My husband was exposed to agent orange while in Viet Nam. We have a 20 year old daughter. I have the HS, so far, (and please God let it continue) she does not have HS. I don't know what to tell you. There are sites regarding agent orange issues of the veterans children. You could start on the VA web site and go from there. If I see anything useful, I promise to send you a link. Good luck, I hope you get some answers. So much out there on Agent Orange, and it's not pretty.

Colleen

Thanks Colleen!! I have been doing a lot of research with the VA and I noticed all these skin conditions and I was just wondering if maybe we could find some correlation between the two, the VA could help us out :)

Wow, I was shocked to see your post. Heres why. My dad was in Vietnam and he was exposed to Agent Orange. He had severe skin problems and many many other health problems from it. At the time I first saw his skin issues for myself, I was about 14. It caught as he was working on his car and I noticed he had large boils. I was starting to get some of these boils on me. It started when I was 12 or so. My sister was also getting them. As time went on and I got older it got worse and worse and finally I was diagnosed with HS in 1997. I was 22. My mom would tell me that she thought it was from the agent orange. My Dad was working on some kind of a disabilty claim with the VA. He listed mine and my sisters HS on his papers. I dont know what ever came of it. He passed away 2 years ago. I have always wondered if there is a link though. My personal opinion is that there is. I am very interested to see what you come up with in your research. I am so frustrated with this condition. I cant even find a Dr here that knows what HS is. Finding a Dr that has any compassion or empathy is a joke. Please keep me informed.

My father AND mother served in Vietnam. My father was an MP, and my mother as a medic. I don't know how much if any agent orange they were exposed to, but I will certainly ask. As far as I know, neither of my parents have had any skin conditions. My siblings don't have any problems, either.

Nope. No conection to agent orange in my family. I'm from UK so no family went to vietnam .... not even for a holiday.
Sorry
Michele xxx

My father was in Vietnam and exposed. I hope you will return and give an update.

Its great to hear all of these replies, THANK YOU. Currently my father and I are working with the VA to try and see if we could receive benefits, his were originally denied but now they are in the appeal process. I am going to continue more research on this and keep everyone updated! The VA is very hard to even receive benefits from. They rarely admit that anything is from any type of exposure such as agent orange but my dad has multiple doctors fighting for him for his multiple skin cancers that the VA even STATES IN THEIR GUIDELINES that he qualifies and I am currently awaiting paperwork from my HS doctors giving their opinion on the case. The only issue is since this hasn't been proven, we need to all get together, get some proof, this in not just a coincidence, its a fact in my eyes! If anyone is willing to send me a little background that I could use to show to VA board, just maybe this could help! Names are not needed unless I find that its required but as for now if you are interested in writing a background info, please send it to me via email (HNelsonRACC@aol.com) Thank you! TTmommyof3, I am sorry to hear of your loss, don't give up hope just yet, because I am not giving up on you. We will find an answer. I will never give up on any of us. We deserve to live a happy life...pain free!

Blessing and prayers to you all!

-Hilary

I saw this discussion and immediately asked my dad if he was exposed while in nam. Yes he was. I am 26 and have had HS for 10 years. He does not have it. Nor does my mom, or sister.

My dad is a Vietnam veteran and I have HS in the groin area. I have had HS for about 7 years if not a little longer. My dad was in the Navy and he was exposed. He has not been diagnosised with HS but he has had a ton of skin cancer on his face, back, etc. He has in the past had sores that would come to surface and popped with a ton of puss.
If you get anymore information please share!

I don't believe either of my grandparents were in the service. I know my dad wasn't either. But the genetic link I am sure of...since my mother's mother and my mother have HS; though not nearly as severe as mine. My little brother was blessed with this illness too. Excuse the sarcasm, lol

I just joined this support group, as I was just finally correctly diagnosed with HS after 7 years or so of flare ups dismissed as cellulitis caused by staph aureus. Granted cellulitis can form along with inflamation from HS, and staph is a common ubiquitous microorganism that wasn't necessarily a misdiagnosis, but a diagnosis not recognizing the underlying & causative disease process at play.

My father was in Vietnam and it has been documented that he was very heavily exposed to agent orange as well as other defoliaging agents manufactured by monsanto, dow chemical, etc that have been linked to a multitude of medical conditions in veterans, as well as their children through the teratogenic effect of altering sperm genetics.

I have had a number of issues related to exposure to these agents. As a child, I suffered with gran mal seizures related to epilepsy, had to have foot reconstruction surgery due to a near club foot, had severe asthma, my pediatrician suspected that I had childhood arthritis and since my teen years I've had very pronounced, painful acne that had left large cyst-like looking scars on my back and chest. In 2005ish, I had several episodes of loss of consciousness, which may have been freak seizures associated to childhood epilepsy / agent orange, and have since around that time had HS which has continually gotten worse, except for the last 2 years when I have lost a great deal of weight. I have recently begun to get inexplicable aches and pains in my joints along with swelling, as well as new viscious flare ups of HS. I do believe that these conditions are, including HS, directly related to exposure. If you can fight for it, it is worth the battle with the VA and the DVA. They nearly always always always will initially deny a claim of a veteran or child, however, if you do appeal, there is a decent likelihood that you will be approved. Keep fighting, I've never had a surgery that was as painful as an HS flare up and the flare ups can be quite frequent. If it can be shown that your case is in relation to exposure of a parent, you are deserving of at least a partial disability pension from the VA and perhaps even VA medical care. I have heard varying things from support group persons regarding VA disability benies for children, but some of what I have heard is that people have been successful in financial gains, education payments and medical care.

Wow. Didn't expect to see this. My Dad was a Vietnam veteran and was exposed to Agent Orange. My sister and I along with an older brother were both born in Vietnam. My sister has spina bifida occulta which is one of the known and listed birth defects caused by Agent Orange exposure, but the VA refused to give her benefits for it. My dad was in Vietnam for ten years (1965-1975), but the VA has tried to claim that he was never exposed to Agent Orange when he had been on numerous occasions given the length of his deployment. My dad suffered from the same painful boils and cystic acne that I do, but he was never diagnosed with HS. I hope you were able to make the connection between HS and Agent Orange. My Dad has already passed away so there is no way to disprove the VA's claim that my dad was never exposed. Good luck and I hope you update us.

This is an organization that I recently became aware of: the Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance. While the Federal Government was clearly very slow to admit to any relation between exposure of Vietnam Veterans to Agent Orange and other defoliage agents and diseases that have taken so many veterans, citizens of Vietnam, children of vets, it is now ackgnowledged that there is a link. Now, there is a bit of a crusade taking place among the children of vets, as the federal government is slowly ackgnowledging the devestating effects of agent orange passed on by genetic mutation of those exposed, to their children, and furthermore it is becoming widely believed that it doesn't stop there - it is multi-generational. 2nd generation, 3rd generation etc. The levels of dioxin related to Agent Orange, specifically that manufactured by Monsanto - the company that is now producing Genetically Modified Foods, and putting small farmers out of business one lawsuit at a time relating to their patent-able GMO seeds - wherein the Agent Orange / Dioxin is widely viewed as the second most toxic man made product, second only to nuclear fallout / waste. We live in crazy times folks. We have exposed large populations to very damaging chemicals in war, they are normally used in our food supply, we have societally detonated nuclear weapons that surely do have a negative effect on health, we've had nuclear disasters ie Chernobyl, Fukashima, 3 Mile Island, cigarettes and alcohol are legal poisons and there is an epidemic of death related to prescription narcotic pain killers and medical research leading to much good regarding rare disorders like HS is going to be slow due to the low numbers of those afflicted meaning low profitability for those who do research - big pharmaceuticals. Hopefully I'm not sounding too political, but I fear I do and I hope that doesn't turn anyone off... I find that my road to happiness is peace activism and awareness of "evils" among us, if you will. I believe that certain disorders need a real strong grassroots awareness and calling for research, as it likely will not happen otherwise. For anyone intersted in the possible link of HS and Agent Orange, or the hundreds of other diseases linked to Agent exposure, please see the website I listed. It is astounding how many disorders are seemingly linked to the horrors of the past.

http://covvha.net/

My grandfather was in vietnam. I don't know if he was exposed to agent orange, but my uncle told me that my grandfather suffered from boils on his neck and back.

I have had HS for about 20 years now and yes my father is a Vietnam Vet who was exposed to agent orange. He has told me he was dripping with the stuff like he took a shower in it. I was actually just doing research on children of Vietnam Vets and their illnesses to see if HS was listed. One site says that it is an illness found among the children but cannot be directly linked to agent orange. In my heart I know my HS was caused by agent orange. I have many other medical issues as well and I just don't believe that I would be this sickly on my own as there is no family history of some of the diseases and really no cause for them. My dad blames himself every time I go to the ER or the surgeon to have a spot cut open. It breaks my heart to hear the hurt in his voice. It wasn't his fault, it was agent orange and the people that decided to use that horrible stuff. My HS is getting worse and I am at that point where I don't know what to do. In my area you don't get much as far as treatment. I get sliced, sometimes packed and a few antibiotics. I get no pain meds and most of the time I have to explain the disease.