UK inquiry gw

August 3, 2004

Gulf War illness link to brain damage

By Oliver Poole

(Filed: 04/08/2004)

A scientist whose findings have been supported by the American Joint Chiefs

of Staff yesterday detailed how some Gulf War veterans complaining of

post-conflict illnesses had been found to have brain damage.

Haley, from the University of Texas, told the independent Gulf War

Illnesses inquiry in London that his findings were the first sign of physical

injury associated with the syndrome.

Haley

His conclusions - which he suggests are due to low-level exposure to nerve

agents - paves the way for a medical test which would determine if servicemen

are suffering from an illness unique to the conflict. The US Department of

Defence recently authorised a further $5 million to explore his findings, which

earlier this year were also presented to Congress.

However, Dr Haley warned that further research had to be done before a

definitive diagnosis could be made.

He told the inquiry, headed by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, how he examined a

colonel in the US Army rangers, Bill , who had developed neurological

illnesses soon after returning from the 1991 conflict.

He found that Col had lost nerve cells in the basal ganglia structures,

two small areas in the brain which determine cognitive thinking and balance.

Subsequent research on 43 servicemen (23 of whom were ill) found similar

damage. " It is statistically significant, " he said.

Dr Haley said those veterans who showed the most damage to the basal ganglia

had been in north-east Saudi Arabia on the fourth day of the air war. Bombing

of Iraqi military sites in that period is believed to have destroyed chemical

weapons stockpiles, blowing small doses towards coalition troops.

The inquiry continues.

20 July 2004: MoD 'gag' on details of Gulf war illness

External links

University of Texas

US scientist challenges UK on Gulf war illness

Meikle, health correspondent

Wednesday August 4, 2004

The Guardian

A US scientist who led investigations suggesting that nerve agents injured

troops in the first Gulf war yesterday called on British researchers to join the

hunt for reliable brain scans and other tests. Haley told Lord Lloyd's

independent inquiry into war-related injuries that the US government had

radically changed its attitude towards his work after other scientists

replicated

studies indicating brain damage in veterans. There was a Gulf war syndrome, or

at least a group of illnesses attributable to service in the gulf in 1991, he

said. His group was now seeing whether experimental results on small groups of

veterans could be extended by comparing brain images of veterans with those

of others who were not deployed. Britain should join in. " We don't know how

that would play in the United Kingdom " , he said. " It would be worth doing to get

some brain imagery in this country. " Dr Haley, professor of medicine at the

University of Texas's Southwestern medical centre in Dallas, made an overnight

trip to London to make the plea before flying home. " The question is how you

determine who has the damage and who doesn't, and who needs to be cared for and

maybe compensated. If we had an objective test that everyone agreed to then this

would not be a difficult matter. We are developing biological understanding

of that problem so that we can develop a reasonably inexpensive test you could

apply to veterans. " Dr Haley's work was at first looked on with grave

scepticism by the US government and other scientists, especially since effort

was

being concentrated on problems such as stress. But the billionaire businessman

and

former presidential candidate Ross Perot championed and funded his

ground-breaking studies.

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Dr Haley said some disease in veterans resembled early stages of well-known

conditions such as Parkinson's.Research by his team and others, he said,

indicated that low-level sarin nerve gas, released by bombing attacks or

post-war

destruction of Iraqi factories and weapons stores, caused brain cell damage. In

some cases, the agents may have acted in combination with pesticides or

tablets taken as protection against nerve agents.Troops particularly susceptible

were those with low levels of a particular enzyme. " All it does is destroy nerve

gas... Why did God put it there? I guess he knew the end of the story. " Among

these troops, those under unseen clouds of sarin, particularly after raids

early in the bombing war, were defenceless, he said. Similar damage had been

seen

in rats dosed with sarin by researchers in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As in

veterans, signs of disease were delayed.Dr Haley said many symptoms reported by

many veterans were attributable to such damage. He believed there were three

sets of Gulf-related cell damage - the worst linked to confusion, vertigo and

dizzy spells, a second related to thinking problems, depression and sleep

disorders, and a third to pain, although symptoms overlapped.Dr Haley hoped Lord

Lloyd's inquiry would push for work exploring brain cells in Britain. Scientists

could find a way of reversing the damage.Mr Perot made a similar plea. " As the

US government seems to be getting its act together and taking steps to right

the wrongs of the last decade, I am here to urge the British government to join

with us to solve this problem. " I urge you to retire the clique of stress

researchers here in the UK who have only refused the issues, and start a new

research funding initiative, this time supporting a new group of neuroscience

researchers who can contribute constructively to our understanding of the

problem. "

testifies on Gulf War syndrome

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MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Congressman Bernie , an advocate for greater

awareness of Gulf War syndrome in the U.S., testified on the condition Monday in

front an independent British panel in London.Researchers have found that

veterans

of the Persian Gulf war in 1990 and 1991 are more likely to suffer from a

range of chronic symptoms, including memory and thinking problems, debilitating

fatigue, severe muscle and joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches

and rashes. However, the cause has proved elusive. helped secure $5

million in federal funding to continue research begun by Haley, a leading

U.S. researcher into the symptoms suffered by Gulf War veterans. Haley, of

the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, was scheduled to

testify in front of the panel on Tuesday.According to , Haley and

others could be on the brink of devising ways of understanding so-called

illnesses

of civilization. " Gulf War illness may be a medical condition not radically

different from the conditions suffered by large numbers of Americans exposed to

other low-level chemicals, " told the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.

" This research is important unto itself for veterans, of course, but it is

important for a better understanding of how other illnesses are caused and how

we

might be able to treat them. " The inquiry began July 12, and testimony is

expected

to conclude Tuesday. The panel has heard from British veterans, scientists,

members of Parliament and international researchers. " I am determined to do

everything I can do to make sure that these guys don't go through the same thing

as World War II and Vietnam veterans did, " said, referring to

decades-long periods during which the federal government denied that radiation

or

chemical exposure had any effects on soldiers' health. " But like in the United

States, there are thousands of soldiers who participated in the Gulf War who are

suffering in England, who are hurting, " said. " And we want to help

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Last Updated: Monday, 2 August, 2004, 15:32 GMT 16:32 UK

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Gulf War syndrome inquiry resumes

Ross Perot is addressing the Gulf War Syndrome inquiry in London

Gulf war veterans were made ill by low-level exposure to chemical weapons as

the arms were blown up, says former US presidential candidate Ross Perot. Mr

Perot, and Congressman Bernie , are in a US delegation giving evidence

at an inquiry in London into " Gulf war syndrome " . Support groups claim some

6,000 British veterans have suffered unexplained poor health since the 1991 war.

The MoD does not recognise the syndrome as a medical condition. Speaking ahead

of Monday's hearings, Congressman said he had spoken to " hundreds " of

veterans from his own state of Vermont who were suffering " serious

illnesses " . He compared the situation to Second World War veterans who were

exposed to

radiation and those hit by Agent Orange in Vietnam. Estimate flawed Giving

evidence, Congressman said an American body, the General Accounting

Office, had reported that techniques used by the British and American

authorities to

estimate levels of troop exposure to chemicals were flawed. He said the

Ministry of Defence had followed an American model to estimate that about 3,800

troops were " definitely " within the path of a plume or cloud filled with

chemical

agents which were released following the bombardment of Iraqi facilities in

the first Gulf War. But Congressman said the number of British soldiers

who were potentially exposed to chemicals after the bombing of chemical

facilities was " likely to be much higher than officially estimated " . Meanwhile

Ross

Perot, who was speaking ahead of his appearance on Tuesday, said troops close

to Saddam Hussein's ammunition dumps when they were destroyed in the first

Gulf conflict were more likely to fall ill. " There is a fascinating correlation

between proximity of the troops and the way the wind was blowing - there is a

high incidence close to the bunkers, " said Mr Perot. Dr , one of

the US experts who is also giving evidence, rejected suggestions that veterans

were simply suffering from stress. " Stress does not yield physiological

changes in the brain, " he said. The inquiry is being funded by an anonymous

donor

and is being headed by a former judge, Lord Lloyd of Berwick. It is being held

in public and has already heard from veterans, medical and science experts, MPs

and peers. Military pensions At the last hearing in July, Lord Craig of

Radley, a former chief of defence staff, said the Ministry of Defence should

compensate ill veterans of the first Gulf war. Stress does not yield

physiological changes in the brain

Dr

Lord Craig told the inquiry the ministry should not move to require veterans

to justify their illnesses. Gulf war servicemen and women were inoculated

against a variety of illnesses, including anthrax. Some believe this left them

suffering from complaints such as depression, memory loss, aching joints and

tumours. The MoD says there is no single cause of the illnesses suffered by

veterans and that their symptoms are too varied to be considered part of a wider

syndrome. Some Gulf veterans have suffered from various complaints

Lord Bramall, chief of the defence staff from 1982 to 1985, told the inquiry

the cocktail of vaccines given to Gulf war personnel may be partly to blame.

" We have a ready-made candidate in the cocktail of inoculations, vaccines and

tablets given, all in good faith, " he said.

Special report: home affairs | Special report: politics and Iraq

4.30pm

Gulf illness research 'could help tackle chemical attack'

Staff and agencies

Monday August 2, 2004

Further research into the various illnesses suffered by veterans of the first

Gulf war could help to reduce the potentially lethal effects of a terrorist

chemical attack, a US congressman said today. Bernie , an independent

congressman for the state of Vermont, also said research into the illnesses -

alleged by some to be a Gulf war syndrome - could help millions who suffer with

ailments connected to exposure to large numbers of chemicals.Mr is

part of a US delegation that is this week giving evidence to Lord Lloyd of

Berwick's independent Gulf war illnesses inquiry, now in its third week. The

former

US presidential candidate Ross Perot, a fierce critic of the 1991 Gulf

conflict, will give evidence tomorrow. " We need to know how to treat such

exposures

before we are confronted with potentially hundreds of thousands of affected

civilians, " Mr said. " The same research should lead to the development

of

therapeutic substances that could prevent the lethal effect of these agents in

the event of a chemical war attack. " In his evidence, Mr said society

as a whole could gain from discovery of the causes of the illnesses. " All of

us are exposed to a large number of chemicals, and those chemicals may be

connected to diseases for which we currently have no treatment, like chronic

fatigue syndrome, " he added.He explained that US soldiers had been branded

" malingerers and liars " when they first reported the symptoms of " Gulf war

syndrome "

following the 1991 conflict. He added that official accounts underestimated how

many people could have been affected.

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In his statement, Mr said: " From 100,000 to 125,000 US service

members are affected, out of a total of some 700,000 that served in theatre. " He

also referred to the findings of a US body, the general accounting office (GAO),

which has stated that techniques used by British and US authorities to

estimate levels of troop exposure to chemicals had been flawed. The GAO report

refers

to the bombing and demolition of Iraqi facilities in the first Gulf war,

which resulted in the release of plumes of smoke containing chemical agents. The

bombing in question took place in Khamisiyah, and its effects included the

destruction of weapons containing nerve agents such as sarin. In June 1996, the

US

Department of Defence (DoD) estimated that only 300-400 US troops had

participated in the demolition of the Khamisiyah Bunker 73. However, using

results

based on computer modelling, the US government had, by 2000, revised its

estimate to suggest that 101,752 of its troops had potentially been exposed. Mr

said the UK Ministry of Defence - which has never accepted that a

syndrome

exists - had used US models to estimate those potentially affected and that

the number was " likely to be much higher than officially estimated " . Earlier, at

a news conference, he said he had spoken to " hundreds " of veterans from his

own state who were suffering " serious illnesses " . He compared the situation to

that of second world war veterans who had been exposed to radiation and those

hit by agent orange in Vietnam. Also speaking at the press conference, Mr

Perot said troops who had been close to Saddam Hussein's ammunition dumps when

they were destroyed during the first Gulf conflict were more likely to fall ill.

" There is a fascinating correlation between proximity of the troops and the

way the wind was blowing - there is a high incidence close to the bunkers, " he

said.The billionaire Texan ran in the 1992 presidential elections, earning 19%

of the popular vote to make him the most successful third-party candidate

since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. Analysts argued he tipped the election in

favour

of the Democratic party's successful challenger, Bill Clinton. Dr

, one of the US experts, rejected suggestions that veterans were simply

suffering from stress. " Stress does not yield physiological changes in the

brain, "

he said. The Lloyd inquiry follows the government's refusal to grant an

official public inquiry into the issue. Lord Lloyd, a 75-year-old former Lord

Justice of Appeal, was asked to head an inquiry by Lord of Manchester.

Lord

is an adviser to the British Legion, which has, for many years, called

for an inquiry. The inquiry has been held in public and has already heard from

veterans, medical and science expert, MPs and peers.

to testify in Britain on Gulf War syndrome - Jul. 31, 2004By DARREN

M. ALLEN Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER - For years, U.S. Rep. Bernard

has been in the thick of congressional debates over the existence of Gulf War

syndrome, the label given to a host of ailments suffered by more than 100,000

veterans of the 1991 war in Iraq. Now that the federal government appears on

the brink of recognizing the syndrome as a legitimate illness, the Vermont

Independent on Monday will take his fight to London, where he will be the only

member of Congress to testify before an independent inquiry into the root causes

of memory loss, muscle pain, depression and other symptoms. " We want to raise

public consciousness in England and around the world of some of the

extraordinary progress in research we've made in the United States, "

said in a

telephone interview late last week. " If you understand history and how we've

treated the needs of veterans, you'll notice a pattern of stonewalling, where

the government puts up a tremendous fight before finally acknowledging a

problem. " Shortly after veterans began returning from the Persian Gulf in the

early

1990s, many thousands of them reported suffering a host of chronic symptoms.

First dismissed as stress-related or, in some quarters, a pattern of

malingering, the panoply of conditions collectively became known as Gulf War

syndrome.

And while recent research at universities in the United States have begun to

isolate a potential single cause of the maladies suffered by Gulf War veterans,

most academic and government researchers in the United States and in England

are reluctant to pin the blame on a single cause. Indeed, while the U.S.

government now acknowledges that there could be a root cause for the symptoms,

the

British government continues to insist that none exists. According to the

British Broadcasting System, a study released last month by the London School of

Hygiene and Tropical Medicine concluded that there is " evidence against a unique

Gulf War syndrome. " wants to change that thinking: He has read

similar conclusions in the United States for years. " In the United States, the

nay-sayers who accused Gulf War veterans of being malingerers or suffering from

stress-induced conditions have been largely discredited, " said he will

tell the British panel. " The United States Department of Defense no longer holds

that view, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs no longer holds

that view and the American Congress does not hold that view. " There are too

many ill veterans and there's been too much scientific progress proving that

veterans are physically ill. " The leading U.S. researcher into the symptoms

suffered by Gulf War veterans is Haley of the University of Texas

Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He has reported a link between a

low-level

exposure to sarin, a nerve gas, and the symptoms experienced by veterans. Haley

- who

will testify before the British panel Tuesday - is blazing a trail that could

lead to more than identifying a single Gulf War illness, said. The

congressman was instrumental in securing $5 million in federal money to continue

the research Haley has begun, which comes on top of another $15 million that

the Veterans Affairs Department has earmarked for Gulf War-related illnesses.

According to , Haley and others could be on the brink of devising ways

of understanding so-called illnesses of civilization. " Gulf War illness may be

a medical condition not radically different from the conditions suffered by

large numbers of Americans exposed to other low-level chemicals, " said.

" This research is important unto itself for veterans, of course, but it is

important for a better understanding of how other illnesses are caused and how

we might be able to treat them. " The independent British inquiry - financed

anonymously by private citizens - is up against tough challenges, however. The

government, according to press reports, has barred scientists doing research for

the government from testifying, and has asked those scientists to refrain

from sharing their progress. The inquiry began July 12, and testimony is

expected

to conclude Tuesday. The panel has heard from British veterans, scientists,

members of Parliament and international researchers. It is unclear when the

panel will issue a report of its findings. " I am determined to do everything I

can do to make sure that these guys don't go through the same thing as World War

II and Vietnam veterans did, " said, referring to decades-long periods

during which the federal government denied that radiation or chemical

exposure had any effects on soldiers' health. " But like in the United States,

there

are thousands of soldiers who participated in the Gulf War who are suffering in

England, who are hurting, " said. " And we want to help convince the

British government that there is a reason for it. " Contact Darren at

darren.allen@... or darren.allen@....

Monday, August 2, 2004 8:57 AMCongressman to testify in UK on Gulf War

syndrome(Montpelier, VT - AP) â€” Vermont Congressman Bernie is in

London

today testifying on the so-called Gulf War syndrome. is the only member

of

Congress to testify before an independent panel in Britain looking at the

causes and symptoms of the condition.The congressman has been a long-time

advocate

for greater awareness about the syndrome.Thousands of veterans of the 1991

war in Iraq suffered muscle pain, memory loss and a host of other symptoms after

returning home.Academics and government researchers, though, have been

reluctant to pin blame for the maladies on a single cause. says he's

determined to do everything he can to change that thinking.

Gulf allies 'all faced chemical exposure'

Meikle, health correspondent

Tuesday August 3, 2004

The Guardian

US investigators researching illnesses suffered by veterans of the first Gulf

war yesterday insisted that all troops and civilians in the area might have

been exposed to low levels of chemical agents. Material was blasted into the

environment by bombing attacks on Iraqi chemical plants and munition centres

during the war, and by demolition by allied forces afterwards, witnesses told

Lord Lloyd's independent inquiry into claims by British veterans that they had

been made ill by their service. None of the witnesses from US congressional

investigations attempted to quantify the exact levels of exposure, but

Haley, from the University of Texas, who has both examined veterans and studied

animal experiments, is today expected to say that low-level agents do in fact

cause detectable brain injuries. " All persons in the theatre may have been

exposed, " said , chief technologist for the government

accountability

office (GAO), an investigating arm of the US Congress. The GAO said recently

that the US government's models for assessing the number of soldiers who might

have been exposed to agents from the plume caused by the destruction of a

weapons bunker at Khamisayah, in southern Iraq, after the war could not be

supported. The US government estimated that just over 100,000 US troops may have

been

exposed, and the Ministry of Defence in Britain has admitted that 9,000

British troops may have been exposed. But Dr said: " The concern for you

all

is that your MoD completely relied on [uS] department of defence modelling, so

any estimation of exposure, or any estimation of concentration of material, or

any estimation of who was or who was not under the plume, is at the mercy of

the department of defence model. "

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He added that Dr Haley's work was showing " physiological damage to veterans

as a result of low-level exposure " . Tuite, an adviser to an earlier

investigation of Gulf war illnesses, said that there was growing credible

scientific experience, in addition to substantial anecdotal evidence, that

" sub-acute

levels of airborne chemical warfare agents were present within the theatre of

operations " . About 14,000 chemical agent alarms deployed by US forces sounded

on average two to three times a day " for a total of approximately 42,000 alarms

per day for 42 days " - up to 1.76m alarms during the war. Yet the US

department of defence asserted all were false alarms, and argued that exposure

to

chemical weapons for unprotected people was " painful, debilitating and often

deadly " . There had been no such effects seen in the Gulf, the US government had

said. Shays, a Republican who chairs the congressional sub-committee

on the issue, said in a written submission to the Lloyd inquiry that the GAO

study was significant. " Caught using bad science to support worse policies, the

department of defence can no longer defend the proposition veterans'

illnesses are not related to battlefield exposures. We shared that battlefield

with

British troops. The GAO findings have profound implications for them, and for

civilian populations in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran. " Bernie , an

independent member of the House of Representatives from Vermont, said: " To say

to

someone who is ill, who may be dying, who cannot go to work ... because we do

not understand your illness, we cannot compensate you, or that you are

different from someone whose war wound we understand, is very upsetting. "