Why the IOM has found so much PTSD in Gulf War Vets
April 15, 2010 posted by Bob Higgins ·
By Jim Bunker National Gulf War Resource Center
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently concluded that there is sufficient evidence of a causal relationship for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Persian Gulf War (PGW) veterans that would in turn explain their other physical ailments. What a slap in the face. When you look at only a select handful of research studies and discount most others, you can no doubt make a convincing case for PTSD as the primary cause of Gulf War Illnesses (GWI). Veterans from today’s wars as well as the 1991 Persian Gulf War know better. All one needs to do in order to find the truth is to use the internet.
The truth is, for the first 15 years after the PGW the VA focused primarily on PTSD, pushing the belief that that’s what was wrong with us. This is how it’s been for years. When the VA doctors don’t understand something new they write it off as a psychosomatic illness. In other words, they’re telling us that it’s all in our heads. Yes, some of us do have PTSD. Every time men and women have gone to war some have come home with PTSD. Sadly, some even legitimately develop PTSD from having to fight with the VA to gain access to the benefits they earned through their service and sacrifice. These battles between the veteran and the VA continue to this day with not only our PGW veterans, but with our OEF and OIF veterans as well. I just talked to a fellow PGW veteran and he is still having problems with the doctors at the VA in Houston, Texas. Whenever he brings up GWIs, they tell him there is “no such thing”.
read more here
Why the IOM has found so much PTSD in Gulf War Vets
Showing posts with label Gulf War Syndrome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gulf War Syndrome. Show all posts
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness
Why do any of our veterans have to fight after they did the fighting they were sent to do?
Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness
Written by Janet Ralofff
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 07:02
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW?
March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome.
Or syndromes. Because Robert Haley of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the research team he heads have identified three discrete subtypes. Each is characterized by a different suite of symptoms. And the new imaging linked each illness with a distinct – and different – series of abnormalities in the brain.
read more here
Dr. Haley at UTSW
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Cancels Contract with UTSW Medical Center
UPDATE
A New False outrage
As usual spin is in and truth is out, even when it comes to our veterans. This program was not working according to the agreement the VA had with them. This is from a "news" site. Notice the wording.
Too bad this "news" site missed this
And this one
There were rules this funding involved and if this "news" site read the report they posted, they would know why the funding was cut off. I thought people were supposed to care about our veterans and where the money was goind while they wait for help.
A New False outrage
As usual spin is in and truth is out, even when it comes to our veterans. This program was not working according to the agreement the VA had with them. This is from a "news" site. Notice the wording.
Democrats cancel Gulf War illness research money
that Republicans earmarked for Texas center
Suzanne Gamboa August 26th, 2009
Too bad this "news" site missed this
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2009
11:49 AM
CONTACT: Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Nathan White (202)225-5871
Kucinich Secures $8 Million For Gulf War Veterans Illness Research
Money Will Expand On Studies For Treatment, Bringing Us Closer To Identifying A Cure
WASHINGTON - July 31 -
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) secured a major victory for veterans of the first Gulf War by garnering $8 million for Gulf War Illness (GWI) research in the Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations bill that passed the House yesterday.
“This research will build on previous studies on Gulf War Illness.” Kucinich said. “This funding will take giant steps forward in identifying a treatment or a cure for Gulf War Veteran’s illness.”
In its landmark 454-page report delivered in November, the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses at the Department of Veterans Affairs (RAC) reported that “Gulf War illness is real, that it is the result of neurotoxin exposures during Gulf War deployment and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time.”
For the first time, the report identified several suspected causes and two known causes: exposure to pesticides and a drug given to troops to protect them from nerve gas.
“There are currently no effective treatments for these conditions. With research, we learn the true causes of GWI and the possibilities open up. We must continue to attack GWI and fund the research with an amount commensurate with the scope of the problem,” said Kucinich.
Kucinich’s request for funding received bipartisan support from Reps. Henry Brown, Holt, Filner, Michaud, Baldwin, C. Brown, Conyers, Edwards, Grijalva, Hall, Maloney, McDermott, D. Moore, G. Moore, Pascrell, Pingree, Ross, Sestak, Stark and Yarmuth.
And this one
Gulf War Research Funding Positive Sign for Affected Veterans
Submitted by linda on Wed, 12/06/2006 - 12:00am.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
WASHINGTON - The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization applauds Congress for having the foresight to provide funding to the Southwestern Medical Center’s Gulf War Illness research program. The Center, headed by Dr. Robert Haley at the University of Texas Southwestern, was awarded $15 million, renewable for up to four years, to further the scientific knowledge on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses research. “This research will not only impact veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, but may prove beneficial for those currently serving in the Southwest Asia theater and the Middle East during this Global War on Terror,” said National Commander Paul A. Morin. According to the quarterly Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom health care utilization report released last month issued by the Veteran Health Administration's Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards, there have been 67,743 visits made for illnesses categorized as “Symptoms, Signs and Ill Defined Conditions” out of the 205,097 visits made to VA Medical Centers. The Institute of Medicine’s September 2006 report, Gulf War and Health, Volume 4, indicated that existing research has demonstrated that Gulf War veterans are reporting more symptoms including more severe symptoms than their non-deployed counter-parts and there is no known explanation for it. “The purpose of research is to fill in the gaps of knowledge where there is little, yet suggestive information,” Morin explained. “Dr. Haley’s research will further this knowledge about Gulf War veterans’ illnesses and hopefully help improve the lives of ill Gulf War veterans, and their families who suffer beside them,” Morin added.Gulf War Research Funding Positive Sign for Affected Veterans
There were rules this funding involved and if this "news" site read the report they posted, they would know why the funding was cut off. I thought people were supposed to care about our veterans and where the money was goind while they wait for help.
VA Continues Gulf War Research,
Cancels Contract with UTSW Medical Center
WASHINGTON (Aug. 26, 2009) - Citing persistent noncompliance and
numerous performance deficiencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) will not exercise the third year of a five-year, $75 million
contract with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
(UTSWMC) to perform research into Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (GWVI).
"Research into the illnesses suffered by Gulf War Veterans remains a
priority for VA," said Dr. Gerald M. Cross, VA's Acting Under Secretary
for Health. "As part of our commitment to this vital effort, we must
make certain that our resources are used to support effective and
productive research."
VA listed several reasons for not exercising the contract option,
including UTSWMC's persistent and continuing noncompliance with contract
terms and conditions and detailed documentation by the contracting
officer of performance deficiencies. VA also noted that its Office of
Inspector General documented severe performance deficiencies in a July
15 report and recommended that no further task orders be issued under
the contract.
VA will meet with UTSWMC contract staff on today to provide guidance for
completing work in progress and submitting adequate documentation to
allow payment. UTSWMC will be allowed to fulfill task orders already in
progress if it corrects all performance deficiencies. .
The decision not to continue the contract means VA's research program
will be able to redirect funds to support additional research into GWVI.
In 2010, that research will include a genomic study to identify
susceptibility factors and markers of GWVI; studies of similarities and
differences with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia; studies of
new diagnostic tests; identification of sub-populations of ill Gulf War
Veterans; and studies of potential new treatments.
The redirected funding for these new VA research initiatives will be in
addition to the substantial support VA already provides for GWVI
research--$7 million in 2008 and $4.8 million so far in 2009.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Congress to CIA: Review Gulf War illness info
Congress to CIA: Review Gulf War illness info
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 18:44:44 EDT
After a former CIA employee told a team created to investigate Gulf War illness that 1.5 million documents exist detailing poisonous gas exposures during Operation Desert Storm, Congress is asking the CIA to review the secret classifications of those documents.
“Ill Desert Storm veterans have been waiting for years for our government to make public any information in its possession about the kinds of toxic agents they may have been exposed to during and immediately after the 1991 war,” Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said in a prepared statement. “This is a long-overdue stop toward meeting that goal.”
The intelligence authorization bill now includes language that would require the CIA to review the classification of those documents, with the intent of declassifying them.
Studies have shown that veterans exposed to sarin — which the military accidentally doused troops with when the 82nd Airborne Division destroyed an Iraqi chemical weapons dump in Khamisiyah in 1991 — are more likely to suffer from symptoms of Gulf War illness.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_gulfwar_cia_062309w/
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 18:44:44 EDT
After a former CIA employee told a team created to investigate Gulf War illness that 1.5 million documents exist detailing poisonous gas exposures during Operation Desert Storm, Congress is asking the CIA to review the secret classifications of those documents.
“Ill Desert Storm veterans have been waiting for years for our government to make public any information in its possession about the kinds of toxic agents they may have been exposed to during and immediately after the 1991 war,” Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said in a prepared statement. “This is a long-overdue stop toward meeting that goal.”
The intelligence authorization bill now includes language that would require the CIA to review the classification of those documents, with the intent of declassifying them.
Studies have shown that veterans exposed to sarin — which the military accidentally doused troops with when the 82nd Airborne Division destroyed an Iraqi chemical weapons dump in Khamisiyah in 1991 — are more likely to suffer from symptoms of Gulf War illness.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_gulfwar_cia_062309w/
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Groups disagree about Gulf War illness research
Groups disagree about Gulf War illness research
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 20, 2009 16:34:17 EDT
The Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs say an Institute of Medicine study shows there is no Gulf War “syndrome,” and that there is nothing unique about the symptoms 1 in 4 Desert Storm veterans suffer.
But the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness say that not only is there a series of symptoms that make up a definable illness, they know what caused that illness.
Those opposing views were on full display May 19 in the first of three congressional hearings about Gulf War Illness.
“We do believe that Gulf War illnesses are real — but there is no unique set of symptoms,” said Craig Postlewaite, deputy director of force readiness and health assurance under the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
He based that view on the IOM study that concluded veterans’ symptoms vary too much to be seen as unique and recommended no more epidemiological studies.
go here for more
Groups disagree about Gulf War illness research
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 20, 2009 16:34:17 EDT
The Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs say an Institute of Medicine study shows there is no Gulf War “syndrome,” and that there is nothing unique about the symptoms 1 in 4 Desert Storm veterans suffer.
But the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness say that not only is there a series of symptoms that make up a definable illness, they know what caused that illness.
Those opposing views were on full display May 19 in the first of three congressional hearings about Gulf War Illness.
“We do believe that Gulf War illnesses are real — but there is no unique set of symptoms,” said Craig Postlewaite, deputy director of force readiness and health assurance under the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
He based that view on the IOM study that concluded veterans’ symptoms vary too much to be seen as unique and recommended no more epidemiological studies.
go here for more
Groups disagree about Gulf War illness research
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Study links Gulf War exposures, brain changes
Study links Gulf War exposures, brain changes
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 1, 2009 12:06:55 EDT
A new study of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suggests that exposure to neurotoxins such as anti-nerve agent pills, insect repellent and Sarin caused neurological changes to the brain.
However, brain imaging shows those changes appear to differ depending on what and how much each person was exposed to. The changes also correspond to different sets of symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Southern Methodist University, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dallas performed digital brain scans on 21 chronically ill Gulf War veterans from the same Naval Reserve construction battalion, all of whom had symptoms of “Gulf War syndrome.”
According to a study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging Journal, previous studies defined three categories of symptoms associated with Gulf War veterans:
• Complex 1: mild cognitive problems, such as distractibility, forgetfulness, feeling depressed, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
• Complex 2: a more debilitating state with confusion and a gross lack of muscle coordination.
• Complex 3: continuous joint and muscle aching.
go here for more
Study links Gulf War exposures, brain changes
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 1, 2009 12:06:55 EDT
A new study of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suggests that exposure to neurotoxins such as anti-nerve agent pills, insect repellent and Sarin caused neurological changes to the brain.
However, brain imaging shows those changes appear to differ depending on what and how much each person was exposed to. The changes also correspond to different sets of symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Southern Methodist University, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dallas performed digital brain scans on 21 chronically ill Gulf War veterans from the same Naval Reserve construction battalion, all of whom had symptoms of “Gulf War syndrome.”
According to a study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging Journal, previous studies defined three categories of symptoms associated with Gulf War veterans:
• Complex 1: mild cognitive problems, such as distractibility, forgetfulness, feeling depressed, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
• Complex 2: a more debilitating state with confusion and a gross lack of muscle coordination.
• Complex 3: continuous joint and muscle aching.
go here for more
Study links Gulf War exposures, brain changes
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
200,000 Desert Storm vetearns disabled, plus their kids
Suffer the children of Desert Storm veterans
The Dallas Morning News on Sunday had a compelling story about an American "child of Desert Storm," a local star athlete who excels despite a partial limb that begs a question:
Now that the federal government finally has recognized Gulf War Illness as real, does that mean the collateral damage suffered by the children of that war's veterans will be similarly recognized?
The Dallas paper's story is about Dominique Dorsey, an inspiring 17-year-old star basketball player who is also the child of a 1991 Gulf War veteran. It is a reminder of the innocent and continuing casualties of war, not only in war zones, but brought home from them.
Nearly 150 American combat deaths and another nearly 450 combat wounded were suffered in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which ended after a 100-hour ground campaign into Iraq in late February 1991.
Despite that relatively low-cost blitzkrieg led by the United States at the time, in the ensuing years nearly 30 percent of the 700,000 American men and women in uniform who served in that war have suffered disproportionately, and died, from an array of symptoms that were not officially recognized by the federal government for nearly 18-years.
Nearly 200,000 are considered severely disabled.
click link for more
The Dallas Morning News on Sunday had a compelling story about an American "child of Desert Storm," a local star athlete who excels despite a partial limb that begs a question:
Now that the federal government finally has recognized Gulf War Illness as real, does that mean the collateral damage suffered by the children of that war's veterans will be similarly recognized?
The Dallas paper's story is about Dominique Dorsey, an inspiring 17-year-old star basketball player who is also the child of a 1991 Gulf War veteran. It is a reminder of the innocent and continuing casualties of war, not only in war zones, but brought home from them.
Nearly 150 American combat deaths and another nearly 450 combat wounded were suffered in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which ended after a 100-hour ground campaign into Iraq in late February 1991.
Despite that relatively low-cost blitzkrieg led by the United States at the time, in the ensuing years nearly 30 percent of the 700,000 American men and women in uniform who served in that war have suffered disproportionately, and died, from an array of symptoms that were not officially recognized by the federal government for nearly 18-years.
Nearly 200,000 are considered severely disabled.
click link for more
Monday, December 1, 2008
Kingsport veteran closer to proving he has Gulf War Syndrome
Kingsport veteran closer to proving he has Gulf War Syndrome
Published 11/30/2008 By Rick Wagner
KINGSPORT — Gulf War veteran Todd Sanders and his family are looking forward to less uncertainty this holiday season than last year.
His blackouts, as recounted in a Kingsport Times-News article in August 2007, have grown worse, and he still has issues with short-term memory and getting too hot.
However, he qualified in September for Social Security disability almost two years after applying and 16 years after his military service, from 1987 to 1992, ended.
Sanders, age 42, believes he may be close to proving he has Gulf War Syndrome, something he’s believed for more than two years.
“We’re looking a lot better than we were the last time (the newspaper interviewed them),” said his wife, Paula Sanders.
And the disabled automobile mechanic said the biggest victory to date for him and others who served in the Gulf War in the early 1990s is that the federal government a few weeks ago acknowledged the existence of Gulf War Syndrome. Sanders hopes to prove next month he has the syndrome from his military service so he can receive military disability and Veterans Administration medical care for himself and his wife.
He likened the delay to the 20 years it took for the federal government to acknowledge the ill health effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam War veterans.
“They’ve (federal officials) finally acknowledged it,” Todd Sanders said during a recent interview. “Even though they’ve owned up to it ... you still have to prove your case.”
The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illness compared the foot-dragging and denials to the treatment of earlier troops who claimed that they had been dangerously exposed to Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides in Vietnam and to radiation during World War II.
In both cases, the claims turned out to be true.
go here for more
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9009258
Published 11/30/2008 By Rick Wagner
KINGSPORT — Gulf War veteran Todd Sanders and his family are looking forward to less uncertainty this holiday season than last year.
His blackouts, as recounted in a Kingsport Times-News article in August 2007, have grown worse, and he still has issues with short-term memory and getting too hot.
However, he qualified in September for Social Security disability almost two years after applying and 16 years after his military service, from 1987 to 1992, ended.
Sanders, age 42, believes he may be close to proving he has Gulf War Syndrome, something he’s believed for more than two years.
“We’re looking a lot better than we were the last time (the newspaper interviewed them),” said his wife, Paula Sanders.
And the disabled automobile mechanic said the biggest victory to date for him and others who served in the Gulf War in the early 1990s is that the federal government a few weeks ago acknowledged the existence of Gulf War Syndrome. Sanders hopes to prove next month he has the syndrome from his military service so he can receive military disability and Veterans Administration medical care for himself and his wife.
He likened the delay to the 20 years it took for the federal government to acknowledge the ill health effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam War veterans.
“They’ve (federal officials) finally acknowledged it,” Todd Sanders said during a recent interview. “Even though they’ve owned up to it ... you still have to prove your case.”
The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illness compared the foot-dragging and denials to the treatment of earlier troops who claimed that they had been dangerously exposed to Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides in Vietnam and to radiation during World War II.
In both cases, the claims turned out to be true.
go here for more
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9009258
Monday, November 17, 2008
1 in 4 Gulf vets has syndrome
It's easy to remember the yellow ribbon stickers hanging on the windows of businesses and the words "Support the Troops" or "Pray for the Troops" while they were trying to get the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. People were determined to not repeat the same mistake of blaming those who serve for where they are sent to go. While the majority of the nation was behind helping the people of Kuwait, some in this country were against using our troops on foreign lands when our security was not threatened. Still, the mood of the country was that the troops deserved full support and we managed to prove it. Or so we thought we did.
Yet when the parades were over, we thought our obligation to them was over as well. We didn't pay attention to them suffering the usual wounds of war and the unique wounds of what happened in Kuwait or the oil fires. There really isn't much we did pay attention to other than the fact they won.
Today we see yellow ribbons and the words "support the troops" all over the place but do any of the people hanging these messages ever really stop to think was supporting the troops really means? Do they know it has to include taking care of them when they come home from where they are sent? This report shows exactly how little the men and women serving this nation, fighting the battles they are sent to fight actually do receive the support we claim to provide.
1 in 4 Gulf vets has syndrome
Neurotoxic exposures from first Iraq invasion rears widespread illness.
Panel finds widespread Gulf War illness
11/16/08
ANNE USHER/Cox News Service
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WASHINGTON - At least one in four U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffers from a multi-symptom illness caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during the conflict, a congressionally mandated report being released Monday found.
For much of the past 17 years, government officials have maintained that these veterans -- more than 175,000 out of about 697,000 deployed -- are merely suffering the effects of wartime stress, even as more have come forward recently with severe ailments.
“The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that ’Gulf War illness’ is real, that it is the result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time,” said the report, being released Monday by a panel of scientists and veterans. A copy was obtained by Cox Newspapers.
Gulf War illness is typically characterized by a combination of memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue and widespread pain. It may also include chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms and skin rashes.
Two things the military provided to troops in large quantities to protect them -- pesticides and pyridostigmine bromide (PB), aimed at thwarting the effects of nerve gas -- are the most likely culprits, the panel found.
click link for more
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Vet's family still seeks compensation for illness that killed him
Vet's family still seeks compensation for illness that killed him
By Sam Stanton - sstanton@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 6, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
They'll hold a fundraiser in Auburn next Friday to help pay Matt Bumpus' medical bills.
The Roseville man and his family worked on the event for months in hopes of raising money to treat his leukemia.
But Bumpus won't be there. The 31-year-old father of two died a month ago after a series of battles with his disease.
He believed – and his family still does – that he became ill because he was exposed to depleted uranium at a chemical weapons site while serving with the Army in Iraq.
"All of them were very concerned about what they were exposed to, very concerned," said his stepmother, Laura Bumpus.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rejected one claim Bumpus filed seeking compensation for his illness. But on Friday, a VA official told The Bee the agency will revisit the case and see whether Bumpus' widow, Lisa, and their two sons are eligible for assistance.
"Lisa and Matt's parents all have the right to come in and file a claim, and I would really welcome that," said Lynn Flint, the VA's regional director in Oakland.
The family plans to file another claim but has seen firsthand the difficulty of proving that an illness diagnosed post-service may have stemmed from wartime conditions.
Veterans from the 1990-91 Gulf War worked years to convince officials that Gulf War syndrome illnesses were real.
And just last month, researchers at UC Davis Cancer Center said veterans exposed to Agent Orange are twice as likely to get prostate cancer as are other veterans – a finding that comes decades after the herbicide was used in Vietnam.
Bumpus, a staff sergeant in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, was sent Dec. 23, 2003, to guard the Al Muthanna Chemical Weapons complex in Iraq and spent two nights there, his family said.
go here for more
http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/1215038.html
By Sam Stanton - sstanton@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 6, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
They'll hold a fundraiser in Auburn next Friday to help pay Matt Bumpus' medical bills.
The Roseville man and his family worked on the event for months in hopes of raising money to treat his leukemia.
But Bumpus won't be there. The 31-year-old father of two died a month ago after a series of battles with his disease.
He believed – and his family still does – that he became ill because he was exposed to depleted uranium at a chemical weapons site while serving with the Army in Iraq.
"All of them were very concerned about what they were exposed to, very concerned," said his stepmother, Laura Bumpus.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rejected one claim Bumpus filed seeking compensation for his illness. But on Friday, a VA official told The Bee the agency will revisit the case and see whether Bumpus' widow, Lisa, and their two sons are eligible for assistance.
"Lisa and Matt's parents all have the right to come in and file a claim, and I would really welcome that," said Lynn Flint, the VA's regional director in Oakland.
The family plans to file another claim but has seen firsthand the difficulty of proving that an illness diagnosed post-service may have stemmed from wartime conditions.
Veterans from the 1990-91 Gulf War worked years to convince officials that Gulf War syndrome illnesses were real.
And just last month, researchers at UC Davis Cancer Center said veterans exposed to Agent Orange are twice as likely to get prostate cancer as are other veterans – a finding that comes decades after the herbicide was used in Vietnam.
Bumpus, a staff sergeant in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, was sent Dec. 23, 2003, to guard the Al Muthanna Chemical Weapons complex in Iraq and spent two nights there, his family said.
go here for more
http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/1215038.html
Friday, August 1, 2008
UK Gulf War Vet:Learning to cope with trauma
Learning to cope with trauma
8:50pm Friday 1st August 2008
GULF War syndrome (GWS) sufferer Dick Hilling has organised a post-traumatic stress (PTS) conference to help victims of the invisible injury.
Dick, 59, of The Prinnels, West Swindon, says he helped arrange an event at the Marriott Hotel yesterday to help sufferers find relief from a condition he says is similar to GWS.
The 59-year-old worked in the Royal Air Force as a mental health nurse for 28 years.
He says during his six months serving in the first Gulf conflict from October 1990 to March 1991 he was forced to take nerve agent pre-treatment tablets called Pyrostigmine and believes this has led him to his current condition.
He said: “When I began taking these pills I could not sleep – my patterns went all out of whack. I then developed a lot of digestive problems.
“After about five years of being back I began to forget things and ended up having to give up my career and driving licence because I could no longer focus.
“I didn’t know what was happening. I still have a poor memory and this affects me daily.
“I just hope this conference can help others from suffering from what one doctor close to me calls the invisible injury.”
Dick believes people need events like the conference to spend time with like-minded people and to educate themselves on the causes and effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He says it was only after retiring from nursing, and retraining in stress management, that he got his life back on track.
Now he is volunteering at Learning For Life, a mental health charity, and wants to help more people, partly because he likens PTSD to Gulf War syndrome.
8:50pm Friday 1st August 2008
GULF War syndrome (GWS) sufferer Dick Hilling has organised a post-traumatic stress (PTS) conference to help victims of the invisible injury.
Dick, 59, of The Prinnels, West Swindon, says he helped arrange an event at the Marriott Hotel yesterday to help sufferers find relief from a condition he says is similar to GWS.
The 59-year-old worked in the Royal Air Force as a mental health nurse for 28 years.
He says during his six months serving in the first Gulf conflict from October 1990 to March 1991 he was forced to take nerve agent pre-treatment tablets called Pyrostigmine and believes this has led him to his current condition.
He said: “When I began taking these pills I could not sleep – my patterns went all out of whack. I then developed a lot of digestive problems.
“After about five years of being back I began to forget things and ended up having to give up my career and driving licence because I could no longer focus.
“I didn’t know what was happening. I still have a poor memory and this affects me daily.
“I just hope this conference can help others from suffering from what one doctor close to me calls the invisible injury.”
Dick believes people need events like the conference to spend time with like-minded people and to educate themselves on the causes and effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He says it was only after retiring from nursing, and retraining in stress management, that he got his life back on track.
Now he is volunteering at Learning For Life, a mental health charity, and wants to help more people, partly because he likens PTSD to Gulf War syndrome.
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