’t thought there was anything to this whole thing until I found my 36th fully invading my testicle sac. The V.A. said it would go away, I have no children – so I’ve been praying and hope this sh%t goes away.

-Thanks

[shrekthetank1]

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to post to tell my story and how it has progressed.

In 2004 I had my first 5 lipomas removed.  At the time I had no idea what it morph into.  Currently I have had over 120 removed and I have many more painful lipomas.  Sad part is half of them will return, so I am hoping for some better ways to take care of this.  In 2013 I started my appeal with the VA and I am finally at the BVA in the remand stage.  I think a miracle might have happened as previously I was rated at 10% under a poor rating of the disease.  The VA just updated the way skin is rated, so for me as I do painkillers and topical treatments I think this will be a blessing.

The Appeals judge changed my rating code to 7819-7821 and with the wording clarifications should really help with this disease.  In my opinion it does not go far enough, but it is better than 10%

Hope this can help someone!

The Skin Basic Rating System

The Basic Rating System below is used to rate many (but not all) of the skin conditions on this page. Find your condition first to see if it is rated under this system.

It is vital that you understand how the VA defines systemic and topical treatments in order to determine your correct rating.

– Systemic Therapy: Any treatment that is injected, or taken by mouth, through the nose, or anally. This includes, but is not limited to, corticosteroids, phototherapy, retinoids, biologics, photochemotherapy, PUVA, and other immunosuppressive drugs.
– Topical Therapy: Any treatment applied directly to the skin, regardless of the type of drug.

The Basic Rating System

If the lesions cover more than 40% of total body or more than 40% of exposed divisions, or if it required the constant or near-constant use of systemic therapy for the past 12 months, it is rated 60%.

If the lesions cover 20 to 40% of total body or 20 to 40% of exposed divisions, or if it required the use of systemic therapy for a total of 6 weeks or more over the past 12 months, it is rated 30%.

If the lesions cover 5 to 19% of total body or 5 to 19% of exposed divisions, or if it required the use of systemic therapy for a total of less than 6 weeks over the past 12 months, it is rated 10%.

If the condition only required the use of topical medications over the past 12 months and the lesions cover less than 5% of total body or less than 5% of exposed divisions, it is rated 0%.

 

 

[Berta]

I am assuming that many lipomas might not raise to the level of being ratable even though a vet could certainly try to gain service connection for them.

Obviously as in your case they seem to pop up in places where they could potentially start other problems.

I totally agree with this:

"What’s bothers me about this is that it wouldn’t surprise me if the V.A. is banking on the fact that we never figure out that there are commonalities in abundance within medical records."

You are a thousand percent correct!!!!!!

I am involved with some Project SHAD/112 veterans.

One of them asked me to help him re-write the proposed SHAD regs and see if we could find some sponsors for an inclusive Shad bill.

The next day he changed his mind with good cause-the original SHAD legislation

didnt get the support it needed from SHAD vets.(As well as House and Senate sponsors)

They all aren't on the net and only the VA knows who they are.

I was hesitant to get involved with this anyhow because of a point I made at SVR radio many times-

SHAD vets had to assess what disabilities they have that could be attributed to SHAD- it is the commonality factor that is missing in order to attempt to support SHAD presumptive legislation.

I hope in time the SHAD sites will grow and the vets will start narrowing down their disabilities.Maybe they could even set up an IMO fund-

and pay for an environmental specialist to give some accurate data that shows what biochems were used in Project 112 (SHAD) and what the result was in common disabilities in those vets in the testings.

The same thing happened with a CArbon Tech bill years ago.

The disabilities were characterized so vaguely that it could have a chance to become a reg.

That bill included "growths" which could be tumors or lipomas of many types but "growths" is too vague and general for VA to consider in any claim.

Any vet who has any type of tumor opr growth or lipoma which is disabling to a ratable degree , with a nexus and medical statement can possibly succeed in a service connected claim.

One other thing however- I had a small cyst removed from my back last year.

The doc said it presented no problem at all. I asked him if he thought I needed it for anything-he said no but the removal was up to me so I decided that he remove it and of course he biopsied it.Other then the fact the scar itches once in a while and that I kind of miss it when I shower-I have no residuals-

I am curious if these lipomas you mention are in fact benign and then removed- what the VA would possibly be able to rate as residuals if they are claimed.

I am not a vet and I don"t drink but this sure caught my eye:

"I’ve read in JAMA lipomas are a primary in older patients over the age of 65 with a history alcohol use, and or parents with severe alcohol use"

This would sure be a way for VA to deny any lipoma claim that would be ratable-

if VA health records contain any answer Yes to any questions if the veteran ever imbibed.

Do you have a hyperlink for the JAMA report?

You did raise some very provocative issues.

Why dont they add up the documented rates of known HBP and heart disease in vets-exposed to combat stress and/or any bio or chemical hazard such as AO even including JP-4-and cleaning fluids-cooking grease etc- etc-and determine a basis for service connect on the commonality factor?

It would make sense to do that but the bottom line is it would cost the VA plenty of money for compensation.

[Chuck75]

It's not unknown to find them at past skin breach sites and vaccination sites. When they are occurring in relatively large numbers,it's time to start looking at metabolism, diet, and a possible build up in the arteries. Kidney and Liver function should also be looked at.

Hello:

In January 2006 I wrote a post that detailed my scare with the many cases of the Lipoma disorder I had found in Veterans medical records. I posted my scary experience below this post so please read before you go on.

I must say that it's been almost 4 years later and I've found some interesting evidence that should be looked at more carefully.

On one occasions I did find a case that ruled in favor of a veteran being service connected for multiple lipomas. I also found another who was exposed to agent orange in 1996 and was denied. Not sure if that person appealed. However, I did come across this "ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS" in 2002. It lists the multiple symptoms of Gulf War Veterans and included are "lipomas".

I recently went to the Veterans hospital to have 5 very large lipomas out of my 45 removed. And of course every time I explain where I believe they come from they smirk! Every nurse, every xxxxxxx doctor, every student. The funny thing is they've never spent a day in the dirt fighting for this country and it's offensive.

This condition is actually called: Dercums Disease a.k.a. Adiposis dolorosa

A service connected disorder that has been granted compensation in the past.

Thanks for hearing me out!

"Among the 19 skin conditions, only

“miscellaneous benign conditions” were

significantly more prevalent in disabled Gulf

War veterans than in healthy Gulf War veterans

(12.6% vs. 4.1%). There were no differences in

the rates of this group of benign conditions in

disabled Gulf War veterans, compared to

disabled Bosnia and era veterans (12.6% vs.

10.5%). This diverse group of benign skin

conditions included congenital nevi, urticaria,

lipoma, dermatofibroma, and vitiligo."

2002 Report see link --->

http://www.research.va.gov/resources/pubs/...ulfWarRpt02.pdf

------------------------------

2001 Post (below)

Hello all~!

I thought someone might benefit from my story. I’m not sure where to begin, but I do feel that sharing this information with others is important.

It wasn’t long ago that I worked in the laboratory at the V.A. hospital. The hospital will remain nameless; however, I have an extensive science background in the cellular biological sciences. I was asked to review lab data directly for the directing Physician. In particular this information came to me when medical students who were taking notes on the floor had to have their work reviewed prior to being entered into the medical charts.

The VA is always backlogged as you all know so processing this stuff became mundane. I noticed after about the 50th doc, that almost every veteran had the same symptom and condition. I was worried but didn’t tell anyone what I thought I’d found, nor spoke to anyone but family until now. I thought nothing of it but coincidence. The next day I processed about forty five more docs and by the end of week found one hundred and ninety one cases of this problem. This is when I began to worry. But who and what would I do about it. Go tell all VETS in the hospital? No way!!!

Even though I’m aware of how to read medical docs, I truly wouldn’t have found this disorder, but was lucky enough to inquire about the sudden emergence of this problem during my last hospital visit a week earlier. The first Physician couldn’t even tell me what it was. The second knew but referred me back to my nurse who said they were lipomas. It’s a small to large fat sac that will suddenly appear out of nowhere on the trunk, forearms, thighs, ribs, legs and back.

I was told by the primary care nurse who visits many patients, that this was nothing to worry about. I beg to differ; after seeing the medical notations myself I do believe this is related to either the Persian Gulf War or to vaccinations given to soldiers. According to clear medical documentation I’ve read in JAMA lipomas are a primary in older patients over the age of 65 with a history alcohol use, and or parents with severe alcohol use. In some cases this may be hereditary, but they are rarely and I mean rarely found in anyone under the age of 65. A genetic predisposition to such ailment is rare and for me to find this many documented cased at a V.A. hospital in patients less than 65 yrs. old remains a mystery.

I bring this small issue to the table first, because there are so many other manifested side effects in V.A. patients. Side effects that are a constant in all V.A. medical records, I believe this and other small health things we take for granted or maybe ignore sometimes have been a common problem across state lines.

What’s bothers me about this is that it wouldn’t surprise me if the V.A. is banking on the fact that we never figure out that there are commonalities in abundance within medical records. I hope this helps. I had approximately 3 lipomas in 1996 and then a gradual increase with a period of spurious growth in 2000 to 35. I’ve had one removed because it became so large; another biopsied (neg for cancer) because they weren’t sure why so many showed up and rapidly.

I’m way under the age of 65 and way too young to see anything like this ruin my life. I hadn’t thought there was anything to this whole thing until I found my 36th fully invading my testicle sac. The V.A. said it would go away, I have no children – so I’ve been praying and hope this sh%t goes away.

-Thanks