Researchers Think They've Found the Cause of Gulf War Illness

[GEOINTAnalyst]

After nearly 30 years of trying to prove a theory -- that an environmental toxin was responsible for sickening roughly 250,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War -- Dr. Robert Haley says new research confirms that sarin nerve gas caused Gulf War Illness.
Following the Gulf War, nearly one-third of all who deployed reported unexplained chronic symptoms such as rashes, fatigue, gastrointestinal and digestive issues, brain "fog," neuropathy, and muscle and joint pain. Federal agencies spent years broadly dismissing the idea that troops may have been suffering from exposure to chemical agents, with many veterans experiencing symptoms sent to mental health providers.

I was one of those vets and even today I get pains that feel like electricity running between my shoulder blades running down the inside of both arms which started about 2 months after returning- it does not happen often fortunately for my sake - I was medically retired in 1995 for a spinal injury from a hard landing on an AC-130 Spectre Gunship then - but back then in 1995/96 I was going to the VA they said the electricity feeling is was having is not associated to my spinal injury since it was a lower spinal issue but was told it was psychosomatic, i also get clear blistery like rashes on my fingers it just breaks out every now and then - I just learned to live with it. for the last 30 years - sorry for my diatribe about this

https://www.military.com/daily-news...k-theyve-found-cause-of-gulf-war-illness.html

 

[NewWine2020]

After nearly 30 years of trying to prove a theory -- that an environmental toxin was responsible for sickening roughly 250,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War -- Dr. Robert Haley says new research confirms that sarin nerve gas caused Gulf War Illness.
Following the Gulf War, nearly one-third of all who deployed reported unexplained chronic symptoms such as rashes, fatigue, gastrointestinal and digestive issues, brain "fog," neuropathy, and muscle and joint pain. Federal agencies spent years broadly dismissing the idea that troops may have been suffering from exposure to chemical agents, with many veterans experiencing symptoms sent to mental health providers.

I was one of those vets and even today I get pains that feel like electricity running between my shoulder blades running down the inside of both arms which started about 2 months after returning- it does not happen often fortunately for my sake - I was medically retired in 1995 for a spinal injury from a hard landing on an AC-130 Spectre Gunship then - but back then in 1995/96 I was going to the VA they said the electricity feeling is was having is not associated to my spinal injury since it was a lower spinal issue but was told it was psychosomatic, i also get clear blistery like rashes on my fingers it just breaks out every now and then - I just learned to live with it. for the last 30 years - sorry for my diatribe about this

https://www.military.com/daily-news...k-theyve-found-cause-of-gulf-war-illness.html

I really, really hope that this condition finally begins to be taken more seriously and that you and all your collogues who have dealt with this condition AND the gaslighting from the US Military/VA telling you to "just suck it up" or worse "It's all in your head, there is nothing medically wrong with you that we can find."

Our Armed services members, both active serving and veterans deserve so much better than American society has typically given them. The last time we treated them decently was after the Second World War.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

After nearly 30 years of trying to prove a theory -- that an environmental toxin was responsible for sickening roughly 250,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War -- Dr. Robert Haley says new research confirms that sarin nerve gas caused Gulf War Illness.
Following the Gulf War, nearly one-third of all who deployed reported unexplained chronic symptoms such as rashes, fatigue, gastrointestinal and digestive issues, brain "fog," neuropathy, and muscle and joint pain. Federal agencies spent years broadly dismissing the idea that troops may have been suffering from exposure to chemical agents, with many veterans experiencing symptoms sent to mental health providers.

I was one of those vets and even today I get pains that feel like electricity running between my shoulder blades running down the inside of both arms which started about 2 months after returning- it does not happen often fortunately for my sake - I was medically retired in 1995 for a spinal injury from a hard landing on an AC-130 Spectre Gunship then - but back then in 1995/96 I was going to the VA they said the electricity feeling is was having is not associated to my spinal injury since it was a lower spinal issue but was told it was psychosomatic, i also get clear blistery like rashes on my fingers it just breaks out every now and then - I just learned to live with it. for the last 30 years - sorry for my diatribe about this

https://www.military.com/daily-news...k-theyve-found-cause-of-gulf-war-illness.html

Since some Vets that never deployed legitimately ended up with GWS, wonder where the nerve agent is/was in the US


I know where some of the blister agents and arsenicals ended up CONUS
VA and TPTB refuse to acknowledge

The other person that I personally know was exposed is now dead.

 

[Carl]

Wonder if that is the stuff that was originally reported as Iraq having, but left in a truck convoy shortly before we attacked Iraq? Rumored that the convoy went to Syria.

 

[GEOINTAnalyst]

Wonder if that is the stuff that was originally reported as Iraq having, but left in a truck convoy shortly before we attacked Iraq? Rumored that the convoy went to Syria.

In 1991 the US destroyed a lot of chemical/biological weapons in Iraq, but not all of them - Sometime between 2000 and 2003 Saddam Hussein moved most of the remaining stockpiles he had to Syria, because Hussein knew the USA was going to strike, he just did not know when - What the USA did not know is that Hussein moved his chemical/biological weapons before 2003 - it is all laid out in the book Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein - by Georges Sada
If you want to know about Georges Sada have a look here - https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Georges_Sada

 

[GEOINTAnalyst]

The 10 minute thing got me once again - also should be pointed out that since that a few years later Syria has been accused of using Chemical/Biological weapons on at least 17 different occasions, despite the fact that in 2014 President Bashar al-Assad’s government declared that the destruction of its chemical weapons was completed. But Syria’s initial declaration to the OPCW has remained in dispute. In April 2020, the OPCW (Organization for the Proliferation of Chemical Weapons) investigators blamed three chemical attacks in 2017 on the Syrian government.
Gee I wonder where Syria got their Chemical and Biological weapons from?

 

[Tall Timbers]

There's your evidence that Iraq had WMD...

 

[Tall Timbers]

but was told it was psychosomatic

Don't suppose you'll get any apologies now that it's been shown you aren't psychosomatic...

 

[GEOINTAnalyst]

There's your evidence that Iraq had WMD...

Which the liberal press chose to completely ignore

 

[GEOINTAnalyst]

Don't suppose you'll get any apologies now that it's been shown you aren't psychosomatic...

I do not worry about it anymore as I once did, but I must confess it is a sore subject for me - I just let the Almighty worry about it for me, put it in his hands and press on.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I do not worry about it anymore as I once did, but I must confess it is a sore subject for me - I just let the Almighty worry about it for me, put it in his hands and press on.

When a care provider can't connect the dots and decides it's probably all in the patient's mind, it can drastically effect the care you receive. For a couple of decades doctors had decided my mom was psychosomatic with the troubles she presented them. She lived for a long time with her doctors not believing her symptoms were real. Finally shortly before shed died, they discovered she had cancer that pretty much spread everywhere since it wasn't being treated. At that point she was terminal so her care became morphine.

 

[Carl]

When a care provider can't connect the dots and decides it's probably all in the patient's mind, it can drastically effect the care you receive. For a couple of decades doctors had decided my mom was psychosomatic with the troubles she presented them. She lived for a long time with her doctors not believing her symptoms were real. Finally shortly before shed died, they discovered she had cancer that pretty much spread everywhere since it wasn't being treated. At that point she was terminal so her care became morphine.

My wife got the same kind of care for her last year.

 

[6scalearmy]

When a care provider can't connect the dots and decides it's probably all in the patient's mind, it can drastically effect the care you receive. For a couple of decades doctors had decided my mom was psychosomatic with the troubles she presented them. She lived for a long time with her doctors not believing her symptoms were real. Finally shortly before shed died, they discovered she had cancer that pretty much spread everywhere since it wasn't being treated. At that point she was terminal so her care became morphine.

I was suffering from severe abdominal pain years ago, that radiated to my groin area. It felt like someone has been kicking me down there. Doctors couldn’t tell what was wrong. The last doc I saw, has been a doc since 1947. He told me it was in my head. I’m thinking, if he doesn’t know, then I’m doomed. Well I found a doc who knew what it was. A hernia ‍♂. I had the surgery, and come to find out it was 2 hernias, and a torn muscle. It took me several months, seeing a handful of docs to get this figured out. So if anyone hears “it’s all in your head” just walk away.

 

[6scalearmy]

After nearly 30 years of trying to prove a theory -- that an environmental toxin was responsible for sickening roughly 250,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War -- Dr. Robert Haley says new research confirms that sarin nerve gas caused Gulf War Illness.
Following the Gulf War, nearly one-third of all who deployed reported unexplained chronic symptoms such as rashes, fatigue, gastrointestinal and digestive issues, brain "fog," neuropathy, and muscle and joint pain. Federal agencies spent years broadly dismissing the idea that troops may have been suffering from exposure to chemical agents, with many veterans experiencing symptoms sent to mental health providers.

I was one of those vets and even today I get pains that feel like electricity running between my shoulder blades running down the inside of both arms which started about 2 months after returning- it does not happen often fortunately for my sake - I was medically retired in 1995 for a spinal injury from a hard landing on an AC-130 Spectre Gunship then - but back then in 1995/96 I was going to the VA they said the electricity feeling is was having is not associated to my spinal injury since it was a lower spinal issue but was told it was psychosomatic, i also get clear blistery like rashes on my fingers it just breaks out every now and then - I just learned to live with it. for the last 30 years - sorry for my diatribe about this

https://www.military.com/daily-news...k-theyve-found-cause-of-gulf-war-illness.html

The VA is pathetic. I know. I’ve been battling with them for years.

 

[Tall Timbers]

The VA is pathetic. I know. I’ve been battling with them for years.

While our authorizations office creates a lot of headaches, overall the VA in Alaska does a pretty good job, at least from my experience.

 

[3 Nails 4 Given]

Since some Vets that never deployed legitimately ended up with GWS, wonder where the nerve agent is/was in the US


I know where some of the blister agents and arsenicals ended up CONUS
VA and TPTB refuse to acknowledge

The other person that I personally know was exposed is now dead.

Two words, depleted uranium. Many of our troops were exposed. How convenient to blame it on someone else.

 

[Armor of Light]

Toward the end her symptoms were masking spreading cancer that, when diagnosed, had spread too far.

 

[Epieikes]

After nearly 30 years of trying to prove a theory -- that an environmental toxin was responsible for sickening roughly 250,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War -- Dr. Robert Haley says new research confirms that sarin nerve gas caused Gulf War Illness.
Following the Gulf War, nearly one-third of all who deployed reported unexplained chronic symptoms such as rashes, fatigue, gastrointestinal and digestive issues, brain "fog," neuropathy, and muscle and joint pain. Federal agencies spent years broadly dismissing the idea that troops may have been suffering from exposure to chemical agents, with many veterans experiencing symptoms sent to mental health providers.

I was one of those vets and even today I get pains that feel like electricity running between my shoulder blades running down the inside of both arms which started about 2 months after returning- it does not happen often fortunately for my sake - I was medically retired in 1995 for a spinal injury from a hard landing on an AC-130 Spectre Gunship then - but back then in 1995/96 I was going to the VA they said the electricity feeling is was having is not associated to my spinal injury since it was a lower spinal issue but was told it was psychosomatic, i also get clear blistery like rashes on my fingers it just breaks out every now and then - I just learned to live with it. for the last 30 years - sorry for my diatribe about this

https://www.military.com/daily-news...k-theyve-found-cause-of-gulf-war-illness.html

No diatribe whatsoever. Your story is important and needs to be shared. Thank you so much for your service and scars on behalf of us all...for seeing what we could never imagine and for all that words cannot express, GEOINTAnalyst. John 15:13!

 

[GEOINTAnalyst]

Two words, depleted uranium. Many of our troops were exposed. How convenient to blame it on someone else.

I have handled 30mm rounds for A-10 aircraft made out of depleted Uranium for years - those rounds are used basically to destroy Armor vehicles such as tanks, APCs and the like - U-235 levels are much lower in depleted uranium, it still remains somewhat radioactive, but considered safe - Studies have suggested that significant exposure to depleted uranium can lead to impairment or cancer of the kidneys and lungs. However, these are not entirely conclusive, and the UN suggests that there is not enough evidence to declare depleted uranium a health hazard. With that said, the United States is gradually phasing out the usage of depleted uranium weapons and armor in favor of newer technologies such as composite armor and the newer XM-1147 AMP (Advanced Multi-purpose Round) which will replace at least 4 older round currently in use by the Army - unfortunately these things take time

 

[3 Nails 4 Given]

I have handled 30mm rounds for A-10 aircraft made out of depleted Uranium for years - those rounds are used basically to destroy Armor vehicles such as tanks, APCs and the like - U-235 levels are much lower in depleted uranium, it still remains somewhat radioactive, but considered safe - Studies have suggested that significant exposure to depleted uranium can lead to impairment or cancer of the kidneys and lungs. However, these are not entirely conclusive, and the UN suggests that there is not enough evidence to declare depleted uranium a health hazard. With that said, the United States is gradually phasing out the usage of depleted uranium weapons and armor in favor of newer technologies such as composite armor and the newer XM-1147 AMP (Advanced Multi-purpose Round) which will replace at least 4 older round currently in use by the Army - unfortunately these things take time

I know some M1 Abrams tank guys that were exposed to high amounts of it in the Gulf Wars. Quite a few of them are sick now or have died from cancer and other lung diseases. It was used in the tank armor and in some of the armor piercing munitions.

To quote one of the commanders I knew, “We literally slept on top of it.”