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UPDATE: TOXIC CHEMICALS BLAMED FOR GULF
WAR
ILLNESS -- Gulf War illness, dismissed by some as
a
psychosomatic disorder, is a very real illness
that affects
at least 25% of U.S. veterans who took part in
the Gulf War.
For more about Gulf War illnesses (or Syndrome),
use the VA Watchdog search engine... click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sesse
arch.php?q=gulf+war&op=ph
Complete report mentioned in article below is
available here...
http://sph.bu.edu/insider/images/stories/re
sources/annual_reports/GWI%20and%20He
alth%20of%20GW%20Veterans_RAC-G
WVI%20Report_2008.pdf
Story here...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy
n/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111701821.html
Story below:
Comments at bottom of page.
-------------------------
Toxic Chemicals Blamed for Gulf War Illness
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY (HealthDay News) -- Gulf War illness, dismissed by some as a
psychosomatic disorder, is a very real illness that affects at least 25
percent of the 700,000 U.S. veterans who took part in the 1991 Gulf War.
It's likely cause was exposure to toxic chemicals that included pesticides
that were often overused during the war, as well as a drug given to U.S.
troops to protect them from nerve gas, a frequent weapon of choice of
former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
And no effective treatments have been devised for the disorder.
Those are three key conclusions of a Congressionally mandated landmark
report released Monday by a federal panel of scientific experts and
veterans.
"It is very clear that Gulf War illness is a real condition that was not
caused by combat stress or other psychological factors," said Lea Steele,
scientific director of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War
Veterans' Illnesses, which issued the report, and an associate professor
at Kansas State University.
"This is something we need to take seriously," Steele said. "These folks
were injured in wartime service, much as people who were shot with bullets
or hit with bombs."
The committee presented the 450-page report to Secretary of Veterans
Affairs James Peake.
Gulf War illness is frequently described as a collection of symptoms that
includes memory and concentration problems, chronic headaches, fatigue and
widespread pain. Other symptoms can include persistent digestive problems,
respiratory symptoms and skin rashes.
 The
panel also said Gulf War veterans have much higher rates of amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease) than other veterans, and
soldiers who were downwind from large-scale munitions demolitions in 1991
have died from brain cancer at twice the rate of other Gulf War veterans.
In reaching its conclusions, the panel reviewed evidence about a wide
range of possible environmental exposures that could cause Gulf War
illness. That review included hundreds of studies of Gulf War veterans,
research in other groups of populations, animal studies of toxic
exposures, and government investigations about events and exposures during
the Gulf War, which began after Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Speculation about the causes of Gulf War illness has included exposure to
depleted uranium munitions, vaccines, nerve agents and oil well fires.
The new report says the illness was caused by soldiers' exposure to
certain chemicals, Steele said.
"When you put all the evidence together there are two chemicals that jump
out as the main causes," she said. One is a drug called pyridostigmine
bromide, which is a cholinesterase inhibitor that was given to the troops
to protect them against nerve gas.
"It turns out that people who took those pills have a higher rate of Gulf
War illness," Steele said. "And people who took more pills have even
higher rates of Gulf War illness."
In addition, soldiers were exposed to pesticides that were also
cholinesterase inhibitors, Steele said. "The strongest evidence points to
pyridostigmine bromide and pesticides as causal factors," she said. "This
type of illness has not been seen after other wars."
While pyridostigmine bromide is still in use, its use is more limited than
it was in the first Gulf War. It's currently being used against one type
of nerve agent, but is not being given out on a widespread basis, Steele
said.
"The Gulf War was the only time a lot of people used this drug," she said.
Steele added that the U.S. military has also cut back on its use of
pesticides since the 1991 war.
There are other factors that, while not likely causes of Gulf War illness,
can't be ruled out, Steele said. These include exposure to nerve agents,
exposure to smoke from oil well fires, and vaccines given to the troops.
The panel ruled out depleted uranium and anthrax vaccine as causes.
The panel also found government research and funding into Gulf War illness
wanting. "There has not been sufficient attention given to Gulf War
illness. It's a real problem," Steele said.
"In recent years, both the Department of Defense and the Department of
Veterans Affairs have reported a lot of studies that weren't Gulf War
illness as Gulf War research," Steele added. "Some of the money was
misused."
The panel noted that overall federal funding for Gulf War research has
declined substantially in recent years; the group urged lawmakers to
devote $60 million annually to such programs.
When veterans with Gulf War illness go to Veterans Administration
hospitals for treatment, their problems often aren't taken seriously,
Steele said. "VA docs often know nothing about it and aren't able to help
them. Sometimes they treat them as if they are head cases or malingering,"
she said.
James Binns is chairman of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs'
Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.
"We have no treatments that work," said Binns, a Vietnam veteran and
former Pentagon official. "I would like to see the new administration take
this more seriously. When you look at all the studies, it's as clear as
the nose on your face that this [Gulf War illness] is real."
It took 20 years to admit that Agent Orange, a defoliant used in the
Vietnam war, caused illness, Binns said. "It's now coming up to 17 years
on Gulf War illness," he said. "Troop exposures [to these chemicals] were
a serious but honest mistake. Covering it up rather than trying to help
them has been unconscionable."
SOURCES: Lea Steele, Ph.D., associate professor, Kansas State University,
Manhattan, and scientific director, Research Advisory Committee on Gulf
War Veterans' Illnesses; James Binns, chairman, U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs' Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans'
Illnesses
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
-------------------------
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