VA Needs to MOVE Faster to Save Lives of Gulf War Veterans

Breaking news more Gulf War RESEARCH?

More Psychologist led treatment.  Gulf War Veterans Need IMMEDIATE Diagnosis!  That means neurological consults!  That means access to the cutting edge research that the VA just cut off funds for an UTSWMED in Dallas!

Dr Haley’s diagnostic tool is needed!  The National Phone Survey was done as part of this 75 million dollar and 5 year contract, this survey allowed us to have detailed questionnaires done on gulf war veterans.  Out of that plans were progressing to have groups of these veterans that could be categorized by unit and location in theater to be brought in for the most complete neurological testing ever.  This would have shown the damage done to our brains.  Then the work of finding the best treatments targeted to structures damaged in the brain was to begin. 

A hope of being able to triage and nail down the damage done so that targeted research could follow.  For the first time we could have had unit specific physiologic damage assessment! WE could have the best clinical practice Neurological Diagnostic Panel of Tests to be implemented by the VA.  You should be busy VA Retraining your doctors and getting the equipment throughout the VA to meet the needs.

Where are the VA Centers of Excellence located geographically across the US that could be the centers of Integrated Research to Clinical Practice so that all veterans of the gulf war could have hope to have the true diagnosing done!  OH they arent there because VA has been too busy killing a contract that has so much to offer.  Yes it would take more to find the other damage in our blood ie Hypercoagulation (Dr Ronald Bach) and diagnosis of same and treatment to save lives.  That critical research needs to be fast tracked because there is where we are dying from blood clots which means the sudden cardiac deaths, strokes, pulmonary embolism, and further damage to vital organs.  WE gulf war veterans are fighting to live!

Has any doctor thought to do arterial blood gas and venous blood gas testing simulatenously?  If you haven’t you should!  Those tests are clinically available and will show you alot of why we are sufferring greatly!  Another Perot saying: "Spend a lot of time talking to customers face to face. You’d be amazed how many companies don’t listen to their customers."  Maybe it is time to Listen to your gulf war veterans, we were a talented and well educated group, and even thorough we are damaged I think we could do alot to move this ahead!  Another one LEAD Effectively, Follow or get out of the way.  WE are fighting for our lives now and for the past 19 years! See the article below on breaking research news.  Which I am glad to see being done but it better be fast tracked so we can get results quickly to all the doctors throughout the VA and treatment out there clinically to every Veteran of the Gulf War!

A special message to the VA we are already anticipating the next dog and pony report from the Gulf War Veterans Advisory Committee on Benefits and Care and we are not trembling with excitement!  They have not listened to us well at all!  To mix gulf war veterans of 90-91 in with OIF/OEF veterans is like mixing apples and oranges.  And saying that the Doctors at VA need Cultural Sensitivity training misses the mark!  They need research updates and briefings from DR Lea Steele, Dr Beatrice Golumb, Dr Roberta White, Dr Meggs,  Dr Robert Haley, and Dr Ronald Bach.  Why don’t you get the full Live Video Network up to all VA Hospitals and clinics and do these briefings now and also put them on www.VA.gov?  Untie the hands of the doctors at the VA that were tied!

Researchers to discuss new study on Gulf War illness treatment at Military Health Research Forum
Posted On: September 1, 2009 – 6:53pm
 KANSAS CITY, MO — September 1, 2009 — New research on treating Gulf War Illness (GWI) is being presented this week at the Military Health Research Forum (MHRF), a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). GWI is a condition that affects approximately 25 percent of service men and women who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. It is characterized by symptoms including fatigue, headache, joint pain, sleep disturbances, and memory problems, and is potentially a result of the veterans’ exposure to toxic elements during their time on duty.

The study was funded by the Gulf War Illnesses Research Program (GWIRP) and managed by the CDMRP. The GWIRP strives to improve the health and lives of veterans who have GWI by supporting innovative research to improve its diagnosis, to better understand its pathobiology and to identify effective treatments for its array of symptoms.

"This program represents much needed movement to address the health concerns of those individuals who served the United States during the Gulf War," said Captain E. Melissa Kaime, M.D., director of the CDMRP. "In order to further assist our veterans, more extensive research of GWI and effective treatments for its various conditions is much needed."

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial of Mifepristone in Gulf War Veterans with Chronic Multisymptom Illness (CMI)

Principal Investigator: Julia Golier, M.D., Bronx Veterans Medical Research Foundation, Inc.

A large percentage of Gulf War veterans – estimates range from 34 to 65 percent – continue to suffer from chronic multisymptom illness, also known as GWI. Symptoms can include fatigue, joint pain, headache, rash and cognitive problems, which may reflect altered regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

The HPA axis is responsible for regulating many things in the body, from the immune system and energy usage, to controlling reactions to stress and trauma. Abnormal functioning of the HPA leads to negative effects on many systems in the body, including the immune system and the nervous system.
Studies have shown that veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have an enhanced neuroendocrine response to a specific type of hormone called glucocorticoids. The increased physical response is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder, all of which can occur with chronic multisymptom illness. This study aims to determine if mifepristone, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, could decrease the enhanced response and therefore improve the physical and mental health and cognitive functioning of Gulf War veterans.

Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx are evaluating veterans of the 1991 Gulf War with chronic multisymptom illness but without any exclusionary psychiatric or medical conditions. All subjects will be treated for a six-week time period with the mifepristone compound and then, a month later, treated with an alternative compound (placebo) in a crossover design. Researchers will then evaluate physical health, cognitive functioning and mental health in subjects and determine if there is improvement in these areas in relation to mifepristone administration.

"A positive outcome would provide a new therapeutic avenue for treating ill Gulf War veterans, for whom there are currently few treatment options," says Julia Golier, M.D., a psychiatrist at Mount Sinai. "The trial will also provide an important proof of concept of whether this type of drug will improve physical health and cognitive outcomes in symptomatic Gulf War veterans, thus improving their overall health."