GULF WAR SYNDROME UPDATE

Gulf War syndrome is real and afflicts about 25% of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict, a U.S. report said 17 NOV. The report broke with most earlier studies acknowledging  two chemical exposures consistently associated with the disorder -- one to the drug pyridostigmine bromide given to soldiers to protect against nerve gas and the other used (often overused) to protect against desert pests -- were cited as causes in the congressionally mandated report. "The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that Gulf War illness is real, that it is a result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time," according to the 450-page report presented to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake. The report bolstered the hopes of thousands of U.S. and allied veterans who have struggled to have their varied neurological symptoms, including memory loss, concentration problems, rashes and widespread pain, recognized by the government. The government for years maintained that the symptoms manifested were because of stress or other unknown causes. The panel of scientists and veterans also called upon Congress to appropriate $60 million annually to conduct research into finding a cure for the disorder calling it a 'national obligation. The report, which went to Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake on the 17th, said, "The Defense Department cut research money from $30 million in 2001 to less than $5 million in 2006. Both agencies have identified some of their research as Gulf War research even when it did not entirely focus on the issue. Substantial federal Gulf War research funding has been used for studies that have little or no relevance to the health of Gulf War veterans,' the panel concluded."

         The new report http://sph.bu.edu/insider/index.php?%20option=com_content&task=view&id=1579&Itemid=150 is the product of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC-GWVI), which was chartered by Congress because many members thought that veterans were not receiving adequate care. On the 15-member committee appointed in 2002, scientists made up about two-thirds and the rest were veterans. Some scientists were not convinced that the new report had found the long-sought smoking gun. "Even though we know that the DoD did ship pesticides, it doesn't mean that the people who were exposed to them were the ones who ended up having symptoms," said Dr. Lynn Goldman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who has worked on previous reports on the illness. "We felt that there needed to be better records of where people were, what they were exposed to and their prior health status going in." Several reports had already been issued by the prestigious Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, blaming stress and other unknown causes for the soldiers' symptoms. There's something about going to the Gulf and serving in the Gulf that has caused something bad and persistent and real, but we have not found any evidence for a specific cause," said Dr. Harold C. Sox, chairman of a 2000 institute study and editor of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Veterans blame the institute's reports for the difficulties they've faced in getting treatment for their problems.

         According to RAC-GWVI, at least 64 pesticides containing 37 active ingredients were used during the war. They were sprayed not only around living and dining areas, but also on tents and uniforms, White said. There was less evidence to support a link to the U.S. demolition of Iraqi munitions near Khamisiyah, which may have exposed about 100,000 troops to nerve gases stored at the facility, according to the panel. The panel said it could not rule out a link between the illness and exposure to oil well fires and multiple vaccinations. But it could find no evidence linking it to depleted uranium shells, anthrax vaccine and infectious diseases. In addition to increased rates of memory loss, fatigue and pain, Gulf War veterans have higher rates of brain cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, the panel also noted. "The tragedy here is that there are currently no treatments," said panel chair James H. Binns, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and a Vietnam veteran. "The tragedy here is that there are currently no treatments," said the panel's chairman, James H. Binns, a former principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense and a Vietnam veteran. Binns emphasized that the report was not written to yield recriminations about past actions. "The importance . . . lies in what is done with it in the future," he said. "It's a blueprint for the new administration." [Source:  Los Angeles Times article 18 Nov 08 ++]