Report: New vets show signs of Gulf War illness

[unhappycamper]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20130124report-new-vets-show-signs-gulf-war-illness.html

Report: New vets show signs of Gulf War illness
By Kelly Kennedy USA Today Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:19 AM

WASHINGTON -- Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering from the 20-year-old set of symptoms known as Gulf War illness, according to a new report released Wednesday by the federal Institute of Medicine.

“Preliminary data suggest that (chronic multisymptom illness) is occurring in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well,” the report says.

This may be the first time that the symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have been linked to veterans of the current wars, which started in 2001 and 2003, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

It also means the Department of Veterans Affairs’ definition of who qualifies for Gulf War veterans’ benefits should include those who served in Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founder of Veterans for Common Sense.

[WooWooWoo]

1. another thing I might add to my VA claim

I know for a fact I was exposed to asbestos in Afghanistan. It was growing on the walls and ceiling of our COP and drifted down onto our beds.

We scraped it off the walls, it was so thick - with no protective equipment.

I wasn't sure if I could claim that initially, since I'm not really having any breathing problems (I was coughing up black gunk for like a year after I got back, but it went away eventually).

I might add it, but I'm not sure if I can since I'm not showing any signs.

[unhappycamper]

2. I'd suggest you put asbestos in your VA claim.

The VA has a rather byzantine claims process.

[Victor_c3]

3. damn

My wife gives me hell all the time because of the way I've been coughing ever since I got back from Iraq in 2005 and my near-constant cold. Not to mention fatigue and my PTSD. I wonder if any of this is my exposure to something from when I was in Iraq?

I already have a 70% rating for PTSD. Would it even be worth the effort or struggle to deal with getting this checked out? I've been coping just fine with other, relatively minor, symptoms.

[unhappycamper]

4. "Would it even be worth the effort or struggle to deal with getting this checked out?"

Yes.

Over half of GW I vets are are either dead or disabled. IIRC they got that way because of anti-malaria meds (uncle), burning oil wells (Iraqi) depleted uranium (uncle) and sand fleas (Iraqi).

Bottom line: if you got fucked up in the service, the Veterans Administration is the place to go.