[Peace-discuss] ge research

[DSNurse at aol.com]

Source:
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/

Burning semen haunts Gulf War vets
http://www.suntimes.com/output/health/cst-nws-sperm31.html

December 31, 2002

BY JIM RITTER HEALTH REPORTER Advertisement

As the military prepares for a possible war with Iraq, researchers have
identified a new malady among veterans of the first Gulf War: burning semen
syndrome.

In these veterans, exposure to semen causes burning, pain and swelling at
the tip of the penis and in the vaginal areas of their partners.

In some couples, the pain is so severe "they just don't want to have sex, or
as much sex as they used to have," said Dr. Leonard Bernstein of the
University of Cincinnati medical school, co-author of a study funded by the
Army and published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The condition also can cause severe allergic reactions in some female
partners, including hives, wheezing, dizziness and unconsciousness.

Researchers said the condition is rare, but did not estimate how many
veterans might have it. Nor do researchers know the cause.

Bernstein speculated veterans may have been exposed to chemicals that
changed the proteins in their semen. He notes that some partners developed
antibodies to the semen. This finding provides objective evidence the
condition is not just in the veterans' heads, he said.

Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have suffered health problems including
chronic fatigue, diarrhea, migraines, dizziness, memory problems and loss of
balance. While some researchers blame exposure to toxic substances, most
scientists have blamed stress.

Researchers used a Web site and doctors with the Veterans Administration to
recruit veterans who believed they had burning semen syndrome. Of the 211
respondents, 89 percent had experienced burning after contact with their own
semen or had a partner who experienced burning. Only 7 percent said they had
experienced the symptoms before the Gulf War. Forty-two percent had sought
medical treatment for the condition.

Burning semen syndrome is similar to a condition called seminal plasma
hypersensitivity, which affects a small percentage of the general female
population. However, seminal plasma hypersensitivity causes burning only in
women, and can almost always be prevented by wearing condoms.

Burning semen syndrome affects men and women, and condoms work in fewer than
half of the couples.

Dr. Michael Kilpatrick of the U.S. Defense Department's Deployment Health
Support called the study "excellent professional research." He noted,
however, that of the 697,000 Gulf War veterans, researchers could identify
only 211 who might have the condition.

The rate among veterans "does not appear to be higher than the rate in the
normal population, although we do not have statistics to prove this,"
Kilpatrick said.

Bernstein said a treatment similar to allergy shots might cure burning semen
syndrome in some women. The shots gradually expose the woman to proteins
from the man's semen until she is able to tolerate his semen without adverse
affects.

Reports of burning semen syndrome have been circulating among veterans for
several years, said Steve Robinson of the Gulf War Resource Center.

"It's very debilitating," Robinson said. "It pretty much ends any intimacy
you can have with your spouse