Govt. Finds Gulf War Illness Link
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Govt. Finds Gulf War Illness Link
By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Soldiers who served in the Gulf War were nearly
twice as likely to develop Lou Gehrig's disease than other military
personnel, the government reported Monday, the first time it has
acknowledged a link between service in the Gulf and a specific
disease.
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.''