ALS in the Military



Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ IllnessesSeptember, 2004
This is an extensive report running 152 pdf pages. The Executive Summary has these unsettling words:
In the years since the war, thousands of Gulf War veterans have been evaluated and treated by government and private physicians. But the federal research effort has not succeeded in identifying treatments that substantially improve the health of ill veterans.
Further, there are no programs in place to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments currently being used or to identify and develop treatments that may hold promise for these conditions.

Many of the veterans who served in the Gulf War were exposed to a variety of potentially toxic substances during their deployment. Among these were several neurotoxins-chemical nerve agents, pills taken to protect veterans from the deadly effects of nerve agents, and multiple types of pesticides-that belong to a single class of compounds that adversely affect the nervous system.

Finding 1; A substantial proportion of Gulf War veterans are ill with multisymptom conditions not explained by wartime stress or psychiatric illness.

Finding 2; Treatments that improve the health of veterans with Gulf War illnesses are urgently needed.

Finding 3; A growing body of research indicates that an important component of Gulf War veterans’ illnesses is neurological in character.

Finding 4; Evidence supports a probable link between exposure to neurotoxins and the development of Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.

Finding 5; Other wartime exposures may also have contributed to Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.

Finding 6; The health of Gulf veterans must be carefully monitored to determine if Gulf War service is associated with excess rates of specific diseases, disease-specific deaths, or overall mortality.

Finding 7; Important questions concerning the health of children and other family members of Gulf War veterans remain unanswered.

Finding 8; Progress in understanding Gulf War veterans’ illnesses has been hindered by lack of coordination and availability of data resources maintained by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Finding 9; Research on Gulf War veterans’ illnesses has important implications for current and future military deployments and for homeland security.

Finding 10; Further progress in understanding and treating Gulf War veterans’ illnesses requires federal research programs that are properly focused, well-managed, and adequately funded.

Each of these findings are supported in detail with charts, data and supporting research documents that are organized by topic and by suspected causes.

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