VA Shifts on Gulf War
Illness
Boosts Research as
Evidence Points to Neurological Damage
By Dave Parks, The
Birmingham News
BY DAVE PARKS
News staff writer
The Birmingham News
Page 1A
November 1, 2002
In a stunning about-face, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced
Thursday a substantial research initiative based on evidence that many
ailing veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War may be suffering from
brain damage caused by toxic exposures.
The announcement came after a British study discounted stress as a
significant cause of mysterious health problems reported by Gulf War
veterans and an advisory committee concluded that scientific evidence
pointed to neurological damage.
The VA said it plans to make available up to $20 million during fiscal
year 2004 for research into Gulf War illnesses. That's twice as much as
the
agency has spent during any previous year on the problem, the VA said.
The VA cited studies that used brain-scanning technology to show a
neurological basis for health problems reported by some ailing
veterans. The initial studies in this area were conducted on a group of
sick veterans who served in the Gulf War with a Seabee unit based in
Alabama.
In addition to increased funding for research, the VA said it will
create a center dedicated to medical imaging technologies to better
understand Gulf War illnesses as well as other conditions.
"Science is finally beginning to unravel the mysteries of Gulf War
illnesses," VA Deputy Secretary Dr. Leo S. Mackay Jr. said in a
prepared statement. "And finally, there is reason for hope."
Mackay announced the initiative at a meeting of the Research Advisory
Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses. VA Secretary Anthony Principi
appointed the committee in January. Its members include activists and
scientists who have been critical for years of the government's efforts
to discount Gulf War health problems as a reaction to stress.
Dr. Robert Haley, a committee member and chief of epidemiology at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said
Thursday's announcement shut the door on the stress theory. "It's dead
as a
doornail," he said.
Haley said a study in the Sept. 14 issue of the British Medical Journal
convinced VA officials. The study of 111 disabled Desert Storm veterans
from Great Britain found that Gulf War illness was not a psychiatric
disorder connected to stress. The study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Defense and was conclusive, he said.
Meanwhile, the advisory committee filed an interim report in June
indicating that between 25 percent and 30 percent of the 700,000 U.S.
veterans who served in the Gulf War are now ill, with many suffering
from a
multitude of symptoms such as fatigue, aching joints and memory loss.
"It is increasingly evident that at least one important category of
illness in Gulf War veterans is neurological in character, according to
recent
scientific studies," the committee reported. "Magnetic resonance
spectroscopy suggests a loss of neurons in selected brain areas in ill
veterans, particularly in the basal ganglia and brainstem."
Haley conducted the initial studies in that area on the Seabees from
Alabama. The research was started with funding from Texas billionaire
H. Ross Perot. Haley said the VA and other researchers have now
confirmed
that some veterans are suffering from neurological damage.
"The evidence is strong," Haley said.
Haley believes that some veterans were genetically susceptible to
injury from toxins such as pesticides mixed with low levels of chemical
warfare agents released during destruction of Iraqi munitions.
Haley said the evidence has been growing for recognition of a distinct
"Gulf War Syndrome," but he was still impressed with the VA's turnabout
on
the issue.
''This was an astounding event," he said.
Haley credited the Bush administration for appointing strong leaders at
the VA.
Steve Robinson, a committee member and executive director of a leading
veterans' advocacy group, the National Gulf War Resource Center, said
the committee was amazed by the VA announcement.
"It came as a shock to us," he said. "We were stunned."
He said it's been a long wait for veterans. "Unfortunately, a lot of
people have suffered, lost their homes and killed themselves in the
waiting,"
Robinson said.
Warfare changing
“The government is slowly learning that the basic nature of warfare is
changing and is beginning to recognize that soldiers can be wounded by
methods other than bullets and conventional bombs, he said.
"We need to change to the new paradigm and understand that chemical and
biological weapons will be used," he said.
The VA's research will benefit not only veterans but also the general
public, given the threat of terrorism, Robinson said.
"This event, unfortunately, may happen here in our hometown."
