[CPEO-MEF] Spate of Thyroid Cases Baffles Army

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Kentucky
Spate of Thyroid Cases Baffles Army
Several cases of Graves disease -- 62 times higher than expected in
young men -- struck a Special Forces unit in the 1990s.
By Adam Marcus
HealthScoutNews Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthScoutNews) -- A dramatic spike in cases of an
overactive thyroid struck a U.S. Army Special Forces unit in the late
1990s, and Army doctors are at a loss to explain why.

Military physicians say the unit, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., had eight
cases of apparent Graves disease over a 21-month period ending in 1999.
That's 62 times the expected incidence of the condition in young men,
who seldom contract the autoimmune disorder.

Severe stress or contact with thyroid-harming substances such as iodine
can bring on Graves disease. Yet the soldiers didn't appear to have been
contaminated with iodine and they didn't report excessive stress.
Several had worked in the motor pool or with organic solvents, raising
the possibility of contact with substances that might have triggered the
disease. The researchers also wrote that it's possible an "infectious
agent" could be the culprit. However, no particular agent or cause could
be identified, says Dr. Henry Burch, a hormone specialist at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

"This appeared to be an isolated incident," says Burch, who believes the
cluster was probably a statistical glitch. Burch and his colleagues
reported the investigation as a research letter appearing in tomorrow's
issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.healthcentral.com/news/NewsFullText.cfm?id=510860

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