Stars & Stripes: Gulf War veterans with brain cancer denied fast track to compensation

SCIENCE DAILY: Studies point to gene-based brain glitches in ill Gulf War vets

SOURCE:  Science Daily,  by Veterans Affairs Research Communications, November 17, 2016

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161117103750.htm

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Studies point to gene-based brain glitches in ill Gulf War vets

Researchers use MEG brain scans to track differences

NSU Scientists Study Disease that Impacts Hundreds of Thousands of Gulf War Veterans

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nova Southeastern University Scientists Study Disease that Impacts Hundreds of Thousands of Gulf War Veterans

New Study Links Chemical Alarms to Negative Brain Changes

(91outcomes.com) - Newly released study results suggest that 1991 Gulf War exposures that triggered chemical alarms damaged veterans' brain structure and function.

The study results, published this month in the peer-reviewed Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, looked at 1991 Gulf War veterans' self-reports of hearing chemical alarms going off during the war.  Previous estimates have suggested chemical alarms sounded tens of thousands of times across the Gulf War theater of operations during the six-week war to oust Iraqi military occupying forces from Kuwait.

A pair of studies in 2012 by Dr.'s James Haley and James Tuite provided new evidence that supports that chemical plumes from destroyed Iraqi chemical warfare production and storage facilities drifted down over and exposed large numbers of Gulf War troops to low-levels of sarin, mustard, and other Iraqi chemical warfare agents.

CDMRP Publicizes New Resources, including Gulf War Illness "Landscape"

(91outcomes.com) - Two significant new publicly available resources have been developed and publicly released by the Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP), part of the U.S. Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).  

The Gulf War Illness Landscape

The first new GWIRP public resource, just released today, is the GWIRP's "landscape" of Gulf War illness (GWI) research.  The GWIRP prepared this Landscape as an overview of what is currently known about topics consistent with the GWIRP's integrated, three-part, Congressionally-directed mission: identifying GWI treatments; improving the definition and diagnosis of GWI; and, understanding GWI's pathobiology and symptoms.

STARS & STRIPES: VA extends deadline 5 more years for seeking Gulf War illness benefits

SOURCE:  Stars and Stripes, October 17, 2016, Nikii Wentling reporting
http://www.stripes.com/news/va-extends-deadline-for-seeking-gulf-war-illness-benefits-to-2021-1.434547

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VA extends deadline for seeking Gulf War illness benefits to 2021

CDMRP-Funded Study Testing 9 Treatments for Gulf War Illness

(91outcomes.com) - A new study funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) is testing nine different treatments in veterans with Gulf War Illness.

The study, Treating Gulf War Illness with Novel Anti-Inflammatories: A Screening of Botanical Microglia Modulators, is being led by Dr. Jarred Younger of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  During the course of the study, investigators will test the treatment viability of each of the nine plant-based treatments -- three in each veteran participant.  

CDMRP-Funded Study Finds 3 Blood Biomarkers of Gulf War Illness, Advances Toward Treatments

(91outcomes.com) - A Minnesota researcher has identified three "readily measurable" biomarkers in the blood of 1991 Gulf War veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness that may help enhance the current case definition for the disease and aid in treatment trials.  

Supported by a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) research grant, Dr. Ronald Bach of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and his research team identified the biomarkers, which include specific changes in lymphocytes, monocytes, and C reactive protein.  Additionally, "Lymphocyte, monocyte, neutrophil, and platelet counts were higher in GWI subjects. Six serum proteins associated with inflammation were significantly different in GWI subjects."

CDMRP-Funded Study Finds 3 Blood Biomarkers of Gulf War Illness, Advances Toward Treatments

(91outcomes.com) - A Minnesota researcher has identified three "readily measurable" biomarkers in the blood of 1991 Gulf War veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness that may help enhance the current case definition for the disease and aid in treatment trials.  

VA Study Confirms Worse Sleep Quality, Higher Sleep Apnea Risk in Gulf War Illness

(91outcomes.com) - A new study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) shows that veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness (GWI) have greater risk for obstructive sleep apnea than similar veterans without the debilitating condition.

The study, led by longstanding VA GWI researcher Dr. Linda Chao, also found that veterans with GWI had significantly greater severity of insomnia and worse sleep quality.

Interestingly, the study found a close correlation between insomnia and severity and GWI status.

CDMRP Study Confirms, Builds on Previous Findings that Gulf War Toxins Lead to Long-Term Brain Inflammation

(91outcomes.com) - A study funded by a federal medical research program aimed at developing treatments for Gulf War Illness has found new insight into possible treatment pathways for the debilitating condition that affects as many as one-third of the veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

The study also confirmed previous findings of persistent neurological inflammation in a mouse model following Gulf War toxic exposures. 

Most notably, according to the study's findings, "the persistent neuroinflammation evident in our model presents a platform with which to identify novel biological pathways, correlating with emergent outcomes that may be amenable to therapeutic targeting. Furthermore, in this work we confirmed our previous findings that GW [Gulf War] agent exposure causes neuropathological changes....

CNN: Mustard Gas attack on U.S. Military Base in Iraq

JOEM: Hearing Gulf War Chemical Alarms Associated with Cognitive Decline

MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE: Still sick 25 years after the Gulf War, a vet seeks answers — and the Minneapolis VA may have them

Next RAC Gulf War Meeting - Aug. 8-9, 2016, San Francisco

FOX: ‘Must not be forgotten’: Desert Storm vets on mission to build DC memorial

HEALTHLINE/HUFF POST: Gulf War Veterans Still Fighting Serious Health Problems

MILITARY TIMES: Research provides clues to effective treatments for Gulf War illness

VA Gulf War Research Advisory Committee to Meet in Public Teleconference on June 25

ACTION ALERT: Call Now for Gulf War Research Not Red Tape

UPDATE:  The amendment passed, narrowly, by a vote of 66-32.  These medical research programs have survived another attempt to destroy them.  

The roll call vote is posted below.