Health Problems
O3
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Venus Val Hammack" <jagm...@gulflink.org>
To: <gulf...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "Gulf Vets (GWVM)" <GW...@structured.net>
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 3:10 AM
Subject: [gwivetstateside] Association Found Between Anthrax Vaccination
Association Found Between Anthrax Vaccination, Medication
And Health Problems Of Gulf War Veterans
May 6, 2002
MANHATTAN - Take pyridostigmine bromide pills, mix with several vaccinations
received at the same time - including anthrax - many of which contained
mercury
as a preservative, blend with inaccurate shot records, add a lack of rest,
sprinkled
with a dash of stressful conditions and you have the recipe for a
"significant association"
between subsequent declines in subjective health experiences and Gulf War
veterans.
That's the conclusion in a report released by researchers at Kansas State
University.
The research team, led by Walter Schumm, a K-State professor of family
studies and
human services, studied a random selection of nearly 1,000 reserve component
veterans
from all branches of the military, who had either been living in Ohio in
March 1996 or who
had been in Ohio as of August 1990. State officials were concerned over
numerous reports
of veterans in Ohio being ill with various problems and hired the team of
researchers to take
an independent look at the problem. In addition to Schumm, the principal
investigator,
researchers included Earl J. Reppert, M.D., medical director, Lafene Student
Health Center;
Anthony P. Jurich, Stephan R. Bollman, Farrell J. Webb, and Carlos S.
Castelo, all from
the department of family studies and human services.
Schumm said veterans were asked about changes in their health from before,
during and
after the war, as well as at the current time. Among those veterans who
reported excellent
health before the war, 36 percent who said they received an anthrax
vaccination reported
poor to fair health in 1996 compared to 18 percent of those who did not
report receiving
the anthrax vaccination. In contrast, those who were not mobilized and did
not receive an
anthrax vaccination or pyridostigmine bromide pills reported much lower
levels of poor
to fair health in 1996 - less than 5 percent.
"What we basically found was that subjective health deteriorated somewhat
over time,
" Schumm said. "As people got older their health declined a little bit. We
did find that
those who recalled that they did receive an anthrax vaccination during the
Gulf War,
their health deteriorated about twice as fast as folks in similar
circumstances who
didn't have a recollection of receiving that shot. "
Schumm said researchers also found that many of the medical records or shot
records
of the veterans had been falsified or destroyed, making it virtually
impossible to use
clinical data to assess the impact of vaccinations or the pyridostigmine
bromide pills.
In addition, many veterans reported taking incorrect dosages of the
pyridostigmine
bromide pills, most taking too few with some taking far too many. Only 24
percent of
those reporting their average daily consumption of pills actually took the
recommended three pills a day.
"Without actual medical records, it is very difficult to prove causality,"
Schumm said.
"It would be pretty easy to discount any one study by itself as an anomaly
since each
of the studies have their own unique limitations, but obtaining the same
results across
different nationalities and research teams would seem to indicate that
something went
wrong with the process at that time for at least some of the veterans.
Personally,
I think the best guess is that the mix of pyridostigmine bromide pills,
multiple vaccinations
in a brief period of time, and high levels of stress combined to adversely
affect the health
of individuals with genetic susceptibility to such combinations."
Schumm noted that their research confirms results reported previously by
British,
Canadian, and other U.S. research teams with respect to vaccinations and
pyridostigmine
bromide consumption. He is working on a critique of a report recently
released by the
Institute of Medicine, clearing anthrax vaccine of any connection to health
problems.
Schumm said that it is possible that the anthrax vaccine as given today may
be safe
while the product as manufactured and administered during the Gulf War -
in combination with all the other factors - was less than optimal with
respect to
the long term health of recipients.
"I get angry sometimes because you hear on the news that the Gulf War
Syndrome
symptoms are psychological; it's all in their heads," Schumm said. "I think
our research
suggests that there is something else going on," Schumm said. "If it was
just all just
psychological I don't think we'd get these correlations with the exposures
like we have.
I think our findings are equivalent if not better than other studies done."
The study was funded by the State of Ohio through the
Center for the Study of Veterans in Society.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/020506074244.htm
http://www.stevequayle.com/index1.html
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