 |
Fifteen years after their return from Desert Storm, a substantial proportion of veterans continue to experience chronic and often debilitating conditions characterized by
- Persistent headaches
- Cognitive problems (thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, or learning)
- Somatic (body) pain
- Fatigue
- Gastrointestinal difficulties (of, pertaining to, or affecting the stomach and intestines.)
- Respiratory conditions (related to breathing)
- Skin abnormalities
Studies have consistently indicated that between 26 and 32 percent of veterans who served in the Gulf War are affected by this symptom complex, over and above rates found in veterans of the same era who did not serve in the Gulf War theater of operations. As of February 2006, over 198,000 or 32% of eligible Gulf War veterans were determined by the VA to have a service connected disability.
Gulf War veterans were exposed to a wide range of potentially toxic substances during deployment, including
- Dense, oily smoke from hundreds of oil well fires
- Extensive and prolonged use of pesticides and insect repellants often applied directly to the skin or breathed into the lungs during fogging or spraying
- Multiple vaccines—at least two of which were investigational
- Consumption of Pyridostigmine Bromide pills. (Also called Nerve Agent Pretreatment Pills or NAPP.)
- Possible low dose exposure to chemical nerve agents
- Aerosolized heavy metals in the air or dust associated with depleted uranium munitions (aerosolized: ultramicroscopic solid or liquid particles dispersed or suspended in air or gas)
- Fuels and other hazardous substances spilled directly onto the skin
- Paints, especially freshly applied CARC paint (Chemical Agent Resistant Compound)
Recent findings from a large number of animal studies indicate that, contrary to previous assumptions, exposure to nerve agents at levels too low to produce acute symptoms can result in chronic adverse neurological effects. Further, a large number of studies have now demonstrated that exposure to combinations of Gulf War-related exposures such as NAPP pills, DEET containing insect repellants, and other chemicals used to repel insects on military uniforms can produce adverse effects that exceed those associated with any of these chemicals individually.
Health problems affecting veterans of the Gulf War are similar to those documented after other large-scale toxic exposure incidents, including those experienced by rescue workers following the attack and collapse of the World Trade Center. During many of these incidents, the range of contaminants present and the possible levels of each contaminant is unknown, making it impossible to authoritatively characterize the specific chemical characteristics of the incident or its possible health consequences.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recognized symptom patterns following chemical exposures as an emerging public health concern and has indicated that “Public health agencies and healthcare providers might render the most appropriate, timely and clinically relevant treatment possible by using treatment modalities based on syndromic categories…” (syndromic: a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like.)
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine emphasizes the benefits of addressing toxicological and psychological effects of exposures with the aim of returning an individual “to all possible functional activities relevant to the patient’s life as soon as possible after an injury or illness.”
Since 1990, more than 700,000 individuals have served in the Gulf region. While the federal government has funded hundreds of scientific research projects to better understand, codify and define the conditions described by our returning troops, virtually nothing has been spent on finding a solution to their maladies.
|
|
