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News On Gwi

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mike/3/8/cav

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<H3 style="FONT-SIZE: 17px; MARGIN: 15px 0px 5px; COLOR: #000000">Scientific panel concludes Gulf War syndrome is a legitimate illness.</H3>NBC Nightly News (11/17, story 11, 0:40, Williams) reported, "A major federal study released" Monday "puts to rest the question of whether Gulf War Syndrome...is real or not." The "450-page report concludes that exposure to toxic chemicals, including a drug meant to protect troops from nerve gas, sickened one in four of the almost 700,000 veterans in the 1990 to '91 conflict. Veterans' groups said today's report vindicates them after years of denial on the part of their government."

The Los Angeles Times (11/18, Engel, Maugh II) reports that the panel, "chartered by Congress, cites nerve gas drug and pesticides used during the conflict as being associated with veterans' neurological problems." And, in stark contrast to "nearly two decades of government denials," the panel "concluded that Gulf War syndrome is real and still afflicts nearly a quarter of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict." According to the report, "two chemical exposures [are] consistently associated with the disorder: the drug pyridostigmine bromide, given to troops to protect against nerve gas, and pesticides that were widely used -- and often overused -- to protect against sand flies and other pests."

UPI (11/18) adds, "Many Gulf War veterans reported problems with memory and concentration, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue, and widespread pain. Other complaints include chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms, and skin rashes." The scientific panel, as well as veterans, "called upon Congress to appropriate $60 million annually to conduct research into finding a cure for the disorder," since "there are currently no treatments."

According to CNN (11/18, Silverleib), the panel noted that "few veterans afflicted with Gulf War illness have recovered over time."

The panelists "compared [the government's] foot-dragging and denials to the treatment of earlier troops who claimed that they'd been dangerously exposed to Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides in Vietnam and radiation during World War II," McClatchy (11/17, Goldstein) reported. The scientists also charged that "federal research into the causes behind the mysterious malady has 'not been effective,'" and stated that "there is...a common perception that federal policymakers have not vigorously pursued key research in this area and that federal agencies have disincentives...for providing definitive answers to Gulf War health questions."

These "findings led to immediate calls for official action on both sides of the Atlantic," the U.K.'s Independent (11/18, Sengupta) notes. "In the U.K., troops' welfare groups said the British Government must do more to help those affected, and carry out its own comprehensive research." Like the U.S. government, "the British Government has insisted there is not enough scientific evidence so far to prove the existence of Gulf War syndrome. But, it has agreed to offer war pensions to members of the forces who became ill after serving in the first Gulf war."

HealthDay (11/17, Reinberg) noted that, according to the panelists, "Gulf War veterans have much higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease) than other veterans, and soldiers who were downwind from large-scale munitions demolitions in 1991 have died from brain cancer at twice the rate of other Gulf War veterans." In order to reach these conclusions, "the panel reviewed evidence about a wide range of possible environmental exposures that could cause Gulf War illness. That review included hundreds of studies of Gulf War veterans, research in other groups of populations, animal studies of toxic exposures, and government investigations about events and exposures during the Gulf War." The USA Today (11/17, Winter) On Deadline blog and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (11/17, Barber) Now Hear This: Seattle's Military Blog also covered the story.

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Taken from the FDA website list the Possible Side Effects from takening the PB nerve agent pills.

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/Pyri...e/Q&A.htm#8

8. What are possible side effects of pyridostigmine bromide?

Some side effects that may occur include:

stomach cramps

gas

diarrhea

nausea

increased urge to urinate

drooling

sweating

headaches

dizziness

eye tearing

blurred vision

runny nose

shortness of breath

acid stomach, including heartburn or reflux

tingling of fingers, toes, arms, and legs

muscle twitching, weakness, or cramping

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-anthrax.pdf

CDC says side effects from Anthrax Shots

Anthrax vaccine

Mild Problems

Soreness, redness, or itching where the shot was given (about 1 out of 10 men, about 1 out of 6 women)

A lump where the shot was given (about 1 person out of 2)

Muscle aches or joint aches (about 1 person out of 5)

Headaches (about 1 person out of 5)

Fatigue (about 1 out of 15 men, about 1 out of 6 women)

Chills or fever (about 1 person out of 20)

Nausea (about 1 person out of 20).

Also from the FDA.gov Website.

Oil Well Fires

Inhaled petroleum with an aromatic content would be expected to partition in the lung. The aromatic portion of the oil is fat-soluble and would pass through the lung wall to be deposited in the adipose tissue. It also is possible some of the non-aromatic portion of inhaled petroleum would pass through the lung wall and be deposited from the blood in the spleen, lymph nodes, liver and kidneys. The aromatic and other petroleum fractions distributed throughout the body would cause systemic toxicity which expresses through many symptoms. A detailed discussion of petroleum toxicology is beyond the scope of this paper. An extensive literature review by the author has found petroleum exposure associated with the following symptoms:

cancer

fatigue

breathlessness

cough

skin rash

headache

diarrhea

weight loss

memory loss

immune suppression

chemical sensitivity

Skin exposure to petroleum has been known for many years to cause skin cancer, rashes, eczema, acne, and dermatitis. The reaction of the skin to petroleum depends upon the composition, boiling range, viscosity and aromatic content of the oil. Aromatic content is a key toxicity parameter for petroleum; the higher the aromatic content, the greater is the toxicity. Aromatic compounds boiling between 500 and 1000o F. have been found highly carcinogenic.

Highly refined petroleum oils, called white oils, are used for lotions and skin creams. These highly refined oils have all aromatic compounds removed and as a result have low toxicity.

The potential for skin carcinogenicity and toxicity of the oil rain must be evaluated based upon its estimated boiling range, viscosity and aromatic content. As mentioned above, the source of the oil rain was Kuwait crude oil altered by heating in the oil fires. Reports of the oil rain forming a sticky coating on surfaces suggest it was similar to a lubricating oil in viscosity and boiling range. This is effectively a weathered crude, similar to that found in an environmental spill, and would contain a high level of aromatic compounds and asphaltic and resinous compounds.

Animal testing with Kuwait crude has found it carcinogenic. The study was a lifetime mouse skin painting experiment using Kuwait , Louisiana , and shale oil crude. The Kuwait crude was a paraffinic crude with a high sulfur content. The composition and physical properties of the crude oils were not given. However, the article states the Kuwait crude was selected because it was used extensively in the United States . Kuwait has three major types of crude which are Ratawi, Burgan and Kuwait export. Export crude has 2.5% sulfur and an API gravity of 31.4 A reasonable assumption is the crude used in the study would be export crude, and would be comparable to the crude composition given in the DoD report.

The study found the Kuwait crude produced carcinogenic tumors on 38% of the mice. This is to be compared with the Louisiana crude that produced tumors in 20% of the mice, and shale oil with tumors in 68-92% of the mice.

Another study examined carcinogenicity of a domestic Gulf Coast naphthenic crude and a foreign, high (2.54%) sulfur paraffinic crude. The foreign crude had a boiling profile and sulfur content similar to Kuwait export and likely was a Kuwait crude. In this study, the crudes were separated into fractions that would approximate the gasoline, fuel oil, light lube oil, and heavy fuel oil fractions. The whole crude oil and each fraction were tested using standard mouse skin testing protocols. The whole foreign crude produced tumors on 56% of the mice. The higher boiling fuel oil fraction, which boiled at 700-1070o F, produced tumors in 87% of the mice. The higher boiling fuel oil fraction would roughly correspond to the oil rain in composition and boiling range. Thus, a reasonable assumption is the oil rain was highly carcinogenic.

Domestic and wild animals in Kuwait suffered severe health effects from the smoke and oil rain. Observations reported just after the end of the war stated:

Sheep, goats and camels grazing in the areas impacted by the burning wells have turned black from the falling drops of oil and have started to lose their fur and die. Many birds observed flying through the plumes are overcome by heat and fumes and fall to the ground.

Inspection of sheep in a Kuwait slaughter house after the war found the sheep had lipoid pneumonia; there were massive clots in the lungs. Also observed were dark granulated livers and blood clots in the hearts.

In summary, the oil rain would have caused a petroleum exposure from inhalation and skin absorption. The petroleum rain would be expected to cause lipoid pneumonia in the lungs, a progressive lung disease whose major symptom is breathlessness similar to asthma. The oil rain on the skin would be expected to cause rashes, dermatitis, and future cancers.

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