Gulf War Syndrome Doesn't Exist

A study by Johns Hopkins University for the Veteran's Administration states that "Gulf War Syndrome" doesn't exist. This is not to say that the medical problems and illnesses suffered by Gulf War vets doesn't exist, it means that there is too much variation in the symptoms for them to be caused by a single entity. These problems are not confined to Gulf War veterans exclusively, other veterans have them, but they seem to occur in a higher percentage of Gulf War vets.



This study has the possibility of being political Dynamite and I have to wonder about the timing of it's release. Is this study to be a club so that one party can beat the other over the head with it before the Congressional elections or is it just a coincidence?

I know too many of these veterans to believe that this is just a put on to collect disability benefits. I have heard of everything from exposure to DU, to plastic bottles leeching chemicals into their drinking water blames as the cause of these symptoms. If a syndrome was found to exist, it would enable those suffering from it to get the benefits that they deserve. Now they have to prove that their medical problems were caused by their military service, which is much more difficult.



[edit on 12-9-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

The U.S. military must be delighted of not having to pay out mass compensation to gulf war veterens who have a condition that doesn't exist. How can these folk prove that their military service caused their illness? They can't, can they?

In 2008 and 2009, from the troops that were in Iraq at the beginning of the war with the massive use of DU, those soldiers will face the consequences of the exposure to these radioactives products. Why 2008/2009 and not now? Because it takes about 5 to 6 years to become apparent to the people who were in contact with this DU. There's already a lot more cancer in Iraq a rise of about 400% in 2005. And it will be getting higher in the next few years. I hope that those responsibles for the use of those radioactives materials will pay... Rumsfeld..

This makes you wonder what sort of maladies our current, returning vets will have that does'nt exist. The poor grunts are just pawns and cannon fodder to be discarded after the game is finished. Shame!

From what I understand GWS is caused by exposure to depleted uranium shells...the more you were exposed to them, the sicker you get. i.e. radiation sickness. BUT since this could be treated with iodine (among other things) to do so would be de facto admitting that we deliberately exposed our troops to radiation. BTW Iraqi civilians and military came down with GWS after the first gulf war too so it is probably a combination of factors...radiation...soot from burning oil fields etc. Besides all that it is pretty obvious that they got sick from something.

I contraced Gulf War Syndrome from my husband when he returned from the Gulf War. He had been given a tick borne encephalitis vaccine, as had all the soldiers, airmen and so on. He became a carrier of it. It is passed, just like HIV, via intimate contact with body secretions. Ticks carry Lymes Disease, which has a component called a "mycoplasm." These mycoplasms attack the nervous system, which controls all the organs in the body. How they do this is rather insidious. They have no cell wall of their own, so they borrow the cell wall of the nerves of the body. They then control the nerve, causing it to misfire, fire too often, not enough, and so on. This has the resulting effect of causing various organs and systems in the body to malfunction, neuropathy, chronic arthritic symptoms, chronic fatigue, mycoplasm induced diabetes, and so on. anything that is controlled by a nerve or nerves, is a potential target.

The mycoplasms were not killed when the encephalitis vaccines were created. No one knew they were there. They are so small, and initially present no cell wall proteins by which to identify them unless you know exactly what you are looking for. The best possible treatment for it is the same as the treatment for Lymes disease as both share the mycoplasm in common, and because of the mycoplasm have not only similar symptoms but similar co-infections from various opportunistic parasites.

"federally funded" means they pay people to find a way to come up with "evidence" that suits their best interests.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
A study by Johns Hopkins University for the Veteran's Administration states that "Gulf War Syndrome" doesn't exist. This is not to say that the medical problems and illnesses suffered by Gulf War vets doesn't exist, it means that there is too much variation in the symptoms for them to be caused by a single entity. These problems are not confined to Gulf War veterans exclusively, other veterans have them, but they seem to occur in a higher percentage of Gulf War vets.

 

www.cnn.com
WASHINGTON (AP) -- There is no such thing as Gulf War syndrome, even though U.S. and foreign veterans of the war report more symptoms of illness than do soldiers who didn't serve there, a federally funded study concludes.

U.S. and foreign veterans of the Gulf War do suffer from an array of very real problems, according to the Veterans Administration-sponsored report released Tuesday.

Yet there is no one complex of symptoms to suggest those veterans -- nearly 30 percent of all those who served -- suffered or still suffer from a single identifiable syndrome.




Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

This study has the possibility of being political Dynamite and I have to wonder about the timing of it's release. Is this study to be a club so that one party can beat the other over the head with it before the Congressional elections or is it just a coincidence?

I know too many of these veterans to believe that this is just a put on to collect disability benefits. I have heard of everything from exposure to DU, to plastic bottles leeching chemicals into their drinking water blames as the cause of these symptoms. If a syndrome was found to exist, it would enable those suffering from it to get the benefits that they deserve. Now they have to prove that their medical problems were caused by their military service, which is much more difficult.



[edit on 12-9-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by undo
I contraced Gulf War Syndrome from my husband when he returned from the Gulf War. He had been given a tick borne encephalitis vaccine, as had all the soldiers, airmen and so on. He became a carrier of it. It is passed, just like HIV, via intimate contact with body secretions. Ticks carry Lymes Disease, which has a component called a "mycoplasm." These mycoplasms attack the nervous system, which controls all the organs in the body. How they do this is rather insidious. They have no cell wall of their own, so they borrow the cell wall of the nerves of the body. They then control the nerve, causing it to misfire, fire too often, not enough, and so on. This has the resulting effect of causing various organs and systems in the body to malfunction, neuropathy, chronic arthritic symptoms, chronic fatigue, mycoplasm induced diabetes, and so on. anything that is controlled by a nerve or nerves, is a potential target.

The mycoplasms were not killed when the encephalitis vaccines were created. No one knew they were there. They are so small, and initially present no cell wall proteins by which to identify them unless you know exactly what you are looking for. The best possible treatment for it is the same as the treatment for Lymes disease as both share the mycoplasm in common, and because of the mycoplasm have not only similar symptoms but similar co-infections from various opportunistic parasites.

How do you know that your husband has given you GWS. I find your story very interesting as I have been ill for some years with various fatigue and nervous disorder symptoms. My husband was in the first Gulf war and they had to take a cocktail of vaccines and all sorts of tablets. I have always been wondering if my not being well had something to do with that?

[edit on 13-9-2006 by Hermann]

Originally posted by undo
I contraced Gulf War Syndrome from my husband when he returned from the Gulf War. He had been given a tick borne encephalitis vaccine, as had all the soldiers, airmen and so on. He became a carrier of it. It is passed, just like HIV, via intimate contact with body secretions. Ticks carry Lymes Disease, which has a component called a "mycoplasm." These mycoplasms attack the nervous system, which controls all the organs in the body. How they do this is rather insidious. They have no cell wall of their own, so they borrow the cell wall of the nerves of the body. They then control the nerve, causing it to misfire, fire too often, not enough, and so on. This has the resulting effect of causing various organs and systems in the body to malfunction, neuropathy, chronic arthritic symptoms, chronic fatigue, mycoplasm induced diabetes, and so on. anything that is controlled by a nerve or nerves, is a potential target.

The mycoplasms were not killed when the encephalitis vaccines were created. No one knew they were there. They are so small, and initially present no cell wall proteins by which to identify them unless you know exactly what you are looking for. The best possible treatment for it is the same as the treatment for Lymes disease as both share the mycoplasm in common, and because of the mycoplasm have not only similar symptoms but similar co-infections from various opportunistic parasites.

That is a very sad story. What do you think of this "study"?

Originally posted by Hermann

Originally posted by undo
I contraced Gulf War Syndrome from my husband when he returned from the Gulf War. He had been given a tick borne encephalitis vaccine, as had all the soldiers, airmen and so on. He became a carrier of it. It is passed, just like HIV, via intimate contact with body secretions. Ticks carry Lymes Disease, which has a component called a "mycoplasm." These mycoplasms attack the nervous system, which controls all the organs in the body. How they do this is rather insidious. They have no cell wall of their own, so they borrow the cell wall of the nerves of the body. They then control the nerve, causing it to misfire, fire too often, not enough, and so on. This has the resulting effect of causing various organs and systems in the body to malfunction, neuropathy, chronic arthritic symptoms, chronic fatigue, mycoplasm induced diabetes, and so on. anything that is controlled by a nerve or nerves, is a potential target.

The mycoplasms were not killed when the encephalitis vaccines were created. No one knew they were there. They are so small, and initially present no cell wall proteins by which to identify them unless you know exactly what you are looking for. The best possible treatment for it is the same as the treatment for Lymes disease as both share the mycoplasm in common, and because of the mycoplasm have not only similar symptoms but similar co-infections from various opportunistic parasites.

How do you know that your husband has given you GWS. I find your story very interesting as I have been ill for some years with various fatigue and nervous disorder symptoms. My husband was in the first Gulf war and they had to take a cocktail of vaccines and all sorts of tablets. I have always been wondering if my not being well had something to do with that?

[edit on 13-9-2006 by Hermann]

I went into a coma (one of the target areas of mycoplasma carried by Ticks, is the gray matter of the brain or really any nervous tissue), after he returned. The diagnosis was "brain stem encephalitis", possibly tick borne variety, but there were virtually no ticks where we lived. I was on total life support and they had diagnosed me as in a persistent vegetative state. The miilitary insurance company had sent out a company man to encourage my hubby to turn off the life support systems (I was on full life support - not breathing on my own and so forth). They couldn't isolate the offending germ or bacteria.

After recovering from the coma, I developed various neurological problems, and over the years, have gone from having chronic fatigue, to neuropathy in my joints. mycoplasma induced breast cancer due to unnaturally elevated estrogen levels and mycoplasma induced diabetes. I also have some short term memory leakage.

Here's an interesting article on the topic at Rense.com
www.rense.com...

And if you don't like Rense, here's an interesting article on the topic on the Gulf War Vets site:
www.gulfwarvets.com...

[edit on 13-9-2006 by undo]

Originally posted by MacDonagh

That is a very sad story. What do you think of this "study"?

I think they are full of caca.

Wonderful. So the assorted physical ailments of unusual nature Ive been suffering from for the past ten years......is caused by....nothing? Why am I not surprised?

I was in the gulf 4 years after the war. They were still giving us vaccines and whatever was in the sand was still there. Plus, every wednsday, they had a fogger truck drive around the barracks releasing some sickening, toxic cloud of something that supposedly was mean to kill scorpions.

Im not the only one who has gotten sick, though my symptoms are more kild and subdued than some of my friends who were actually in the gulf war.

Great. This reminds me of the crap they gave agent orange victims. And they wonder why no one wants to sign up anymore?

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Wonderful. So the assorted physical ailments of unusual nature Ive been suffering from for the past ten years......is caused by....nothing? Why am I not surprised?

I was in the gulf 4 years after the war. They were still giving us vaccines and whatever was in the sand was still there. Plus, every wednsday, they had a fogger truck drive around the barracks releasing some sickening, toxic cloud of something that supposedly was mean to kill scorpions.

Im not the only one who has gotten sick, though my symptoms are more kild and subdued than some of my friends who were actually in the gulf war.

Great. This reminds me of the crap they gave agent orange victims. And they wonder why no one wants to sign up anymore?

Get tested for mycoplasm. See the articles I linked above.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Wonderful. So the assorted physical ailments of unusual nature Ive been suffering from for the past ten years......is caused by....nothing? Why am I not surprised?

I was in the gulf 4 years after the war. They were still giving us vaccines and whatever was in the sand was still there. Plus, every wednsday, they had a fogger truck drive around the barracks releasing some sickening, toxic cloud of something that supposedly was mean to kill scorpions.

Im not the only one who has gotten sick, though my symptoms are more kild and subdued than some of my friends who were actually in the gulf war.

Great. This reminds me of the crap they gave agent orange victims. And they wonder why no one wants to sign up anymore?

It doesn't mean that your afflictions are caused by nothing. What this study says is that there isn't any single malady that is common to all of the veteran's claims. This doesn't mean that their illness and physical problems are not real, it means that they can't define a single thing that is the cause of them. It also doesn't say that these problems were not caused by service in the Gulf War.

I have never believed that the military comes clean when it comes to the health of service personel, myself included. I remember getting a Yellow Fever vaccine in boot camp in 1982, when I got the rest of my shots. in 1986 I got two more Yellow Fever vaccines, one in April and one in August. A Yellow Fever vaccine is supposed to be good for 10 years and I got three in 4 years? I don't think so. There were also a number of TB type skin tests given at the same time. Hmmmm.

Another thing was the jet fuel in the water on board the older aircraft carriers. The Navy called it their version of an urban legend. If it was an urban legend, how's come the drinking water on the Forrestal would support a flame for a few seconds? Add in the other chemicals that you were exposed to on a daily basis and you can see where this is going.

Hell, this is like Jacobs Ladder all over again!!!!!

The study from the OPs source is simply implying that it shouldn't be called the "Gulf War Syndrome", since the syndrome does not only come from the Gulf War time frame, but other places as well.

What is the purpose of this release? Is it just to whitewash the military out of paying off for the veterens, or is it going to be used as some sort of 'political' weapon against a group who've pushed for compensation on behalf of the Gulf War folk?

Originally posted by MacDonagh
What is the purpose of this release?

There is no purpose for the release. The release neither helps nor hurts anything. Its neutral.

It's simply saying, the Gulf War Syndrome is the after effect of a compilation of many different causes, and it is not a SINGLE syndrome, but MULTIPLE syndromes. The syndrome itself shouldn't be called the "Gulf War Syndrome", but it should be split up into many different syndrome names, so technically the Gulf War Syndrome does not exist. Since these syndromes are "unidentifiable", they will have to create new names for them, which I believe is a task they have trouble with. I guess they believe every syndrome on Earth has already been discovered and named, so that is why they are having trouble identifying them.

Since the report says "U.S. and foreign veterans of the Gulf War do suffer from an array of very real problems", there is no escaping the fact these vets should receive benefits from the military.

This release is just garbage. Its junk mail.

Originally posted by undo
I contraced Gulf War Syndrome from my husband when he returned from the Gulf War. He had been given a tick borne encephalitis vaccine, as had all the soldiers, airmen and so on. He became a carrier of it. It is passed, just like HIV, via intimate contact with body secretions. Ticks carry Lymes Disease, which has a component called a "mycoplasm." These mycoplasms attack the nervous system, which controls all the organs in the body. How they do this is rather insidious. They have no cell wall of their own, so they borrow the cell wall of the nerves of the body. They then control the nerve, causing it to misfire, fire too often, not enough, and so on. This has the resulting effect of causing various organs and systems in the body to malfunction, neuropathy, chronic arthritic symptoms, chronic fatigue, mycoplasm induced diabetes, and so on. anything that is controlled by a nerve or nerves, is a potential target.

The mycoplasms were not killed when the encephalitis vaccines were created. No one knew they were there. They are so small, and initially present no cell wall proteins by which to identify them unless you know exactly what you are looking for. The best possible treatment for it is the same as the treatment for Lymes disease as both share the mycoplasm in common, and because of the mycoplasm have not only similar symptoms but similar co-infections from various opportunistic parasites.

Doesnt this wiki need an update?

en.wikipedia.org...

Gulf War syndrome (GWS) or Gulf War illness (GWI) affects veterans and civilians who were near conflicts during or downwind of a chemical weapons depot demolition, after the 1991 Gulf War.

It was because of the demolition of chemical weapons? While exclusively Americans who were vaccinated were affected? Who writes these things?

reply to post by JIMC5499


This is wild. I used to have a girl friend whos dad was in NAM when the agent orange was being used. She has had problems since she was a child but they diagnosed it a some mediterrainian fever border line illness.. When I was a close friend of hers I used to wonder if there were residual effects from her father being exposed to the agent orange. I felt and thought this just because of the ways her docts thru her history never really being able to finger the exact issue. But as of now there is no research to check to see so its just a lost issue. Soldiers of ALL battles usually get the long end oft he stick why OTHERS sit back and controll them in safe zones and manage their lives after their fights when they become vets. SAD