Gulf War link to nerve disease shown
Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 10, 2001
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Americans who served in the Gulf War were nearly twice as likely to develop Lou Gehrig’s disease as other military personnel, the government reported Monday. It was the first time officials acknowledged a scientific link between service in the Gulf and a specific disease.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it would immediately offer disability and survivor benefits to veterans with the disease 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 research, which included nearly 2.5 million military personnel, is one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted and offers the most conclusive evidence to date linking Gulf War veterans to any disease. Still, researchers don’t know why these veterans were more likely to get sick.
Veterans have long maintained that a variety of illnesses are associated with service in the Gulf, but scientific evidence has been scant and the Pentagon has resisted making the connection. Last year, the National Academy of Sciences was unable to link any of these complaints to a specific cause associated with military service.
About 5,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with the disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal disease of the nervous system whereby muscles stop receiving signals to operate. Victims’ bodies slowly shut down, losing their ability to move, to swallow and eventually to breath, though their minds remain alert.
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.
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