Great mystery: The link between vets and ALS
Great mystery: The link between vets and ALS


Date published: 11/11/2008

Today, we pay tribute to those who have served in the military. It will be marked by parades and flags flying high atop city buildings and over neighborhood front porches.

As you remember what our veterans have done for us, ask yourself what we can do for them.

Very few people know that veterans are twice as likely to die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the deadly disease that took the life of baseball legend Lou Gehrig and that's also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

We don't know why vets are more likely to develop ALS. But we do know that the disease takes the strongest among us--our military heroes--and robs them of the ability to walk, talk, eat, and even breathe on their own.

They are isolated and awake, alive with the knowledge that they are trapped inside a body they can't control. There is no treatment for the disease.

It's the cruelest of ironies: People who fought to defend a nation can no longer lift a finger in their own defense against this horrific disease.

I am one of those veterans. I was diagnosed with ALS in December 2002.

In March 2003, the Epidemiologic Research and Information Center at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, NC., with cooperation from the VA Medical Center in Lexington, Ky., established a National Registry of Veterans with ALS.

They started enrolling veterans in March 2003 and stopped on Sept. 30, 2007. During that period, they enrolled 2,121 veterans and collected 1,150 DNA samples. Sadly, the majority of those veterans have already died.

We must urge our elected officials to support funding for ALS research at the Department of Defense so we can learn why the disease is stealing our heroes and take action to protect them.

Recently, both Congress and the VA have supported ALS research and provided benefits to veterans with the disease. But more must be done. I believe so strongly in finding out the cause of this disease that I have authorized the VA to remove my brain and spine for research upon my death.

Robert Miller

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