Warrior website that included resources on what they referred to as
Medically Unexplained Symptoms. Links from the MUPS page included a
fact sheet issued by the British United Provident Association
published in July 2008. For further information readers of the sheet
were referred to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Congress approves $10 million for Gulf War illness research
By KELLY KENNEDY
USA Today
Published: December 19, 2011
WASHINGTON - Congress has approved dedicating $10 million to research
the mysterious Gulf War illness, ending concerns from veterans' groups
that the money would disappear because of budget problems.
The spending bill passed by the Senate on Saturday and signed by
President Barack Obama includes the money for specific research into
the series of ailments suffered by veterans of the Persian Gulf War.
Originally, money for the research would have to come from a larger
pot of money that could have been spent on other work besides studying
Gulf War illness.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, led House efforts to restore the money.
He told USA TODAY that sick veterans had called from their beds to ask
members of Congress to approve the funding.
"When one out of three who served is affected, and when some veterans'
maladies are turning into long-term health problems like ALS
(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease), and when
researchers are getting closer every single year to finding a
treatment with this program, there is an urgency," Kucinich said.
"It's comparatively little money that is doing an extraordinary amount
of good and is the best hope we have for them."
About one in four Gulf War veterans have developed chronic headaches,
widespread pain, memory and concentration problems, persistent
fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, skin abnormalities and mood
disturbances, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who also pushed for the
funding.
The possibility of cuts came just as researchers in the peer-reviewed
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program had begun making
progress on possible treatments.
The research is different because it is not directed by the
departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs. For years, Veterans
Affairs focused its research on the mental health issues of Gulf War
veterans, rather than assuming a physical cause, and the Defense
Department stopped funding research on Gulf War research several years
ago.
Recent research suggests the cause may be the bug sprays,
anti-nerve-agent pills and sarin gas troops were exposed to, and
treatments targeting that possibility have shown promise. One study
funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program showed
that coenzyme Q10 appeared to relieve some Gulf veterans' symptoms.
"It's reassuring to see that members of Congress of both parties
remain strongly committed to finding treatments for Gulf War illness,
as the Institute of Medicine says can still likely be done with the
right research," said Jim Binns, chairman of the federal Research
Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.
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