Government finds higher rate of Lou Gehrig's disease in Gulf War veterans

[Guest guest]

By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON (December 10, 2001 05:33 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com ) -

In the first acknowledgement of a link between service in the Gulf and a

specific disease, the government reported Monday that soldiers who served

in the Gulf War were nearly twice as likely to develop Lou Gehrig's disease

as other military personnel.

 

The Veterans Administration said it would immediately offer disability and

survivor benefits to veterans who served in the Persian Gulf during the

conflict a decade ago.

 

" The hazards of the modern day battlefield are more than bullet wounds and

saber cuts, " said Anthony Principi, secretary of Veterans Affairs.

 

The results released Monday have not yet been reviewed by other scientists

or published in an academic journal, but officials said they were releasing

them now to prevent further delay in compensating victims of the

progressive, fatal disease.

 

" They need help now and we will offer them that help, " Principi said.

 

The study compared nearly 700,000 military personnel who served in the Gulf

War between August 1990 and July 1991 with another 1.8 million personnel

who were not deployed to the region. It found that those who were deployed

were nearly twice as likely to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a

fatal neurological disorder often called Lou Gehrig's disease.

 

Among Gulf War veterans, the rate of disease was 6.7 people per million.

Among other military personnel, it was 3.5 per million.

 

The rate was not uniform among all personnel. Those who served in the Air

Force were 2.7 times as likely to contract the disease, and those in the

Army were twice as likely. Disease rates among Marine and Navy veterans

were not statistically different from personnel not in the Gulf.

 

Researchers do not know why Gulf War veterans were more likely to contract

the disease, the cause of which is unknown.

 

Principi said the VA would continue research on the connection between

other illnesses and the Gulf War and increase research into ALS to try and

find a cause, treatment and cure.

 

Advocates for veterans have long maintained that Gulf veterans were more

likely to develop ALS but earlier, smaller studies failed to prove a

connection.

 

The same will be proven true for other illnesses, predicted Steve Robinson,

executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center.

 

" We've been proven right, and we're going to be proven right on a lot of

other things as well, " he said. " This whole issue is about to blow wide open. "

 

 

 

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