[Peace-discuss] Va and Gulf War I health problems

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

British study of veterans rejects stress
By DAVE PARKS
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

In a stunning about-face, the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced a 
substantial research initiative based on evidence that many ailing veterans 
of the 1991 Persian Gulf War may be suffering from brain damage caused by 
toxic exposures.

This week's announcement came after a British study discounted stress as a 
significant cause of mysterious health problems reported by Gulf War veterans 
and an advisory committee concluded that scientific evidence pointed to 
neurological damage.

The VA said it plans to make available up to $20 million during fiscal year 
2004 for research into Gulf War illnesses. That's twice as much as the agency 
has spent during any previous year on the problem, the VA said.

The VA cited studies that used brain-scanning technology to show a 
neurological basis for health problems reported by some ailing veterans. The 
initial studies in this area were conducted on a group of sick veterans who 
served in the Gulf War with the 24th Naval Reserve Construction Battalion, 
which was headquartered in Huntsville but had detachments in North Carolina, 
Tennessee, Georgia and other cities in Alabama.

In addition to more money for research, the VA said it will create a center 
dedicated to medical imaging technologies to better understand Gulf War 
illnesses as well as other conditions.

"Science is finally beginning to unravel the mysteries of Gulf War 
illnesses," VA Deputy Secretary Dr. Leo S. Mackay Jr. said in a statement. 
"And finally, there is reason for hope."

Mackay announced the initiative at a meeting of the Research Advisory 
Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses. VA Secretary Anthony Principi 
appointed the committee in January. Its members include activists and 
scientists who have been critical for years of the government's efforts to 
discount Gulf War health problems as a reaction to stress.

Dr. Robert Haley, a committee member and chief of epidemiology at the 
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said Thursday's 
announcement shut the door on the stress theory. "It's dead as a doornail," 
he said.

Haley said a study in the Sept. 14 issue of the British Medical Journal 
convinced VA officials. The study of 111 disabled Desert Storm veterans from 
Great Britain found that Gulf War illness was not a psychiatric disorder 
connected to stress. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense 
and was conclusive, he said.

Meanwhile, the advisory committee filed an interim report in June indicating 
that between 25 and 30 percent of the 700,000 U.S. veterans who served in the 
Gulf War are now ill, with many suffering from a multitude of symptoms such 
as fatigue, aching joints and memory loss.

"It is increasingly evident that at least one important category of illness 
in Gulf War veterans is neurological in character, according to recent 
scientific studies," the committee reported. "Magnetic resonance spectroscopy 
suggests a loss of neurons in selected brain areas in ill veterans, 
particularly in the basal ganglia and brainstem."

Haley conducted the initial studies in that area on the Seabees from Alabama. 
The research was started with funding from Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot. 
Haley said the VA and other researchers have now confirmed that some veterans 
are suffering from neurological damage.

Haley believes that some veterans were genetically susceptible to injury from 
toxins such as pesticides mixed with low levels of chemical warfare agents 
released during destruction of Iraqi munitions.

Steve Robinson, a committee member and executive director of a leading 
veterans' advocacy group, the National Gulf War Resource Center, said the 
committee was "stunned" by the VA announcement. He said it's been a long wait 
for veterans. "Unfortunately, a lot of people have suffered, lost their homes 
and killed themselves in the waiting," Robinson said.

The government is learning that the basic nature of warfare is changing and 
is beginning to recognize that soldiers can be wounded by methods other than 
bullets and conventional bombs, he said.

"We need to change to the new paradigm and understand that chemical and 
biological weapons will be used," he said.

The VA's research will benefit not only veterans but also the general public, 
given the threat of terrorism, Robinson said.

"This event, unfortunately, may happen here in our hometown one day," he said.