tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386130652024-03-05T04:05:49.461-05:00Post deployment illness Gulf WarThe ground war lasted four days and resulted in 147 battlefield deaths, but almost 199,000 of the 698,000 people who were deployed have since qualified for some degree of service-related disability. Of those, 13,317 people are disabled by "undiagnosed conditions"; Medically Unexplained Symptoms; Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS) or Unexplained SymptomsJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-62424550418193904382013-01-12T17:09:00.001-05:002013-01-12T17:09:10.444-05:00Biorepository Gulf War Veterans' Illness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BOSTON — </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Veterans of the first Gulf War are being asked to help solve the mystery of what continues to make so many veterans of that conflict sick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched the </span><a href="http://www.research.va.gov/resdev/programs/tissue_banking/gwvib/"><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Biorepository</span></u><span style="color: blue;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (GWVIB) to support research on the causes, progression and treatment of disorders affecting veterans of that war from 1990-1991.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About 697,000 men and women served in the first Gulf War, and since then nearly 250,000 have experienced chronic, medically unexplained illnesses, known collectively as Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, according to a statement released by the VA on Friday. Symptoms include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, as well as disordered respiratory, digestive, and cognitive function. The cause of these illnesses is unknown, and effective treatments remain elusive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Biorepositories, also called bio-banks, collect and store human fluid and tissue samples. Veterans who enroll in the study agree to donate their brain and other body tissue after their death. Their health status will be followed during their lifetimes through mailed surveys, telephone calls and electronic health records, the VA said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Hundreds of thousands of ill Veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War depend on cutting-edge biomedical research to better understand and treat these illnesses, and providing crucial tissue and health information to researchers will be a vital resource for this research," the project’s principal investigator, Dr. Neil Kowall, said in the statement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War era living in the U.S., regardless of whether they served in the Gulf region or are experiencing symptoms are eligible to participate. Additional information about on the study can be found by calling toll-free 855-561-7827.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Posted Jan 11, 2013 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Read more: </span><a href="http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x2105868760/Vets-of-1st-Gulf-War-asked-to-help-solve-mystery-illness#ixzz2HmdQeJVi"><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x2105868760/Vets-of-1st-Gulf-War-asked-to-help-solve-mystery-illness#ixzz2HmdQeJVi</span></u><span style="color: blue;"></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Today we have VA primary care doctors who have no idea of the side effects of gulf war exposures. Many veterans who need proper evaluation should take part in WRIISC to find medical staff who have knowledge of the signs and sympthoms that environmental materials had a negative efeect on on the human body. Veterans must demand a second opion from these facilities.</span><br />
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The <strong>Follow-up Study of a National Cohort of Gulf War and Gulf Era Veterans</strong> is the third in a series of surveys that examines the health of Veterans who were deployed to the 1990-1991 Gulf War and Veterans who served elsewhere during the same period. The current survey examines trends in health status over time. The results of this study will help VA to better understand the health consequences of military deployment and to guide delivery of health care.<br />
<a href="http://www.gulflink.org/">http://www.gulflink.org</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/gulf-war-follow-up.asp">http://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/gulf-war-follow-up.asp</a><br />
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Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-51838326840579444322011-06-26T22:21:00.002-04:002011-06-26T22:39:29.347-04:00Brains of vets with PTSD can change as they age<span style="color:#000099;">What is your Desert Storm Era vet and you have some of the undiagnosed illness. What if you have the brain fog along with symthoms of PTSD and years later the veteran has sympthoms of early dementia. They only place get an evalution inot this situation currently is VAMC San Francisco said Jagmedic<br /></span><br />SAN FRANCISCO — Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have dementia, cardiac problems and structural changes in the brain as they get older than veterans without PTSD, according to new research.<br /><br />The findings, which for the most part resulted from research at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, raise concerns about the overall health of aging veterans, but hold promise for the potential of helping to treat these diseases.<br /><br />"Our concern is that veterans who honorably serve our country ... are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and over the next 10 to 20 years we will see a lot of Alzheimer's in the veteran population," said Dr. Michael Weiner, director of the institution's Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases.<br /><br />The impact of combat on the aging brain was the focus of Thursday's fourth annual "Brain at War" conference in San Francisco.<br /><br />Much of the research presented during the daylong conference was conducted at the city's VA hospital and funded through San Francisco's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, the nation's leading neuroscience research institute.<br /><br />Of the 2 million Americans who've served in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least 400,000 -- or as much as 20 percent -- have developed or are at risk of developing PTSD, a psychological condition caused by exposure to severe trauma.<br /><br />Some 23 million veterans will face more common illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's, as a function of aging. A growing body of work shows traumatic stress may exacerbate these diseases, the researchers found.<br /><br />For example, veterans with PTSD are two to three times more likely to develop heart disease than those who do not have the disorder.<br /><br />"No effective ways to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease yet exist, but researchers are studying soldiers' brains to learn more about how combat-related stress affects the brain's biology and increases the chance of developing Alzheimer's.<br /><br />They have found that a section of the hippocampus -- the part of the brain devoted to short-term memory and learning new things -- is significantly smaller in veterans with PTSD. Researchers are trying to determine if this smaller section can grow with treatment.<br /><br />"It's possible new stem cells, new brain cells are made, or it's possible the existing neurons or cells get plumper or have more synapses and connection," said<br /><br />Weiner, also a professor of medicine, radiology, psychiatry and neurology." ... Our ability to probe the brain and understand these mechanisms is really limited."<br /><br />"Humans are amazing in the sense they adapt to anything," he said.<br /><br />Research at San Francisco's VA center has led to new information about:<br /><br />- PTSD and heart disease. Veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have been diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health issues have two to three times the rate of heart disease risk factors compared with veterans without those diagnoses.<br /><br />- PTSD and the hippocampus. Research using magnetic resonate imaging, or MRI, at the VA hospital have shown the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores memory, is significantly smaller in the brains of veterans with PTSD.<br /><br />- PTSD and dementia. Older veterans with PTSD are almost twice as likely as veterans without such trauma to develop dementia.<br /><br />http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/jun/24/brains-vets-ptsd-can-change-they-age/Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-57219668385066985222011-05-30T23:20:00.002-04:002011-05-30T23:47:34.488-04:00Remember this Memorial Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIylTGI3tlUK_6S-xOa4i_JNKCWdTPUGLZbAIE3ODNjbtFGJwPhEUJWoFZBD5_ZIN53TXtwKnziVylSJv1GNdsbYq54T00VNisrqUask05qrVu53i4jL9-e6ItuvYSWGNjkkUH/s1600/ODS+vet.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 270px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612716789887772578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIylTGI3tlUK_6S-xOa4i_JNKCWdTPUGLZbAIE3ODNjbtFGJwPhEUJWoFZBD5_ZIN53TXtwKnziVylSJv1GNdsbYq54T00VNisrqUask05qrVu53i4jL9-e6ItuvYSWGNjkkUH/s320/ODS+vet.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br />The U.S 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in a 2-1 ruling that the delays are so “egregious” that they “violate a veterans constitutional rights.”<br /><br />...There is little doubt that the approximately 6500 suicides a year must be addressed with urgency and budget allocations. Yet I do not see that it is the sole job of the VA to ameliorate a seeming intractable problem that is owned by the entire war making machine.<br /><br />The data is showing that an average of 18 returning Armed Service members commit suicide each day. Most folks cannot even allow this to seep into their own activities of daily living, let alone a national psyche.<br /><br />Environmental and battlfield exposures are what some of us suffer now 20 some odd years out. It is physical ailments,(undiagnosed chronic sympthoms) which have been denied by VA doctors and adjuticators which have broke the sprit of<br />some Desert Storm Era veterans. We are warriors and will continue to fight for diagnosis <em>other than PTSD </em>that we deserve said Jagmedic.<br /><br /><br />http://tucsoncitizen.com/veteranveritas/2011/05/22/are-expectations-for-va-mental-health-care-achievable/Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-43180466339597172942011-05-23T16:59:00.003-04:002011-05-23T17:14:58.948-04:00Should VA remember Stats of Desert Storm Vets<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbCYbku1uEVVX0EVevhwOVVZ1FoJwcxJPctdMzeFqeeJHCWF41U17rK_2gJUtPpl0RrsaBIQu7kmmln_GZDn9u627L5UXS1XbLbwoB9GuV3V7wCFW1D73xdJYnuYPfeyc7Xh1/s1600/GWVIS+2005.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 260px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610022812119545938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbCYbku1uEVVX0EVevhwOVVZ1FoJwcxJPctdMzeFqeeJHCWF41U17rK_2gJUtPpl0RrsaBIQu7kmmln_GZDn9u627L5UXS1XbLbwoB9GuV3V7wCFW1D73xdJYnuYPfeyc7Xh1/s320/GWVIS+2005.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br />Comrades yes,<br />it has been over 20 years since the first Desert Storm Vet applied to the<br />department of Veterans affairs for health care, benefits and research.<br />It hurts that it appears VA will allow the Stats our GWVIS to<br />be removed from Internet Access and buried out of public sight.<br />Speak up do not allow this to happen said Jagmedic<br /># # # # #<br />Rather than host the former GWVIS reports or own up to any<br />flaws in its reporting VA has apparently decided to remove the<br />whole thing from the VA website.<br />http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/gwvis/index.asp<br />( This is now a dead link )<br /><br />I am flabbergasted that VA would simply dump historical records<br />and I guess pretend they don't exist. There was no reason to<br />remove the old GWVIS webpage. Not that VA was honest about<br />the full content from beginning to end, and only hosted 2005 to<br />2008 where the reports suddenly skewed downwards. All we have<br />left is the pdf link to the new report:http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/GW_Pre911_report.pdf<br /><br />This is disturbing in that this sort of just makes this look like from<br />2010 on all of this rather than talk about what happened from<br />2002 to 2009. Again, like what happened in February 2008 to<br />August 2008. Like that never happened.<br /><br />VA should put ALL of the former GWVIS reports up on the VA<br />or VBA website for historical purposes. I get the distinct feeling<br />this was the brainchild of the Gulf War Illness Task Force who<br />doesnt feel the need to talk to the veteran community in public.<br /><br />Thank you for your time and attention.<br /><br />Sincerely<br />Kirt P. Love<br />Director, DSBR<br /><br /><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br />http://www.vba.va.gov/reports/<br /><br />Reports are in Word, Excel, or PDF format. You may download free viewer and reader software to view the reports.<br /><br />Monday Morning Workload Reports (MMWR) are a compilation of workload indicators reported by Veterans Benefits Administration field facilities.<br /><br />Gulf War Veterans Information System Reports (GWVIS) identify the Gulf War Veterans service member population and how they use compensation and pension benefits.<br /><br />Note: The GWVIS Report link has been deactivated due to the completion of the "Gulf War Era Veterans Report: Pre 9/11."<br /><br />That report can be accessed here.<br /><br />Annual Benefits Reports (ABR) are a summary of the benefits used by veterans and their dependents by fiscal year.<br /><br />Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) contains performance targets and results achieved during each fiscal year.<br /><br /></div>Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-12067486913434151882011-02-14T19:53:00.001-05:002011-02-14T20:01:08.297-05:00Does VA support brain injury ?Military Training and deployment can be physical than sports. What happens when vet is discharged after this injury?<br /><br />A lot of folks are talking about it being an epidemic, that concussions are no joking matter, and lots of people are getting on the helmet bandwagon (especially since Natasha Richardson died from a brain injury while skiing). Prevention is great. But concussion is all but unavoidable in sports — especially student athletics. It happens. All the time. Yet nobody seems to have come up with a reliable way of addressing it when it does happen. Aside from bed rest and taking it easy, suggests for howto deal with concussions/brain injury are few and far between.<br /><br />We know concussions happen. We know head injuries are common. We know they can have serious long-term consequences. You can try to prevent them, but you can’t be successful 100% of the time. And if you do have a head injury, you have to be sidelined from your life/sport, with no guarantee that the “treatment” will actually work.<br /><br />I was starting to get seriously depressed.<br /><br />Then, suddenly, I was looking around the other day and I found that the University at Buffalo has been working with regulated exercise to treat — even heal — the after-effects of concussion. Post-concussive syndrome is, according to the definitions of Willer and Leddy (at UB), “persistent symptoms of concussion past the period when the individual should have recovered (3 weeks)”. According to them, post-concussive syndrome “qualifies as mTBI.”<br /><br />This is interesting. I have heard a lot of people say that concussion is an mTBI, and the two are interchangeable. I am not a doctor, and I don’t have medical training, so I can’t throw my hat in the ring on that debate. But it is interesting to me, that people distinguish between the two.<br /><br />At the UB web page on concussion research, there are some interesting papers, and they do talk about the difference between concussion and mild TBI.<br /><br />Here’s what they have to say in the paper Retest Reliability in Adolescents of a Computerized Neuropsychological Battery used to Assess Recovery from Concussion (bold is mine)<br /><br />A recent review … of concussion and post concussion syndrome provided a model for distinguishing concussion from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post concussion syndrome (PCS). The model uses the most commonly accepted definition of mTBI and the one proposed by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control: loss of consciousness for no more than 30 minutes or amnesia as a result of a mechanical force to the head, and a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 13 to 15 …. The model also uses the most commonly accepted definition of concussion as established by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN): a trauma induced alteration of mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness …. Although not explicitly stated in the AAN definition, concussion is generally viewed as a transient state from which the individual will recover fully in a relatively short period of time …. In contrast, mTBI is viewed as a permanent alteration of brain function even though the individual with mTBI may appear asymptomatic. Post concussion syndrome was defined in the Willer and Leddy … model as persistent symptoms of concussion past the period when the individual should have recovered (3 weeks) and therefore qualifies as mTBI. Neuropsychological testing is often used to describe the impairment associated with mTBI and PCS and have done so with relative success ….<br /><br />So, basically,<br /><br />mTBI = a loss of consciousness for no more than 30 minutes or amnesia as a result of a mechanical force to the head, and a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 13 to 15<br /><span style="color:#6633ff;">Concussion</span> = a trauma induced alteration of mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness; it’s a transient state from which the individual will recover fully in a relatively short period of time<br /><span style="color:#6600cc;">Post concussion syndrome (PCS)</span> = persistent symptoms of concussion past the period when the individual should have recovered (3 weeks) PCS, due to its enduring nature, qualifies as mTBI<br />(Note: I think someone needs to fill in the gap about how PCS satisfies the criteria for mTBI, if they require that there be some loss of consciousness or amnesia involved. How lasting effects qualifies based on these criteria puzzles me. But for the purposes of this discussion, I’ll let this slide.)<br /><br />I find this really compelling information, and it helps me make more sense of the whole “concussion thing”. I know I’ve sustained a bunch of concussions in the course of my life, and I also know that I have been diagnosed with “Late effect of intracranial injury.” But I could never really distinguish between the mTBI vs. concussion. I actually thought — and had been told — that they’re the same thing.<br /><br />But that never made much sense to me, because when I look around at me, and I read that “An estimated ten percent of all athletes participating in contact sports suffer a concussion each season” And that’s just athletes. Plenty of people fall down, too, or are in car accidents. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Apparently, hundreds of thousands of people sustain concussions each year, yet the general population doesn’t appear to be completely crippled by TBI (though some people I know would debate that ) How is it possible, that so many people are sustaining concussions, especially in their youth and/or in sports, yet we’re not all running around impaired?<br /><br />Making the distinction between a concussion that is transient, and a concussion that turns into an mTBI makes all the sense in the world to me. It makes it possible distinguish between someone who’s experiencing short-term issues, and someone who needs to deal with a broader-spectrum and deeper set of challenges. And in doing so, it de-stigmatizes concussion (at least in my mind), by steering clear of the “concussion = brain injury = brain damage” concept, which could be quite debilitating to a youth who has hit their head while playing a sport they love.<br /><br />There are tons of potential ramifications and implications from being able to state that concussion is not necessarily an enduring brain injury. I may write more about this later, but it requires more thought.<br /><br />The other very hopeful piece of this is that, by saying concussion is not always followed by brain injury, you’re opening a window to addressing concussions promptly so they do not turn into mild traumatic brain injuries. This, to me, is key. It not only makes sense of the two different kinds of injuries, but it also establishes that it may in fact be possible to treat the concussion to prevent it from becoming a more serious, long-term injury — the “gift” that keeps on giving. And by understanding concussion and brain injury this way, you also up the ante and really infuse the topic of prompt treatment with urgency. If acting promptly to address concussion makes it possible to avoid a lasting brain injury, then it’s in everyone’s best interest to become familiar with and properly trained in the recognition and treatment of concussion.<br /><br />In this case, if mTBI is only present if concussion symptoms persist, and there’s no guarantee that concussion will result in a lasting brain injury, then prompt recognition and action may save the day.<br /><br />Now, I’m still noodling over the idea that subconcussive impacts can seriously affect the brain over the long term, which Malcom Gladwell talked about in his article “Offensive Play“. But I am still hopeful. Because while subconcussive impacts may affect the brain, it could be that the damage takes place when no action is taken to address the injuries when they happen. Again, I’m not a doctor or a qualified medical professional, but it seems to me that if actively treating concussion helps with the really obvious issues — as the University at Buffalo has shown it does (albeit on a fairly limited scale) — then it might just help repair lesser damage done.<br /><br />It might. I only wish I had the medical and scientific background and credentials to be able to speak as an expert on this. But apparently expertise is no guarantee of being able to help out, when it comes to TBI. The vast majority of experts haven’t had the wherewithall to state definitively what can actually be done about brain injuries, let alone recommend specific action that works, and there are thousands upon thousands, if not millions, of people suffering, day in and day out (along with their loved ones and co-workers) with the after-effects of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury.<br /><br />So, somebody’s got to take the lead in finding a solution… Or at the very least think about finding one. The folks in Buffalo are up to wonderful work, and I can only hope that more folks have the gumption to take their lead and do something about this wretched hidden epidemic of ours.<br /><br />http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=113072042059485Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-71562035492449704452010-11-20T20:30:00.004-05:002010-11-20T20:47:47.139-05:00Presumptive Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Persian Gulf War Service[Federal Register: November 17, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 221)]<br />[Proposed Rules] [Page 70162-70165]<br />From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]<br />[DOCID:fr17no10-28] ======================================================================= DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS<br />38 CFR Part 3<br />RIN 2900-AN83<br />Presumptive Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Persian Gulf War Service: Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders<br />AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.<br />ACTION: Proposed rule.<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------<br />DATES: Comments must be received by VA on or before December 17, 2010.<br />ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through http://<br />www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to Director, Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 273-9026. (This is not a toll free number.) Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response to ``RIN 2900-AN83--<span style="font-size:130%;color:#000099;">Presumptive Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Persian Gulf War Service: Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs).''<br /></span>Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an appointment. (This is not a toll free number.) In addition, during the comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System at http://www.Regulations.gov.<br /><strong>FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</strong>: Gerald Johnson, Regulations Staff (211D), Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461- 9727 (This is not a toll-free number.)<br /><strong>SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</strong> The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has determined that the available scientific and medical evidence presented in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) April 2010 report, titled Gulf War and Health, Volume 8: Update on the Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War is sufficient to warrant a presumption of service connection for FGIDs in individuals deployed to the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. Pursuant to that determination, this document proposes to clarify that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations (38 CFR Part 3), specifically 38 CFR 3.317, would include FGIDs as medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses subject to presumptive service connection. FGIDs include, but are not limited to, such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia.<br />National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Reports FGIDs, Including, But Not Limited to, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Functional Dyspepsia<br /><br />The NAS issued its report titled <span style="color:#006600;">Gulf War and Health, Volume 8: Update on Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War, on April 9, 2010</span>. The NAS was asked to review, evaluate, and summarize the literature to determine if any of the health outcomes noted in its 2006 report, titled Gulf War and Health, Volume 4: Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War, appear at higher incidence or prevalence levels in Gulf War-<br />deployed veterans. The NAS sought to characterize and weigh the strengths and limitations of the available evidence. The NAS Update committee reviewed over 1000 relevant studies and focused on over 400 relevant references, including the studies reviewed in the Volume 4 report.<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">The NAS determined that there is sufficient evidence of an association between deployment to the Gulf War and FGIDs, including, but not limited to, IBS and functional dyspepsia. The committee also noted that there is inadequate evidence of an association between deployment to the Gulf War and structural gastrointestinal (GI) disease.<br /><br /></span>FGIDs, such as IBS or functional dyspepsia, are syndromes characterized by recurrent or prolonged GI symptoms that occur together. They are distinguished from structural or ``organic'' GI disorders in that they generally are not associated with detectable anatomical abnormalities. The severity of FGIDs ranges from occasional mild episodes to more persistent and disabling symptoms. According to the NAS report, there have been numerous reports of GI disturbances in Gulf War veterans and the symptoms have continued to be persistent in the years since that war. All studies examined by NAS favored a greater prevalence of various GI symptoms and primary functional GI disorders, including IBS and dyspepsia. In NAS's opinion, there also was compelling emerging evidence of exposure during deployment to enteric pathogens leading to the development of post-infectious IBS.<br /><br />The overall pattern of symptoms found in the primary and secondary studies NAS reviewed confirms an association between deployment to the Gulf War and functional GI symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. The NAS recommended that further studies be conducted to determine the role of prior acute gastroenteritis among deployed servicemembers in the development of FGIDs.<br />Detailed information on the committee's findings may be found at: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Gulf-War-and-Health-Volume-8-Health-<br />Effects-of-Serving-in-the-Gulf-War.aspx. The report findings are organized by category and can be found under the heading, ``Table of Contents.''<br /><br />Statutory Provisions<br />Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 1118, VA must establish a presumption of service connection for each illness shown by sound scientific and medical evidence to have a positive association with exposure to a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine known or presumed to be associated with service in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. Because the recent NAS report was primarily a review of the prevalence of illnesses among Gulf War veterans, it generally did not state conclusions as to whether the illnesses are associated with the types of exposures referenced in Sec. 1118.<br /><br />The NAS noted that there was significant emerging evidence that FGIDs may be associated with exposure to enteric pathogens during Gulf War deployments and recommended further study of that issue. However, NAS did not state a conclusion concerning the strength of the evidence of an association between FGIDs and exposure to enteric pathogens. VA has determined that resolution of that question is not necessary for purposes of this rule, because FGIDs are within the scope of the existing presumption of service connection for medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses.<br /><br />Section 1117 of title 38, United States Code, provides a presumption of service connection for ``qualifying chronic disability'' in veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. The statute defines the term ``qualifying chronic disability'' to include ``[a] medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness (such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome) that is defined by a cluster of signs or symptoms.'' 38 U.S.C. 1117(a)(2)(B).<br /><br />The plain language of the statute makes clear that it applies to all medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses including, but not limited to, the three conditions parenthetically listed as examples. VA recently amended its regulation at 38 CFR 3.317 to clarify that the presumption is not limited to the three listed examples. See 75 FR 61995.<br /><br /><em><span style="color:#009900;">FGIDs are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses within the meaning of the statute and regulation. These disorders are defined by clusters of signs and symptoms affecting GI functions. Further, FGIDs are ``medically unexplained'' because they are, by definition, disorders that cannot be attributed to observable structural or organic changes and the causes of the disorders are generally not known.</span></em> Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is a form of FGID, is expressly identified in the current statute and regulation as a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness. Because other FGIDs, such as functional dyspepsia and functional vomiting, also are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses, the current statute and regulation, as recently amended, provide a presumption of service connection for FGIDs in veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. In view of the findings in the recent NAS report identifying FGIDs as prevalent and persistent illnesses among Gulf War Veterans, VA has determined that its regulations should be revised to expressly identify FGIDs as a type of medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness within the scope of the existing presumption.<br /><br /><strong>Regulatory Amendments<br /></strong>We propose to amend 38 CFR 3.317 to incorporate the more specific language regarding FGIDs. We propose to: Revise Sec. 3.317(a)(2)(i)(B)(3) by removing ``Irritable Bowel Syndrome'' and replacing it with ``<span style="color:#000099;">Functional gastrointestinal disorders, including, but not limited to, irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia (excluding structural gastrointestinal diseases)'';</span> and add a Note with the definition of functional gastrointestinal disorders. The intended effect of this change is to clarify that FGIDs are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses and are thus within the scope of the presumption of service connection for such illnesses.<br />Other IllnessesJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-23255990133209803482010-11-20T20:07:00.002-05:002010-11-20T20:18:10.592-05:00Mild Brain Damage 2010 VA Study Gulf War<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXA-5d8ZT2YXfWpJ9Nl3WP9ldyP9Ha3NQ2GAwF4cISDnrPaTOPFztf91WoR78G04-8rs5v4pOIHtdz3V1N-dgfUXk4BuwVKTZLf9l3re852blxu3GlMekd8KIkp7cUS8AK4vN/s1600/research-va-08-wht_small.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541804355545307970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXA-5d8ZT2YXfWpJ9Nl3WP9ldyP9Ha3NQ2GAwF4cISDnrPaTOPFztf91WoR78G04-8rs5v4pOIHtdz3V1N-dgfUXk4BuwVKTZLf9l3re852blxu3GlMekd8KIkp7cUS8AK4vN/s320/research-va-08-wht_small.jpg" /></a><br />RESULTS: GW veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure had <span style="color:#cc0000;">reduced total GM and hippocampal volumes compared to their unexposed peers</span> (p< or =0.01). Although there were no group differences in measures of cognitive function or total WM volume, there were significant, positive correlations between total WM volume and measures of executive function and visuospatial abilities in veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that low-level exposure to GB/GF can have deleterious effects on brain structure and brain function more than decade later.<br /></span><br /><br /><strong>Neurotoxicology. 2010 Sep;31(5):493-501. Epub 2010 May 24.<br /></strong><br />Effects of low-level exposure to sarin and cyclosarin during the 1991 Gulf War on brain function and brain structure in US veterans.<br />Chao LL, Rothlind JC, Cardenas VA, Meyerhoff DJ, Weiner MW.<br /><br />Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street, 114 M, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA. linda.chao@ucsf.edu<br /><br />Abstract<br /><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Potentially more than 100,000 US troops may have been exposed to the organophosphate chemical warfare agents sarin (GB) and cyclosarin (GF) when a munitions dump at Khamisiyah, Iraq was destroyed during the Gulf War (GW) in 1991. Although little is known about the long-term neurobehavioral or neurophysiological effects of low-dose exposure to GB/GF in humans, recent studies of GW veterans from the Devens Cohort suggest decrements in certain cognitive domains and atrophy in brain white matter occur individuals with higher estimated levels of presumed GB/GF exposure. The goal of the current study is to determine the generalizability of these findings in another cohort of GW veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure.<br /><br /><strong>METHODS:</strong> Neurobehavioral and imaging data collected in a study on Gulf War Illness between 2002 and 2007 were used in this study. We focused on the data of 40 GW-deployed veterans categorized as having been exposed to GB/GF at Khamisiyah, Iraq and 40 matched controls. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain were analyzed using automated and semi-automated image processing techniques that produced volumetric measurements of gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and hippocampus.Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-32354231844701298332010-11-16T10:46:00.003-05:002010-11-16T11:05:06.955-05:00Gulf War Illness Research Needs<strong>Recruit</strong> the Scientist Researchers and Doctors to help Gulf War Veterans who are ill!<br />by Denise Nichols Your note has been created.<br />Gulf war veterans ill with GWI need attention! We will go out and recruit scientist and researchers and notify them of <span style="color:#cc0000;">VARAC GWI and the DOD CDMRP GWI</span> research funds available! We will ask them, beg them, to become part of the team to help our gulf war veterans with gulf war illness।<br /><br /><br />We have gone too long-20 years and need the best of the best recruited to help the veterans Now. I want all gulf war veterans that are ill to help with this effort! Enough with playing computer games etc etc lets drive this force to find us real answers and help! We will recruit the researchers! We will recruit the doctors that know and are helping from the civilian side of the house.<br /><br />We are tired of VA doctors looking at us like we are aliens and sending us to psych. consults, psych drugs are not the answer. This is not stress! We want our lives back! It is time for VA to listen to us we want answers and medical care, we want our lives back! WE are tired and sick and need help now! Let us go get the best of the best recruited to help us! Are you in?<br /><br />Below is another <strong>candidate for us to recruit</strong>!<br />The neurocognitive brain damage we have is like an early althemizer's disease! We have neuro immune degenerative type diseases....Gulf War Veterans deserve no less!<br />You may not be able to travel veterans but you can find email or snail mail or phone numbers on these researchers. We can develop a template letter and then add our own short plead for help! Lets all make this happen!<br /><br /><strong>WHO</strong> - UCSF Nobel laureate Stanley B. Prusiner, MD,<br /><strong>WHY</strong> -UCSF professor of neurology and director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, has been named to receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for science and technology.<br /><br /><strong>ACTION</strong> Demand that VA-ORD and VA-GWI- Research Advisory Committee communication and listen comments of this scientist on the be half of disable gulf war veterans.<br />ACTION CAMPAIGN REACH OUT AND CONTACT A RESEARCHER AND <br />GET THEM TO LOOK GW Illness<br />Venus HammackJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-27788869338463012132010-11-02T16:06:00.002-04:002010-11-02T16:12:10.028-04:00War Veterans’ Concussions Are Often OverlookedWar Veterans’ Concussions Are Often Overlooked <br /><br />“They said it was because I didn’t report it in the field and seek medical attention at the time, and there was no proof” of any obvious injury, Mr. Owsley said. “I had guys write statements for me to prove it had happened. As a soldier with 23 years in the Army, them badges mean more than anything. When you get injured, you should be recognized, even if you don’t see it over there.”<br /><br />These symptoms, which may be subtle and may not surface for weeks or months after their return, are often debilitating enough to hobble lives and livelihoods.<br /><br />To this day, some veterans — it is impossible to know how many — remain unscreened, their symptoms undiagnosed. Mild brain injury was widely overlooked by the military and the veterans health system until recently<br /><br />Given that he never lost consciousness, he figured the discomfort would work itself out and kept it to himself.<br /><br />“You keep doing your job with your injuries veterans say.<br />These mild concussions, which do not necessarily lead to loss of consciousness, are easy to dismiss, simple to misdiagnose and difficult to detect. The injured soldiers can walk and talk. Their heads usually show no obvious signs of trauma. CT scans cannot see the injuries. And the symptoms often mirror those found in post-traumatic stress disorder, making it hard to distinguish between them. In fact, the two ailments often go hand in hand.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/us/26tbi.html?pagewanted=allJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-53303484277930746072010-11-02T15:59:00.001-04:002010-11-02T16:04:25.563-04:00Mild Brain injury In VeteransWASHINGTON — The government plans to substantially increase disability benefits for veterans with mild traumatic brain injuries, acknowledging for the first time that veterans suffering from this less severe version of the Iraq war's signature wound will struggle to make a living.<br />"We're saying it's real," said Tom Pamperin, a deputy director for the Department of Veteran Affairs, about the significance of the change to benefits in the regulation the VA plans to publish today. <br /><br />Up to 320,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered traumatic brain injury, a RAND Corp. study estimated this year. The vast majority of the cases are mild and came from exposure to an explosion, often from a roadside bomb. Most veterans with mild cases recover, Pamperin said, but some are left with permanent problems.<br /><br />The regulation modifies a 1961 rating schedule for mild brain trauma and brings compensation for this ailment into the 21st Century, said Lonnie Bristow, chairman of an Institute of Medicine committee that studied veterans' benefits.<br /><br />The old regulation failed to recognize that wounds such as brain injuries from blasts — which do not show up on scans — are only understood by what patients say they are suffering, Bristow said. <br /><br />"VA has been assessing their injuries based on outdated science," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.<br /><br />The regulation modifies a 1961 rating schedule for mild brain trauma and brings compensation for this ailment into the 21st Century, said Lonnie Bristow, chairman of an Institute of Medicine committee that studied veterans' benefits.<br /><br />The old regulation failed to recognize that wounds such as brain injuries from blasts — which do not show up on scans — are only understood by what patients say they are suffering, Bristow said. <br /><br />"VA has been assessing their injuries based on outdated science," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.<br /><br />http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-09-22-tbibenefits_N.htmJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-30562914367675131452010-11-02T15:02:00.003-04:002010-11-02T15:10:56.700-04:00What piece of mind for Gulf War VeteransFinally, piece of mind for Gulf War Veterans<br />by SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER<br /><br />A long-anticipated report was recently and finally issued that<br />brought comfort to many Gulf War veterans and their families. The<br />report issued by the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Com-<br />mittee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses in conjunction with the<br />Boston University School of Public Health reached an important<br />conclusion ? simply put: there is substantial and overwhelming<br />evidence that Gulf War Syndrome is a real illness.<br /><br />The Committee report is important news for Gulf War veterans and<br />their families. At long last, they have validation that the health<br />issues they live with each day are real, there is a name for their<br />illness, and there is hope that they can finally get the treatment<br />and disability benefits that they are entitled to receive.<br /><br />Not long after the successful conclusion of the Gulf War, many<br />soldiers returned home with multiple, persistent health problems<br />that had no clear cause and no cure. The symptoms experienced by<br />these veterans included a combination of memory and concentration<br />problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue and widespread<br />pain, and also included chronic digestive problems, respiratory<br />symptoms and skin rashes.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Gulf War veterans' complaints about their health<br />issues fell on deaf ears at the VA and within the Pentagon. As<br />Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in the early<br />1990s, I believed it absolutely necessary to get to the truth ? no<br />matter how uncomfortable it would be for the Pentagon or the VA.<br /><br />Throughout the 1990s, those of us on the Senate Committee on<br />Veterans' Affairs held numerous, often contentious, hearings into<br />what would come to be known as Gulf War Syndrome or Gulf War<br />Illness. The Pentagon and the VA never officially acknowledged the<br />cause of these symptoms. Despite the lack of an official cause, it<br />became clear through our investigation that pyridostigmine bromide,<br />a "pretreatment" for nerve agent poisoning, was at least one cause<br />for the symptoms experienced by Gulf War veterans.<br /><br />Now, 17 years later, the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory<br />Com-mittee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses has officially released a<br />450-page report that validates these suspicions. It confirms Gulf<br />War Illness is a result of soldiers' exposure to neurotoxic<br />chemicals, including pyridostigmine bromide and pesticides. The<br />Committee also found that the association between exposure to smoke<br />from oil well fires, neurotoxins, and the receipt of large numbers<br />of vaccines could not be ruled out as causes as well.<br /><br />This report confirms the cause of Gulf War Illness, but sadly, it<br />also states that the majority of sick Gulf War veterans have not<br />seen their health improve over time. Treatment options for the<br />175,000 ? 210,000, or one in four, Gulf War veterans suffering from<br />the effects of neurotoxin exposure remain few and ineffective.<br /><br />We have a moral responsibility to provide care for Gulf War<br />veterans. They served our country, put their lives on the line and<br />fought with great distinction. I will not stop fighting until our<br />veterans are provided with every resource and benefit they have<br />earned.<br /><br />More research must be conducted into the proper treatment of this<br />illness. I am pushing now for increased funding that will keep this<br />issue front and center ? and bring us closer to finding a cure.<br /><br />I have been working for Veterans my entire career. As a nation, we<br />owe them everything and can never forget how much they have<br />sacrificed and how deserving they are of piece of mind, support, and<br />a special thing called hope.<br />http:www.rockefeller.senate.gov/contact/<br /><br />(PS) as lived by Venus Hammack a VA-DHA patientJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-19254995610802289562010-09-24T20:48:00.004-04:002010-09-24T21:41:22.951-04:00[1] What is the GWVIS ?<br />Public Law 102-85, enacted on November 4, 1992, authorized the creation of the Gulf War Registry as well as the Gulf War Veterans Information System (GWVIS). VA began preparing GWVIS reports in 2000, and <span style="color:#990000;">VA ceased producing the reports in 2008</span> after VCS observed that VA’s GWVIS reports were incomplete. VA has since confirmed that it failed to update computer programming to identify all disabled Gulf War veterans.<br /><br />[2] Where is the GWVI-TF and why do they not demand the GWVIS report production in a through and timely manner (like Sept 2010)?<br /><br />John Gingrich, Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Chairman of is the Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force<br />(GWVI-TF, or “Task Force”).<br />the Task Force was designed as a matrix organization within VA that meets regularly to investigate allegations and perceptions, analyze facts and data, coordinate and review findings and proposals, and collaboratively develop recommendations.<br />The Task Force includes staff from the<br />Office of the Secretary (OSVA), VHA, VBA,<br />Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA),<br />Office of Policy and Planning (OPP), and the<br />Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA).<br /><br />The staff from these offices represented a broad spectrum of subject matter expertise and stakeholder perspectives necessary to ensure success. Members were charged with defining the key areas of review, consulting key experts and relevant stakeholders, and capturing the issues, data, programmatic and performance information necessary to inform their recommendations.<br /><br />[3] How does the stakeholders organizations and veterans know the VA system is being used in behalf Gulf War Veterans with the data from the GWVIS or meetings/phone numbers/webpage of the Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force ?<br />Is this <span style="color:#3366ff;">lack of communication</span> with the Taskforce valuable for gulf war era vets?<br />Will service connection for veterans Sunset?Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-70487258947488046612010-09-14T00:13:00.002-04:002010-09-14T00:43:02.465-04:00Experiments on our Military<div><font color="#999900">This a Study that a VA proform on Gulf War Veterans</font><br /><br />FRIDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- The cluster of symptoms experienced by some veterans of the 1991 Gulf War is a real disease, but its causes, treatment and potential cure remain unknown, concludes a new report from U<span id="0" class="transl_class" title="Click to correct">।</span>S<span id="1" class="transl_class" title="Click to correct">।</span> experts at the Institute of Medicine (IOM)<span id="2" class="transl_class" title="Click to correct">।</span><br />However, newer medical technology, including the ability examine genetic mutations, may hold the key to finally unraveling the mystery of an illness that has plagued one-third of Gulf War veterans for two decades, the experts said.<br /><br />The panel "identified chronic multi-symptom illnesses, sometimes referred to as Gulf War illness, as a group of illnesses that is clearly associated with deployment," said report committee chair Dr. Stephen L. Hauser, professor and chair of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.<br /><br />According to the report, released April 9, service in the Gulf War has long been linked with gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, as well as substance abuse, particularly alcoholism, and psychiatric problems such as anxiety disorder.<br /><br />In addition, service during the Gulf War is associated with fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (the neurological disorder also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease") and sexual difficulties.<br /><br />However, more research is needed to understand the biological underpinnings of these illnesses, Hauser said. That information is vital to developing better treatments, cures and "one day to prevent this from happening in the future," he added.<br /><br />In 2008, a Congressionally mandated report from the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses did point to wartime exposures to "certain chemicals," including pesticides and a drug used to shield soldiers against nerve gas, as the likely cause of veterans' symptoms.<br /><br />But Hauser said the IOM panel could not confirm that. "We have been unable to identify any particular drug, toxin, immunization or exposure that we feel confident is responsible for these symptoms, which are clearly highly prevalent even 19 years later in our returning veterans," he said.<br /><br />"We do not understand the etiology and do not fully understand whether this is a single medical problem, or several interrelated problems," Hauser added. "We don't understand the relationship between Gulf War illness and other multi-symptom problems."<br /><br />Gulf War-linked illnesses affect not only U.S. veterans, but veterans from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada and Australia, Hauser noted.<br /><br />This is the latest in a series of reports on Gulf War illness from the IOM.<br /><br />According to Hauser, the latest medical technologies may open a door to finding the connection between deployment and Gulf War illnesses. "Modern science gives us a way to explore the underlying cause in a way that was unimaginable five years ago," he said.<br /><br />Unlocking the secret of Gulf War illness is possible, Hauser said. Not only will this lead to better treatment for veterans, but for civilians who suffer from similar problems, he said.<br /><br />Moreover, some of these same problems are being seen in soldiers fighting today in Iraq and Afghanistan and even among those not deployed.<br /><br />"One of the interesting things that we see are the symptoms we have been focused on in the Gulf War, are experienced also by soldiers in current Mid-East wars, but the frequency of these symptoms is high even in those soldiers who are not deployed," Hauser said. "This seems to be an increasing problem in the military population at large."<br /><br />IOM Committee member Dr. Ezra S. Susser, a professor of epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health and professor of psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City, noted that symptoms observed among Gulf War veterans are "clearly deployment-related."<br /><br />"This doesn't mean that only people in the Gulf War get these symptoms, but they are at much higher risk than people who were not deployed to the Gulf War," Susser said.<br /><br />The members of the IOM committee hope the report will spur a new effort to understand Gulf War illness.<br /><br />"There is a silver lining in the gray cloud," said committee member Dr. Robert Brown Jr., chair and professor of neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He believes that researchers now have "both the structure and the numbers of cases at hand to enable a frontal assault on this."<br /><br /><font color="#009900">Dr. Nancy G. Klimas, a professor of medicine, psychology microbiology and immunology and director of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Gulf War Injuries Research Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Miami VA Medical Center, noted that her own studies have already identified genetic dispositions to Gulf War syndrome.<br /></font><br /><font color="#000099">Among veterans with Gulf War disease, stress activates genetic pathways that are inflammatory, Klimas said</font>. "There is something about an autonomic challenge that triggers an inflammatory response," she said. "There are about 700 genes that activate in a way in these guys that have Gulf War illness that is different from the control population."<br /><br />This is only one way genes can be used to understand Gulf War illness. "What we hope is that we will be designing studies that are 'virtual' clinical trials," Klimas said. In this way, researchers can change variables in key genes and see what the response is.<br /><br />Klimas said that, as each year goes by, the search for the causes of Gulf War syndrome gets tougher. "To start 10 years after someone's been ill, it's harder to unravel the confounds," she said. "So you get these overlays of confusing things on top of whatever was there to begin with -- it makes it a very difficult thing to try to untangle."<br /><br />As a doctor who treats veterans with Gulf War illness, Klimas is looking for research that will find better treatments. "I am interested in studies that will result in therapies," she said. "These guys have been sick for 20 years."<br /><br />"Now is the time to do more," Hauser added.<br /><br /><br />Copyright © 2010 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<br /><br />SOURCES: Stephen L. Hauser, M.D., professor and chair of neurology, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine; Robert Brown, Jr., M.D., chair and professor of neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Ma.; Ezra S. Susser, M.D., Ph.D., professor of epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health and professor of psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, New York City; Nancy G. Klimas, M.D., professor of medicine, psychology, microbiology and immunology, director, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Gulf War Injuries Research Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Miami VA Medical Center; April 9, 2010, Institute of Medicine report, Gulf War and Health </div>Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-38175244914792267262010-09-04T21:56:00.004-04:002010-09-04T22:15:58.799-04:00Will VA continue Gulf War Health Survey Cohort ?This notice could be the Deconstruction of Gulf War Programs/Regulations.<br />Gulf war illness—better, worse, or just the same? Annual cohort study<br /><span style="color:#000099;">First</span>, to describe changes in the health of Gulf war veterans studied in a previous occupational cohort study<br />and to compare outcome with comparable non-deployed military personnel.<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Secondly</span>, to determine whether differences in prevalence between Gulf veterans and controls at follow up can be explained by greater persistence or greater incidence of disorders.<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Third,</span> Gulf War Veterans have previously been shown to have, in the short-term, an excess risk of death from ‘external’(i.e. non-disease) causes of death.<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Fourth,</span> study aims to determine whether there remains an excess of non-disease-related deaths in Gulf Veterans, years after deployment, and, for long as GW vets/stakers use the VA System,(this study) needed to determine whether there is a relationship between experiences reported in the Gulf, post-war symptoms, and subsequent mortality experience.<br /><br />DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS<br />><br />> [OMB Control No. 2900-New (VA Form 10-0488)]<br />><br />> Proposed Information Collection (Follow-Up Study of a National<br />> Cohort of Gulf War and Gulf Era Veterans) Activity: Comment Request<br />> AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.<br />> ACTION: Notice.<br />><br />> --------------------------------------------------------------------><br />With respect to the following collection of information, VHA invites comments on:<br />(1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of VHA's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility;<br /><br />(2) the accuracy of VHA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information;<br /><br />(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and<br /><br />(4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or the use of other forms of information technology.<br /><br /><span style="color:#009900;">Jagmedic said<br />Seeing Federal Registry Notices like this makes me wonder if the "don't Look - don't Find" Doctrine is being reactivated?</span>Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-61640201928976469592010-08-29T23:32:00.005-04:002010-08-29T23:45:40.102-04:00Kamisiyah made some GW veterans Ill<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqxmoyOMQGurV3ZGRExVz4BBOFEfDzY5v_4ivS0g44BVsRDrUaGEe588PqnKosm3PzN2qFQrBrXKxAZaSWuH0x6WESdmSTuD2OfucCSjlYZt8vKBnlh8fO9IlfefWPA6Di8hs/s1600/GWS+NBC+maks.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 188px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511042510821479746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqxmoyOMQGurV3ZGRExVz4BBOFEfDzY5v_4ivS0g44BVsRDrUaGEe588PqnKosm3PzN2qFQrBrXKxAZaSWuH0x6WESdmSTuD2OfucCSjlYZt8vKBnlh8fO9IlfefWPA6Di8hs/s400/GWS+NBC+maks.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><br />WASHINGTON, Jan. 21— For the first time, a Federal agency acknowledged today that there appeared to be a direct link between the release of toxic chemicals in Iraq in 1991 and one of the many different symptoms that have come to be called gulf war syndrome.<br /><br />A preliminary analysis by the Department of Veterans Affairs indicated that a limited sampling of soldiers <span style="color:#990000;">exposed to low doses of nerve gas</span> in the destruction of an Iraqi ammunition depot reported higher rates of arthritis-like joint symptoms than other soldiers who fought in the Persian Gulf war. But the findings are far from conclusive, said Federal researchers who have warned that the findings could change as more soldiers are examined.<br /><br />''It's an interesting finding that raises questions,'' said Kenneth W. Kizer, the Under Secretary for Health Affairs at the veterans department, after announcing the results of the analysis at a House subcommittee hearing.<br /><br />The study is based on the results of medical examinations of 1,978 veterans who were within 30 miles of the <strong>Kamisiyah ammunition storage area</strong> in southern Iraq when American troops destroyed the complex immediately after the gulf war in March 1991. Among the ammunition stored at the site were at least 500 rockets filled with sarin, a toxic nerve agent.<br /><br />Of those 1,978 veterans, the 81 who were involved in blowing up the depot or were in the immediate area of the complex have not complained of suffering fatigue, skin rashes, headaches, loss of memory, chest pains or other symptoms at significantly higher rates than other American soldiers who fought in the gulf, according to the study.<br /><br />But 28.4 percent of those 81 soldiers have reported various types of muscle and joint pains, compared with only 18.4 percent of the entire group of 1,978 veterans. A total of 16.8 percent of 52,216 gulf veterans so far examined by the Government have reported suffering the same arthritis-like symptoms.<br /><br />The preliminary finding seems to run counter to one conclusion of a special White House panel, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses। The panel could find no evidence that exposure to chemical weapons had affected the health of gulf war veterans. </div><div><br />Until last June, <strong>Pentagon officials had denied for years</strong> that there was any evidence that American troops had been exposed to Iraqi chemical weapons at all. Now, they acknowledge that <strong>more than 20,000 troops might have been exposed</strong> to such agents during the destruction of the Kamisiyah depot, although there were no immediate reports of acute symptoms at the time. The 81 veterans most likely exposed to the poison gases included in the preliminary Veterans Affairs study represent only a small fraction of the 1,022 military personnel in the immediate vicinity of Kamisiyah.<br /><br />Military and Veterans Affairs officials ultimately hope to interview all 21,799 military personnel who were within 30 miles of the storage site when it was destroyed. The records that so far have been included in the Veterans Affairs analysis are of veterans who have volunteered to be examined by the Government, often after complaining of suffering from one symptom or another.<br /><br />''This health surveillance data is preliminary,'' Mr. Kizer told the House subcommittee, ''and is compiled from evaluations of a nonrandom, self-selected group of individuals possibly exposed to nerve agents at Kamisiyah.''<br /><br />Jeffrey Ford, a 33-year-old gulf veteran who was a member of the 307th Engineering Battalion involved in the destruction of the depot, said he welcomed the Veterans Affairs analysis.<br /><br />''It shows something in the area took place that affected these soldiers,'' Mr. Ford said. ''When you talk about joint pain, some of these people are in wheelchairs.''<br /><br />Mr. Ford, who attended the hearing, said he had not had any symptoms attributed to the syndrome.<br /><br />James J. Tuite 3d, director of the Gulf War Research Foundation, a group that calls on the Government to acknowledge that tens of thousands of veterans became sick from the war, said, 'After their repeated denials that there were any exposures whatsoever, the statement is certainly welcome.''<br /><br />But Mr. Tuite added, ''What I am concerned about is the red herring of Kamisiyah. There were credible, scientific and reliable detections of chemical warfare agents in other locations, too.''<br /><br />U.S. Agency Links Chemicals to One Illness of Gulf War Soldiers</div>Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-33492703818367096992010-08-11T16:09:00.004-04:002010-08-11T16:27:36.568-04:00Gulf War Veterans Information System (GWVIS) reports<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtueOIeGVmMaTAfGx-MlsPDucmFPdiz70ZIiEHkGrl97zxjdS5UnWMW3LCW7quFGaDPt_0zEQiuU_lJsrF0vLxcSGBh5V9Sank2jK-I5I0ypwIjr8eVhUlPuJ4Ol2hbUppkGCS/s1600/GWVIS+2008.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 263px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504248002442926338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtueOIeGVmMaTAfGx-MlsPDucmFPdiz70ZIiEHkGrl97zxjdS5UnWMW3LCW7quFGaDPt_0zEQiuU_lJsrF0vLxcSGBh5V9Sank2jK-I5I0ypwIjr8eVhUlPuJ4Ol2hbUppkGCS/s320/GWVIS+2008.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><br />he Gulf War Veterans Information System (GWVIS) provides the best available current data identifying the Gulf War service member population. The GWVIS reports monitor, in part, the service members’ use of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare and disability benefits.<br />GWVIS reports are distributed each quarter during the following months: March, June, September, and December.<br /><br />yes it is difficult to find the details of GW Vets who are<br />using the VA system. I was disappointed how quietly, sneaky<br />this information is published. It seems it stalled for months<br />and Congressional memebers are told this report is not Completed<br />this the 'day before" a hearing or before a NEW senior VA secY or<br />Depty Secy is appointed. Why is this ?<br /><br />Is there a reason that the latest report pushes VA-RAC research<br />do not address clinical programs for chronic pain or fatigue<br />or Peripheral neuropathy issues/sympthoms in health care/beneifit rating<br /><br />If this Report (GWVIS) being slanted, how would we stakeholders know? Jagmedic<br /><br />gwvis_aug_2008<br />http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.php/foia/1186-gulf-war-reports<br />http://www.foodincmovie.com/Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-31351004642551614022010-07-31T23:28:00.004-04:002010-07-31T23:56:06.741-04:00Cabal at VA Is Killing VeteransWhy is the VA treating the few gulf war veterans who seeking service connection for <span style="color:#009900;">UDI </span>(undiagnosed illneses)or <span style="color:#009900;">MUPS</span> (multiple undiagnosed illneses)are being treated and rated like AO veterans ??<br /><br />This continued off and on for the next 35 years with over twenty requests being submitted to the VA for service-connected disability as by then this veteran had 22 documented diseases covering virtually every system in his body—bones, muscles, nerves, immune, endocrine. You name it, the organ was affected. Every claim that was submitted by this veteran was denied. By now he had four confirmed diseases that were on the VA’s list of “presumptive” Agent Orange diseases—but still he was denied service-connected disability.<br /><br />This Vietname Vets was able to get non-service connected disability in mid 1999 due to the massive amount of physical damage which kept him unemployed for the better part of 20+ years. By then he had undergone over 80 major surgeries just to keep his body working; arms, hands, shoulders, legs, kidneys and bladder - nothing was left out of the mix. All of his doctors were pretty much in agreement with Agent Orange being the culprit and cause of all of this. But, still the VA denied his requests for service-connected disability classification.<br /><br />He kept fighting and in 2003 he was <span style="color:#3333ff;">finally granted “service-connected” disability—but not for his physical conditions. Nope, the VA re-classified him service-connected disabled for combat-related PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).</span> There was no mention of his physical conditions in his new VA classification। I guess the VA decided that all of his physical problems had disappeared. I sure you care about the hundreds of GW who suffer twenty years later with the only VA rating won is for PTSD.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">http://www.alternet.org/health/147695/witness%3A_'cabal'_at_va_is_killing_veterans</span>Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-28959070935091257792010-06-14T12:31:00.006-04:002010-06-14T12:51:42.323-04:00Future for Dissatisfied Veterans - Desert Storm<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhciw9ARPPWpglBfN3QaGUKatVPjCAUydTexKgLRzhAzuBYgBbrgqBrbEfUdkTnfKSaiQbFTTWhTe9-BCDpIoxhd7V0Yp_yAovjENqDVOgoq4Ue3wr6bTPilyxJT79ciB4oygHo/s1600/dissatisfied+vets.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 67px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482668103429071602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhciw9ARPPWpglBfN3QaGUKatVPjCAUydTexKgLRzhAzuBYgBbrgqBrbEfUdkTnfKSaiQbFTTWhTe9-BCDpIoxhd7V0Yp_yAovjENqDVOgoq4Ue3wr6bTPilyxJT79ciB4oygHo/s400/dissatisfied+vets.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">We have a problem with Deployment Health Working Group !</span><br />Since DOD is not capable of releasing the actual classified data around the exposure events, it is not providing the substantive evidence that would support specific Gulf War Illness Claims. The <span style="color:#003300;">DHWG</span> knows this fact and has operated as a invisible secret entity since 2001। No website, they dont respond to phone calls, and they do not meet with advocates to discuss any points to include there annual reports to VA.<br />This has been a grossly ineffective entity throughout its incarnation and cannot be trusted to be genuinely objective when it comes to Gulf War Illness health concerns. It is a bad idea to bring them in or have them interject into something they have been less than supportive or useful at. This just brings old ideas from legacy government personnel to the table that our illness is somatic in nature.<br /><br />http://yourgulfwarvoice.uservoice.com/forums/44931-issue-1-leverage-deployment-health-working-group<br />This is what the House subcommittee must know.<br /><br />July 27, 2010 10:00AM<br />Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations <br />Gulf War Illness: The Future for Dissatisfied Veterans<br />•Room 334 Cannon House Office Building <br />http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?NewsID=601Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-15524014399983142842010-05-20T00:46:00.003-04:002010-05-20T01:01:38.015-04:00Will nation's women's military memorial stay open?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYMt9H0S0hse0wwChMMCUIQ0_9-5XcZx97LXP8D3_FjIGq-jBF47NnZ63E0IlJm1-VPo9qdG_R_fWUA0min-97t91PDLUGlhU10XijV4ly40IOPQgd10mfPQM1rscKTctpEIz/s1600/ODS+female_soldiers.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYMt9H0S0hse0wwChMMCUIQ0_9-5XcZx97LXP8D3_FjIGq-jBF47NnZ63E0IlJm1-VPo9qdG_R_fWUA0min-97t91PDLUGlhU10XijV4ly40IOPQgd10mfPQM1rscKTctpEIz/s320/ODS+female_soldiers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473212758538395970" /></a><br /><br />Will nation's women's military memorial stay open?<br /><br />The Associated Press • May 16, 2010 <br /><br />ARLINGTON, Va. -- Garage sales and quilt raffles helped a determined group of female World War II veterans raise money to transform a rundown wall at Arlington National Cemetery into a grand stone memorial to women who served their country. But those women are dying off, even as the memorial runs short of funds.<br /> <br />With women now involved more heavily in combat jobs, those early organizers hope a new generation will step up to the challenge of keeping the memorial open so military women's stories won't be lost.<br /><br />The dedication of the memorial that today is visitors' first view of the cemetery was such a joyous event that 40,000 people attended in 1997. One of them was a 101-year-old World War I vet named Frieda Mae Hardin met with cheers when she told the crowd that women considering military careers should, "Go for it!"<br /><br />Even as a steady flow of visitors enters its doors, the deaths of about three-quarters of the 400,000 women who served in World War II has left the memorial honoring military women of all eras without many of its loyal benefactors, though some still visit.<br /><br />"Most of them are in wheelchairs and they are ill. All of their hair is white, and I look and I think, who knows how long we've got left. We just want to do our best while we're here," said Lorraine Dieterle, 84, a World War II veteran stationed in New York as a photographer for the Coast Guard who volunteers at the memorial.<br />The recession and a post-9/11 decline in bookstore sales inside the memorial have only made it harder to raise the private dollars that make up a large share of the memorial's $2.7 million annual budget.<br /><br />Things looked so bleak last year that keeping the memorial open became an "iffy" proposition, said retired Air Force Brig.<br />Gen. Wilma Vaught, 80, a Vietnam veteran and president of the board of directors of the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation.<br /><br />The memorial remained afloat thanks to a $1.6 million congressional appropriation and a special fundraising drive that's brought in $250,000. But paying bills remains a challenge, Vaught said.<br /><br />"You're constantly wondering if you're going to get enough money to pay for the rent, pay for the electricity for the building, pay for the people that work," Vaught said in an interview near the entrance of the memorial, which features exhibits and rooms used for gatherings after funerals and support group meetings of families of the fallen. "It's always with you."<br /><br />The fundraising problems come as U.S. service women serve in combat as convoy drivers and gunners. More than 230,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 120 have died in the wars. Memorial organizers hope the newest generation of female service members will step forward.<br /><br />They want more of them to donate as well as participate in memorial activities and enter their stories into the memorial's computerized registry, which includes the biographies of an estimated about 241,000 of the 2.5 million women who have served in the U.S. military.<br /><br />"For some women, they have this idea this is something you do when you retire or it's something you do when you've done some accomplishment. That really isn't it," Vaught said. "The mere fact that you're serving is all that needs to be true."<br />The $22 million memorial took more than a decade to plan and construct. It was the brainchild of a group of female World War II veterans who felt the stories of the women who served in the war were too often left out of museums.<br /><br />Dieterle recalled that she and other vets in Michigan held countless garage sales and sold doughnuts to raise money for it.<br />Eventually, organizers were able to get the financial support of states across the country, foreign countries and corporations to help get it opened.<br />She described the dedication day as one of "exultation."<br /><br />"I think half of the people that were there were World War II veterans," said Dieterle, who now lives in Fairfax, Va. "We were so excited about having our memorial."<br /><br />Alice Konze, 89, a retired Army major who was stationed in France and Germany during the war, said it's been forgotten how much men deeply resented the military women who served in the 1940s in positions such as nurses and pilots.<br /><br />We did do unusual things and there was a need for women to get in, we ... in the military and the women who went to work in the factories really led the women's revolution at that time," said Konze, of Oxon Hill, Md.<br /><br />On May 1, a temporary exhibit titled "When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans" featuring portraits and oral histories of female combat troops from the recent conflicts went on display.<br /><br />The memorial also plans a Memorial Day unveiling of the uniform, medals, and other items belonging to Cpl. Jessica Ellis, 24, an Army medic from Bend, Ore., who was killed in Iraq in 2008.<br /><br />When women from the recent conflicts do enter the memorial's doors, organizers say they can't help but get caught up in the stories of the women who came before them and to feel a connection.<br /><br />One of them on a recent day was Air Force Maj. Linda Stanley, 52, who served as a nurse in Balad, Iraq, and made the trip days before her retirement from the military.<br />She said it's taken her a long time to mentally process the death and destruction she saw in Iraq to the point she was ready to enter the doors of a place like the memorial.<br /><br />Once inside the memorial she said she was glad she had entered. She had found a safe place. "Anyone who goes to combat is going to be affected," she said. "Man, woman, anybody."<br /><br />http://www.womensmemorial.orgJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-45576248145507919812010-05-03T23:38:00.003-04:002010-05-03T23:48:54.425-04:00Good Advice for Gulf War VeteranIn all claims there are two parts. The first is the hardest, and that is proving that the veteran's illness is due to his or her service. The second part is determining to what degree the veteran is disabled, expressed by a percentage,<br />0 percent to 100 percent.<br /><br />Here is my proposed RS (VA-ratings Staff) VBA checklist for GWI:<br /><br />1.Was the veteran present in the theater of operations during the time frame established for the Persian Gulf War? <span style="color:#cc0000;">Yes or No.</span><br /><br />2.Does the veteran have an undiagnosed illness or one that is a medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness defined by a cluster of signs and symptoms or any diagnosed illness as outlined in VA regulations to a degree that warrants a presumption of service connection?<br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Yes or No.<br /></span><br />3.If the RS marks <span style="color:#cc0000;">Yes</span> to both of these questions, then the veteran's disability is to be considered service-connected (SC) under Section 1117 - Undiagnosed Illnesses due to service in Southwest Asia. All that remains is a determination as to the percentage of disability.<br /><br />The last part of my complaint about getting (gulf war veteran) GWV's their service-connected disability claims is the VA's outdated computer check-in system. A GWV may have four to six problems but is able to have only one listed for his or her check-in. When the RS looks over the veteran's file he/she does not see all of the problems that the veteran has because the VA's computer system cannot handle it. This will affect the claim in terms of the percentage of disability awarded.<br /><br />The veteran must ensure that the examining physician (C&P) at the VA adds all complaints to the comment area. If the physician refuses to do so, the veteran should go to the VA's ER for the other problems. Also, have someone keep track of when you are ill and how bad it gets.<br />(Keep notes)<br /><br />For some of us, mostly men, admitting we are sick can be problematic. The common thing for us veterans is to "tough it out" and downplay how bad it really is. Veterans need to tell their doctor the truth about how bad it hurts and how they have a hard time working. Be truthful at all times.<br /><br />The last thing I would like to talk about is Veterans Service Officers (VSO's). There are some good ones and some bad ones. A veteran should not pay too much attention to who the VSO works for (DAV, American Legion, VFW, etc.) because it does not matter. The important thing is how well the individual VSO is versed in the laws concerning PGW veterans.<br /><br />Veterans need to talk to the other veterans in their area. Having a good VSO involved with the claim will make a lot of difference in the outcome.<br /><br />Finally if the veteran has a scar, and the VSO wants to file it under section 1117, the veteran should get a new VSO. <span style="color:#000099;">Scars</span> <em>should never</em> be filed as an undiagnosed illness. There is a nexus for the scar to your service. When your VSO files it as an undiagnosed illness he is causing a delay in getting the veteran's claim approved.Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-81501095604263824142010-04-27T13:26:00.002-04:002010-04-27T13:38:53.934-04:00Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness: May 15Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is nearly <em><span style="color:#006600;">four times</span></em> as common in veterans of the first Persian Gulf War as in nonveterans, according to a new study<br /><br />Article: "Association of Medically Unexplained Fatigue with ACE Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism in Gulf War Veterans," Georgirene D. Vladutiu, Ph.D. and Benjamin H. Natelson, M.D., Muscle & Nerve;<br /><br /><br />The Persian Gulf War began in 1991, but more than 170,000 veterans still are battling Gulf War syndrome. For years, they battled stigma and disbelief, but finally in late 2008 a congressionally mandated panel concluded that <span style="color:#cc0000;">Gulf War syndrome (GWS) is in fact "real" and is not a psychological condition<br /></span><br />Symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome & Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome<br /><span style="color:#006600;">Symptoms of Gulf War syndrome include:</span><br /><br />•Chronic fatigue<br />•Cognitive dysfunction<br />•Joint and muscle pain<br />•Anxiety<br />•Depression<br />•Pain or discomfort related to sexual intercourse<br />•Bronchitis<br />•Asthma<br />Of those symptoms, bronchitis, asthma, and<br />pain related to intercourse appear to be unique to GWS.<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Classes of Drugs</span> Used as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatments<br />Several categories of drugs are used to treat ME/CFS. They include:<br /><br />•Antimicrobial drugs (includes antiviral, antibiotic)<br />•Antidepressants (SSRIs/SNRIs and tricyclic)<br />•Anxiety or anxiolytic agents<br />•Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)<br />•Blood-pressure medications<br /><br /><a href="http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/treatingfmscfs/a/cfsdrugs.htm">http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/treatingfmscfs/a/cfsdrugs.htm</a><br /><br />We must have VA office of Environmental Agents ;<br />VA office of Education and<br />VA office of Pubic Relations communicate this health problem to staff the veterans/stakeholders interact the most --<br />Primary Care Doctors/PA<br />and C&P Doctors/PA<br />VA Claims Adjuticators.Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-49862356779488626642010-04-21T00:07:00.001-04:002010-04-21T00:12:08.266-04:00Will funds be found for new Clinic ?Reminder from: Chemically_Wounded_ Warriors Yahoo! Group<br /><br />Title: Clinic Information<br /><br />Date: Wednesday July 23, 2008<br />Time: 8:00 am - 8:00 am<br />Repeats: This event repeats every day.<br />Notes: A new Chemically Wounded Warriors Clinic, is opened to all, chemically wounded veterans.<br /><br />The nation's first and only clinic to test, diagnose and treat Chemical exposure diseases!!!! !<br /><br />Call This Number to make an appointment, with North Texas Neurology Associates, at the new clinic."<br /><br />(940) 322-1075<br /><br />Will write V.A. Letters!!!!!<br />Will conference with your Doctors!!!!!<br /><br />Early dection is critical!!<br />Call today!!!!<br /><br />Ask for the <span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><strong>"Chemically Wounded warriors Clinic</strong></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">,"</span> when making appt.<br /><br /><span style="color:#009900;">Danny Bartel, M.D., Neurologist<br /></span>Texas State Board of Medical Examiners License #E6226<br />Board -Certified American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology #24-298 and American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology<br /><br />Agent Orange and Chemically Wounded Warriors Clinic, North Texas Neurology Associates, Wichita Falls, Texas<br /><br />"Medicare, Tricare, and most health insurance plans accepted."<br /><br />Plan on approximately a 3-day stay. The time it takes for exam and evaluation is dependent upon test results. which will vary with each individualJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-17368795166700207702010-04-19T18:49:00.002-04:002010-04-19T18:59:13.183-04:00IOM report links illness, Gulf War serviceA <span style="color:#006600;">link exists between Gulf War service and multisymptom illness</span>, although the causes of these symptoms remain unclear, the Institute of Medicine concluded in a new report.<br /><br />“Military service in the Persian Gulf War is also associated with<br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">multisymptom illness;<br />gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome</span>;” stated the report, which was produced by the IOM's Committee on Gulf War and Health.<br /><br />Evidence also exists that service in the war may be linked to other conditions such as <span style="color:#cc0000;">fibromyalgia and<br />chronic widespread pain,<br />sexual difficulties, and<br />death attributable to causes such as car accidents in years following deployment,</span><br />although data on this subject are limited, according to the report.<br /><br />“It is likely that multisymptom illness results from the interactions between environmental exposures and genes, and genetics may predispose some individuals to illness,” the committee noted.<br /><br />The panel recommended a renewed commitment to improve identification and treatment of multisymptom illness in Gulf War veterans.<br /><br />“The path forward should include continued monitoring of Gulf War veterans and development of better medical care for those with persistent, unexplained symptoms,” it recommended.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100409/NEWS/304099962">http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100409/NEWS/304099962</a>#<br /><br />How long before your Primary Care sees this ?<br />http://yourgulfwarvoice.uservoice.com/Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-35202904426599636912010-04-14T21:52:00.004-04:002010-04-14T22:11:13.280-04:00multisymptom illness IOM’s moniker for GWS<span style="color:#cc0000;">When will the VA-GWVI-TF tell VA primary care doctors and Adjuticators of this disorder. Maybe then fewer Vets/Stakeholders will be driven away or denied claims.</span><br /><br />Hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans who claim to suffer from Gulf War Syndrome just received powerful new ammunition against arguments that their symptoms are trivial, if not altogether fictional. On April 9, the Institute of Medicine – the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences – issued a report that concludes military service in the Persian Gulf War has not only been a cause of post-traumatic stress disorder in some veterans but also is<strong> “associated with multisymptom illness.”</strong><br /><br />That multisymptom illness is IOM’s moniker for what the vets refer to as Gulf War Syndrome.<br /><br />"It is clear that a significant portion of the soldiers deployed to the Gulf War have experienced troubling constellations of symptoms that are difficult to categorize," according to neuroscientist Stephen L. Hauser of the University of California, San Francisco. He chaired the IOM committee that issued the new report.<br /><br />"Unfortunately,” Hauser said, “symptoms that cannot be easily quantified are sometimes incorrectly dismissed as insignificant and receive inadequate attention and funding by the medical and scientific establishment. Veterans who continue to suffer from these symptoms deserve the very best that modern science and medicine can offer to speed the development of effective treatments, cures, and – we hope – prevention.”<br /><br />The new report argues that medicine’s trouble in defining the nature or precise cause(s) of Gulf War Syndrome does not negate its existence. Indeed, the IOM’s new analysis “began with the premise that multisymptom illness is a diagnostic entity.” Its analysis then investigated evidence to determine whether a link exists between multiple, unexplained symptoms and Gulf War deployment.<br /><br />And IOM’s report now concludes that Gulf War Syndrome is real, based on data documenting a high rate of symptoms in former U.S. troops who had served in the Gulf War nearly two decades ago. High-quality surveys of Gulf War vets from other nations, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, show many of those men also have been suffering similar chronic symptoms, which could include everything from <span style="color:#663333;">gastrointestinal illness and mental confusion,to attacks of sudden vertigo, intense uncontrollable mood swings, fatigue and sometimes numbness – or the opposite, constant body pain.<br /></span><br />Last month, a team of researchers headed by Robert Haley of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas reported new brain-imaging confirmation of Gulf War illnesses, which it described as a trio of syndromes with puzzling symptoms.<br /><br />But there’s certainly a suspicion, it said, that multisymptom Gulf War Syndrome(s) may reflect interactions between environmental exposures and genes, such that genetics predisposed many troops to illness. IOM now recommends that research commence immediately to investigate that genetics angle. And there should be a big enough population to study this in, IOM says, with more than one-third of the 700,000Gulf War vets claiming multisymptom illnesses associated with their military service.<br /><br />The report also calls for a substantial commitment to improve identification and treatment of multisymptom illness in Gulf War veterans. That would, of course, first require that the Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledge these syndromes as real disease.<br /><br />http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/04/12/gulf-war-syndrome-real-institute-of-medicine-concludes.htmlJagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38613065.post-38911656679951391292010-04-12T23:30:00.003-04:002010-04-12T23:37:45.578-04:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqS7rMXVWMsq2F6lqhqh_3jO-3YQmFFFkgqUL1_kEFpZfLWSeDFavTuN2g2jw7mVrcJRCH2KXGUMLXIN8W7H1tf-LSwjRslRNF2Lol2c11I3fJNl5Q3I8CLcqpoWNK-jLHJ9n/s1600/IOM+GWH+logo.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 302px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 65px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459460271002037266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqS7rMXVWMsq2F6lqhqh_3jO-3YQmFFFkgqUL1_kEFpZfLWSeDFavTuN2g2jw7mVrcJRCH2KXGUMLXIN8W7H1tf-LSwjRslRNF2Lol2c11I3fJNl5Q3I8CLcqpoWNK-jLHJ9n/s320/IOM+GWH+logo.jpg" /></a><br />The report was terrible people. It drew meaningless conclusions based on lack of evidence. Of which VA quickly picked up on.<br /><br />The important items are listed as <strong>inadequate evidence </strong>or no<br />association. The ones that would get a real service connection.<br />Then look what they did to ALS, dropped it to <strong>limited evidence</strong><br />when there are hotspots in the region where more got it than<br />others. This is the first ever evidence of a cause of ALS and<br />the IOM wants to back away from that.<br /><br /><em><strong>Multisymptom illness</strong></em>, that like a 10% to 30% diagnosis at best.<br />Its not taken seriously.<br /><br />What do they push the most - PTSD. Please, this is a psychiatric<br />diagnosis that gets on average 30% then gets you cut out of<br />other clinics as Somatic. Does it have a physiological cause, yes.<br />But it wont be treated as physiological as if to try and chemically<br />rewire the brain of the physical damage. They will put people<br />on antipsychotics and send them to psychiatry were the clinician<br />writes damaging notes in there medical files that wont help. This<br />then compounds as many are railroaded and the research<br />begins to reflect the trend. PTSD service connection in VA is<br />a bad thing and they tried to force it on us in the early 90's as<br />a easy diagnosis to get service connection. Its not even handled<br />the same as for OIF.<br /><br />Anyone grabbing at this straw is sending us back to the early<br />90's rather than trying to make real changes. Because this<br />report was not a victory for us and now VA will make sure that<br />the "Undiagnosed Illness" law reflects this to keep things<br />vague and of low percentage rating value. Grabbing at this rather<br />than fighting harder for the other categories is a sell out.<br /><br />I have stocking glove neuropathy, congestive heart failure, respiratory<br />problems, and among others. 46 years old with a bunch of geriatric<br />conditions - of which by this reports definition says there is no association<br />evidence. They are telling me "screw you" on my health conditions I<br />didn't have before the war. How is PTSD and multisymptom ratings going to<br />help with some of my conditions. It wont. Yet, where is there conclusive<br />evidence on how these aren't a problem. They don't have that, they just<br />decided for VA to make them not a issue by ignoring the lack of evidence<br />against. Damn researchers focused on brain imaging and ignored most<br />other conditions anyways.<br /><br />Once again, Ship of fools on both sides.Jagmedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12836484602789368310noreply@blogger.com0