Depleted Uranium, Diabetes, Cancer And You
By Alan Cantwell, MD
© 2007 All Rights Reserved
1-18-7
Recently, I received an intriguing email claiming that the rapidly
increasing worldwide epidemic of diabetes was caused by depleted uranium
(DU). As a medical doctor I never heard of such an idea. Every physician
knows that radiation can lead to cancer, but the DU and diabetes
connection seemed ludicrous. Nevertheless, I thought it would be
interesting to check it out on the Internet.
The best tool for medical research on the Net is the PubMed website
sponsored by the US National Library of Medicine. I typed in the
keywords: depleted uranium and diabetes. No citations to scientific
papers in the medical journals appeared on my computer screen, which
further assured me there was no scientific connection. Even when I used
key words - depleted uranium and human disease - only a mere 16 papers
were cited on the subject from 1994 to 2005; and only half these papers
addressed the medical problems of soldiers exposed to DU in the Gulf
War.
What was revealed is that DU accumulates in lymph nodes, brain,
testicles, and other organs, and the short term and long term effects of
DU were not known. There was a definite increase of birth defects in the
offspring of persons exposed to DU; and Gulf War vets who inhaled DU
were still excreting abnormal amounts of uranium in the urine 10 years
later.
Why was there so little written about DU and its effects on the human
body? Having written extensively on the man-made epidemic of AIDS and
its cover-up for two decades, I was not surprised. I strongly suspected
research into the health effects of DU on Gulf War veterans was
"politically incorrect." On the other hand, a quick Google Internet
search of - "side effects" + "depleted uranium" - referred me to 71,000
English pages on the web. When I added the key word "diabetes" there
were 22,000 pages.
I also discovered that articles about the health dangers of DU rarely,
if ever, appear in the major media. In a January 2001 press release FAIR
(Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) accused the media of "depleted
coverage of depleted uranium weapons." Nevertheless, a great deal of
information on DU can be found on the Internet.
DU was first used by the US in the 1991 Gulf War, then in the Balkans in
the late 1990s, in Kosovo in 2000, in the war against Afghanistan, in
Iraq in 2003, and also by the Israelis in the 2006 war with Lebanon.
Needless to say, US military and government officials totally deny any
health danger from DU. A reassuring New York Times article of 9 January
2001 entitled "1999 U.S. document warned of depleted uranium in Kosovo"
by Marlise Simons, noted "while acknowledging the hazards, both the
Pentagon and NATO, pointing to medical experts, have denied any links
could exist between exposure to depleted uranium and the illness and
deaths of veterans."
DU weapons were developed by the US Navy in 1968, and were first given
to Israel by the US in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Since then, the US has
tested, manufactured and sold DU weapons systems to 29 countries.
Vieques Island, a testing site in Puerto Rico, was repeatedly bombarded
with DU in 1999 prior to its use in Kosovo.
DU is a byproduct of the enriching of natural uranium for use in nuclear
reactors. As nuclear waste, DU is costly to keep but relatively
inexpensive to obtain. Due to their tank armour-piercing capabilities,
DU weapons are extremely effective and the reason why the military is so
enthralled with them.
Depleted Uranium Whistleblowers
Major Doug Rokke is a leading DU expert who has become a whistleblower
against its use. He claims each tank round is composed of 10 pounds of
solid uranium-238 contaminated with plutonium, neptunium, and americium.
The round is pyrophoric, meaning it generates intense heat on impact,
easily penetrating a tank because of the heavy weight of the metal. When
DU munitions hit, they produce a firestorm inside any vehicle or
structure, resulting in devastating burns and injuries to those who
escape immediate death and incineration.
On impact, DU produces uranium oxide dust and pieces of uranium explode
all over the place. Once inside the body the tiny nanoparticles enter
the lungs and blood stream and are carried throughout the body. When
Rokke and his team were assigned to "clean up" the DU after the first
Gulf War, all his men got ill within 72 hours with respiratory problems,
rashes, bleeding, and open sores. In an Australian interview with Gay
Alcorn in 2003, Rokke admitted: "After everything I've seen, everything
I've done, it became very clear to me that you can't take radioactive
wastes from one nation and just throw it into another nation. It's
wrong. It's simply wrong."
According to Asaf Durakovic MD of the Uranium Medical Research Centre in
Washington DC, the term "depleted uranium" is a misnomer. Both
"depleted" and "natural" uranium are over 99% composed of uranium 238.
DU is almost as highly concentrated as pure uranium and may contain
plutonium (a deadly element) in trace amounts.
Leuren Moret is an independent American scientist who works on radiation
and health issues with communities around the world. At age 61, she is
the leading activist against the use of DU, having worked in two nuclear
weapons labs, including the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
Berkeley, California, run by the US Department of Energy. She is the
ultimate antigovernment whistleblower on DU, along with Rokke and
Durakovic, and all three have personally suffered (including death
threats) for their anti-DU views.
In her article "Depleted uranium: The Trojan Horse of nuclear war,"
which appeared in the June 2004 World Affairs Journal, Moret claims:
"The use of DU weaponry by the US, defying all international treaties,
will slowly annihilate all species on Earth including the human species,
and yet this country continues to do so with full knowledge of its
destructive potential."
DU travels. DU radioactive particles are picked up by the atmosphere and
are transferred by wind storms and air currents. They permanently
contaminate vast regions and slowly destroy the genetic future of
populations living in those areas. As the Trojan Horse of nuclear war,
Moret calls DU "the weapon that keeps on killing." There is no way to
turn it off - and no way to clean it up. It meets the US government's
own definition of "weapons of mass destruction."
Depleted Uranium over the United Kingdom
DU has a very high affinity for cellular DNA and permanently damages it.
DU is the "fourth generation" of nuclear weapons. First came the atomic
bomb, then the hydrogen bomb, then neutron bombs, and now DU. Moret
claims the contaminated DU-dust from the Middle East gets absorbed into
the atmosphere. Via dust storms and air currents it ends up in Europe
and Britain. Eventually it spreads and get absorbed into the atmosphere
globally. There is no safe place; no possible way to escape it.
Moret's concerns are confirmed by a 2006 report from England by Chris
Busby and Saoirse Morgan, appearing in European Biology and
Bioelectromagnetics and titled "Did the use of Uranium weapons in Gulf
War 2 result in contamination of Europe?" Data (obtained with the help
of the Freedom of Information Act) from the Atomic Weapons Establishment
at Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK, revealed that after nine days of the
"shock and awe" start of the Iraq war on 19 March 2003, much higher
levels of uranium were picked up on five sites in Berkshire. On two
occasions, levels exceeded the threshold at which the Environment Agency
must be informed, though still within safety limits. These levels were
the highest levels of depleted uranium ever measured in the atmosphere
in Britain. The report also confirmed weather conditions over this war
period, which showed a consistent flow of air from Iraq northwards.
Not surprisingly this research was vigorously denied as "uranium of
natural origin" by various government officials. However, Busby and
Morgan insist the findings are the first evidence that DU particles were
able to travel thousands of miles from Baghdad to England. Their report
can be found on the Internet.
Gulf War Syndrome
About 300 tons of DU were dispersed over Iraq in 1991. Yet the US
Department of Defense (DoD) has found little health risk to soldiers who
inhaled DU and continues to claim exposure to DU is safe. Nearly 580,000
soldiers were deployed in the war. 294 soldiers died and 400 were
wounded or became ill. As of year 2000, there were 325,000 on permanent
medical disability, and over 11,000 have died. Obviously something
serious happened to the health of these men and women who served in the
Gulf.
DU is known to be neurotoxic. Gulf War vets are twice as likely to come
down with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) than vets who did not serve in
Iraq. ALS, a fatal neuromuscular disease, is now considered a
"service-connected" disease and vets can get disability. Gulf War vets
have nearly twice the prevalence of "chronic multi-system disease" than
soldiers who served elsewhere at the same time. But so called "Gulf War
Syndrome" continues to be denied as a specific illness. The Department
of Defense's evaluation does not consider GWS as a unique syndrome,
unique illness, or unique symptom complex in deployed Gulf War vets.
The Worldwide Diabetes Epidemic
A half century ago, during the early years of the Cold War when I went
to medical school, diabetes was not a common disease. Now in the 21st
century it is common to hear of diabetes as an impending epidemic.
Certainly the statistics bear this out.
Currently, 7% of Americans have diabetes (17 million). In addition, a
Los Angeles Times front-page report on 16 September 2006, claims that
there are more than 41 million Americans with abnormal blood glucose
abnormalities, "that indicate they may soon develop diabetes." In Puerto
Rico (where DU was tested) 10% of the population has diabetes.
The Centres of Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta declares that "unless
Americans change their ways," 33% of the babies born this year will be
diabetic by the year 2050. Also by 2050 there are expected to be 45
million diabetics in the US. A vet support group, Veterans with Diabetes
International, says there are 143 million people worldwide with the
disease, and 300 million people are expected to have diabetes in 2025.
Type 1 diabetes, most often seen in children and young adults, comprises
5-10% of the cases. Type 2, a metabolic disorder resulting from the
body's inability to make enough or properly use insulin, frequently
strikes adults, especially obese adults. This group comprises 90% or
more of diabetics. The CDC predicts that Type 2 diabetes will increase
165% by 2050. People with Type 2 diabetes are also twice as likely to
get pancreatic cancer.
Thirty-four years after the Vietnam war ended, the DoD finally presented
the "strongest evidence" that Type 2 diabetes can be connected to Agent
Orange. Eighteen million gallons of this plant defoliant and poison was
sprayed over Vietnam by the US military. It is now known to cause cancer
and birth defects. Starting in the year 2002 diabetes is now recognised
as a "service-connected" disease for all Vietnam vets. At present,
diabetes is not service-connected for Gulf War vets.
Nine percent of Vietnam vets have Type 2 diabetes. There is no current
evidence that Gulf War vets have a heightened incidence of diabetes, but
I could find no solid research to confirm or deny this. Perhaps in one
or two more decades government scientists will discover a connection to
DU.
The common causes of diabetes are thought to be obesity, poor diet and
lack of exercise. Leuren Moret believes the cause of the new epidemic is
more sinister: namely the increasing levels worldwide of depleted
uranium in the atmosphere, combined with emissions from the
proliferation of nuclear power plants.
Unlike government scientists, Moret says DU is very, very, very nasty
stuff; and that diabetes is an immediate response to DU, in contrast to
the decades it can take for uranium to produce radiation-induced cancer.
Although she cannot prove it, she is the first scientist to strongly
suggest a connection between the new worldwide diabetes epidemic and DU.
Moret insists the medical profession has been active in the cover-up of
low level radiation from atmospheric testing and nuclear power plants. I
have been unable to verify this, but it is consistent with the passive
role the health profession took during the Cold War nuclear testing in
the US (more later). She has also spoken about medical professionals in
hospitals who were threatened by government officials with $10,000 fines
and jail time if they talked openly about the returning Iraq war
soldiers and their medical problems. This could explain the paucity of
reports in the scientific literature regarding vets exposed to DU and
their war-associated illnesses.
Moret also says reporters have been prevented access to more than 14,000
medically evacuated soldiers from the current Iraq War, brought back to
Walter Reed Hospital near Washington, DC. To learn more about Leuren
Moret and her research, Google: Leuren Moret + videos. In addition, she
appears in the recent documentary film Beyond Treason, detailing the
horrific effects of depleted uranium exposure on American troops and
Iraqi civilians in the Gulf region in 1991.
Is Depleted Uranium Safe?
Ronald L. Kathren is Professor Emeritus at Washington State University
and a leading authority vouching for the safety of DU. Unlike Major
Rokke, he does not appear to have ever served in the military or to have
come in contact with DU on a battlefield. Nevertheless, his opinions
carry a lot of weight in the scientific world.
Kathren does not dispute the fact that military personnel who may have
had contact with DU are suffering from various illnesses, but he
believes that exposure to uranium is very unlikely to be the cause.
Writing for the Portland Independent Media Centre on 3 July 2005, he
declares: "Health physicists are deeply concerned with the public health
and welfare, and as experts in radiation and its effects on people and
the environment, are quite aware that something other than exposure to
uranium is the cause of the illnesses suffered by those who have had
contact with depleted uranium from munitions. A truly enormous body of
scientific data shows that it is virtually impossible for uranium to be
the cause of their illnesses. Despite this body of scientific data to
the contrary, misguided or unknowing people continue to allege that the
depleted uranium, and specifically the radioactivity associated with the
depleted uranium is the cause of these illness. This is indeed
unfortunate, for health physicists and other scientists and physicians
already know that depleted uranium is not the cause of these illnesses
and thus any investigations into the cause of these illnesses should
focus on other possible causes. If we are to offer any measure of relief
or solace to these suffering people, and to gain some important
additional knowledge of the cause of their illness, we should not waste
our valuable and limited energies, resources and time attempting to
point the finger at depleted uranium as the culprit, when it is already
known that uranium is almost certainly not the cause of the problem."
(http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/07/320739.shtml)
"No Level of Radiation is Safe for Humans"
As a physician it is inconceivable to me that government-approved
experts like Kathren can so quickly dismiss DU as safe and harmless,
particularly when on 29 June 2005, a National Academy of Sciences panel
in Washington DC has found that no level of radiation is safe for
humans.
The panel concluded that "any dose of radiation, no matter how small,
can induce cancer. Exposure to radiation is becoming more and more
likely for most people because of the growing use of radiation in
medicine. The new findings could lead to changes in medical practices
and the levels of radiation allowed at former nuclear sites." The panel
also contradicted the often heard dictum of some government pro-nuclear
scientists that "a little radiation is good for you."
The idea that low doses of radiation are safe is the myth that allowed
extensive nuclear testing during the Cold War without a huge protest
from every member of the human race. It is this myth that still allows
DU weapons to be used on battlefields against "terrorists."
Historically, the proof of the danger of nuclear warfare was provided a
decade ago by the publication of a US Congressional committee report
authorised by President Bill Clinton and entitled, The Human Radiation
Experiments. The report showed clearly that government scientists and
physicians could not be trusted in their pronouncements regarding the
safety of nuclear weapons. Even worse was the documentation of countless
covert and secret radiation experiments conducted on unsuspecting
citizens during the Cold War "in the name of science." Unfortunately,
this horrific 1996 report did not deter Clinton from allowing DU weapons
in Kosovo in 1999, nor did it deter President George W. Bush, who
authorised their use again in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Anyone with Internet access can simply Google "the human radiation
experiments" for details of the shameful science surrounding nuclear
testing and the disastrous health effects on unsuspecting American
citizens.
In 2001, a half century after extensive nuclear weapons testing in the
American West, the US National Cancer Institute was finally forced to
reveal its finding that bomb testing in Nevada, which spread radioactive
fallout across every state of the Union, has caused at least 15,000
cancer deaths and up to 212,000 non-fatal thyroid cancers. John LaForge
of Nukewatch.com reminds us that "the 67 bomb tests blown off between
1946 and 1958 were said at the time to be safe."
Money, Power and Depleted Uranium
Who is profiting from this global uranium nightmare? In The Enemy Within
(1996) Jay Gould reveals that the British Royal family privately owns
investments in uranium holdings worth over $6 billion through Rio Tinto
Mines, an Anglo-Australian company, which is the world's largest mining
company with more than 60 operations in 40 countries. Africa and
Australia are two of the main sources of uranium in the world; and the
Rothschilds control uranium supplies and prices globally.
Gould notes that nuclear radiation has brought dramatic increases in
breast cancer mortality, especially in communities 50 to 100 miles
downwind from nuclear reactors. Book reviewer Donna Lee writes: "The
Enemy Within has enough scientific data to address those bureaucrats who
deny that living near a nuclear reactor is a hazard to one's health. It
also includes enough direct, clear prose to convince me, a breast cancer
survivor, that I grew up during the Cold War as an unknowing guinea pig,
further victimised by the politics of suppression and denial."
Lee continues: "After reading the book, however, I am bothered by one
persistent question. I was born and raised and continue to live in San
Francisco, California, which has the highest incidence of breast cancer
in the world. The Enemy Within concerns itself with breast cancer
mortality rates, which are highest in the communities around New York
City. San Francisco isn't within 100 miles of a nuclear reactor and it
isn't even mentioned in the book. If low level radiation explains
clusters of breast cancer throughout the US, what explains us?"
Actually there was a nuclear power plant located in Sacramento, less
than 100 miles from San Francisco, which became active in 1975. Gould
probably did not include this in his 1996 book because the Rancho Seco
Nuclear Power Plant was forced to shut down its operations in 1989, due
to a public outcry and a referendum.
David Bradbury says child cancer rates on Vieques Island have soared
250% above the Puerto Rican national average in the last thirty years.
In his 2005 documentary film, Blowin' in the Wind, the provocative
Australian filmmaker and two-time Academy Award nominee also provides
some answers regarding the huge financial interests involved in uranium
production and DU weapons. Australia provides one-third of the world's
uranium supply, and Bradbury reveals a secret treaty that allows the US
military to train and test its DU weaponry on Australian soil. He
exposes plans to extract over $36 billion from uranium mines over the
next six years, and shows the finished construction of a 1,000 mile
railway from the mining area to a port on the north coast of Australia
to transport the ore.
The railway project was built by Texas-based Halliburton Company. In
1995 US Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO of that company. The film
maker says, "The Queen's favourite American buccaneers, Cheney,
Halliburton, and the Bush family, are tied to her through uranium mining
and the shared use of illegal depleted uranium munitions in the Middle
East, Central Asia and Kosovo/Bosnia. The major roles that such diverse
individuals and groups as the Carlyle Group, George Herbert Walker Bush,
former Carlyle CEO Frank Calucci, the University of California managed
nuclear weapons labs at Los Alamos and Livermore, and US and
international pension fund investments have played in proliferating
depleted uranium weapons is not well known or in most instances even
recognised, inside or outside Australia. God Save The Queen from the
guilt of her complicity in turning Planet Earth into a 'Death Star'."
Depleted Uranium and the War on Terror
There is nothing more terrifying than the thought of exposing all life
forms on the planet to DNA-altering radiation in order to provide us
with "safety" and "democracy." It is truly diabolic to think that the
destruction of the planet is now occurring with so few people
comprehending what is going on - and still fewer people taking an active
stand against this tragedy. It is apparent that most of the world's
political and spiritual leaders, as well as scientists, physicians,
lawyers, and health professionals do not care about the dangers of DU
weapons and other forms of nuclear energy. If they cared we would
certainly be hearing and reading about it on television and in the major
media.
As a researcher and writer over the part few decades, I have focused on
the man-made origin of AIDS and the little-known bacterial cause of
cancer, paying little attention to nuclear radiation. However, in 2001 I
wrote an article entitled "The Human Radiation Experiments: How
Scientists Secretly Used US Citizens as Guinea Pigs During the Cold
War", which was published in the September-October 2001 issue of New
Dawn, and is posted on several websites. But I must admit I was unaware
of the serious planetary problems posed by DU. I simply assumed that no
civilised and peace-loving country would ever be reckless and heartless
enough to use these radioactive weapons. How wrong I was!
What I find most pathetic and inconceivable is that we have learned
nothing from the detrimental health effects unleashed by the atomic
bombing of Japan - and nothing from the nuclear testing horrors of the
last half of the 20th century. Instead we continue to contaminate vast
areas of the world with radiation we don't know how to get rid of.
I remember as an eleven year-old boy how jubilant everyone was by the
atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which brought
the war to a rapid end. A half century later my Caucasian niece married
a Japanese-American man. Shortly after the wedding she noticed a lump in
his neck, which proved to be thyroid cancer. His mother was a child when
she lived 50 miles outside of Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.
Decades later, in her forties, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer,
undoubtedly due to the radiation fallout. The doctors considered the
possibility that my niece's husband might have developed thyroid cancer
because of radiation-altered and thyroid cancer-causing genes passed on
to him by his mother. Of course the family wonders if their two young
children will eventually also get thyroid cancer. Who would have thought
that the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945 would have a cancerous effect
five decades later on my family living in California?
A few years ago I developed a thyroid nodule, which was biopsied and
proved non-cancerous. As a teenager in the 1950s I received
"superficial" radiation treatments for acne at the recommendation of a
well-known New York dermatologist, a treatment that was later banned
because of its potential to cause thyroid cancer.
It is almost a cliché to remind people that "all of us are connected."
The fallout from DU and nuclear energy now binds us all together in an
increasingly radioactive planet. No one is immune from the deleterious
effects of radiation, and no one knows how to clean it up.
What can we do about it? The only thing we can do is to stop the madness
immediately. However, power and greed and politics and religion make
that highly unlikely.
We have met the perpetrators of the new radiation-induced "war on
terror." And, sadly, it is us.
Dr. Alan Cantwell is a retired dermatologist and the author of five
books on the man-made origin of AIDS and the infectious origin of
cancer, all published by Aries Rising Press, PO Box 29532, Los Angeles,
CA 90029, USA (www.ariesrisingpress.com). His book, Queer Blood: The
Secret AIDS Genocide Plot, is available in Australia through New Dawn
Book Service for $24.95 plus $8 p&h. Many of his personal writings can
be found on www.google.com by typing in key words "alan cantwell" +
articles. His latest book is Four Women Against Cancer: Bacteria, Cancer
and the Origin of Life. His books are also available on www.amazon.com
and in the US through Book Clearing House @ 1-800-431-1579. Email:
alancantwell@sbcglobal.net.
Alan Cantwell M.D.
alancantwell@sbcglobal.net
http://www.ariesrisingpress.com
FOUR WOMEN AGAINST CANCER:
Bacteria, Cancer and the Origin of Life
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