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Cancer may stem from military bases

On Behalf of | Mar 13, 2020 | SSD - Veterans' Issues |

Even soldiers who never see combat and spend their entire careers on military bases may face some serious risks, including the development of fatal diseases. Reports have indicated that cancer rates are quite high for many vets, and they trace it back to dangerous compounds on these bases. They can be found in the facilities themselves, as well as in the soil and the water.

The risk may even extend beyond the veterans themselves. Say they have their young children living with them on the base. Could those children then develop early cancer as they grow up and become adults?

That’s what one man thinks happened to him after he spent his infancy on bases with his father. He already had stage IV metastatic kidney cancer by the time he was just 39. The doctors hope to control it and extend his life, but there is no cure.

As you may already have deduced, 39 is very young for that disease. The American Cancer Society claims that the average age of a diagnosis in the United States is 64 years old, more than two decades older than the man who came down with it. They say that any diagnosis earlier than 45 is rare. To have it in his 30s makes him think that it came from the water he drank on base when he was a child.

Diseases like this are often fatal, and even when treated, can leave someone with a disability. They can change lives forever, and it may all be because of the military base exposure. Those who face such hurdles must know their legal rights.

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