American Gulf War Veterans Association Gulf War Illness Need some help

  American Gulf War Veterans Association
  Gulf War Illness
      Need some help

Author	Need some help
Siegfried Junior Member	February 03, 2004 First we want to tell you all that it really make us sick to hear about all of your illness and the way you are treated. You have to live with all the terrible symptoms and we guess you don't get a lot of money for the sacrifice you all gave. We are civilians from Denmark and we think it is a global matter which we all should take part in. We just have one question. Is it possible to pass the illness to a person which is in the same room? Maybe we are going nuts but we take the chance. During Operation Desert Shield we worked in Germany where we gave guided tours at a museum. A lot of soldiers were transferred to a German military hospital close to our place so they came to us to visit the museum. One of us only had two small groups and later on this person started fainting, shaking etc. This continued for years and the blood samples showed nothing. Now the person knows that she got some different allergies and she is okay. My boyfriend and I continued our work in 1991 where we had huge groups of soldiers. A year later we returned back home and he developed a very bad asthma which he never have had before. I started having problems with my ovaries and for three years ago I had them removed. Now I have problems again and have taken a test for cancer. My boyfriend also started getting a sort of crazy. I thought it was because he had to adjust to our new living but last year he started hitting me so I returned him to Belgium. Are we just paranoid or is it possible. We hope not, we just want to be calmed down. Hope you will get the help you need.
Mother Margaret	February 03, 2004 This does seem very odd, doesn't it? Thank you for your 'heart' and support for our military. How are the soldiers from Denmark doing who participated in the Gulf War then?? It is possible ... if you were giving tours in small rooms with large groups who may have been exposed to solvents such as I've studied. For a time, especially close to exposures themselves, they can expel this thru their breath. There is such a thing as second hand solvent exposure. We had a chiropractor in Valdez in 1989 who would have treated many such people during the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup. In 1992 he came down with melanoma eye cancer; in recent years harm to liver, a rare cancer ... he died Jan 5, 2004 at the age of 62; sad, sad story. One doctor said it was from benzene ... but not likely: benzene causes aplastic anemia & leukemia. The literature doesn't say that it targets the liver/eyes such as this chemical does. (The chiropractor did therapeutic massage - skin to skin contact; he was sometimes cheek to cheek in administering a chiropractic treatment - breathing breath?) Do you know the retic ratio? Have you had a lab tech comment on the red blood cells? If so, this chemical can be found out ... but not with the normal things that doctors look for in the blood. Maybe check some of these EXTRA things. The other things you mention seem to fit; hoping for you to get an accurate diagnosis. Maybe someday there will be an anti-poison to neutralize it's effect. Actually there is a clinic in Dallas, TX ... see what Dr. Rea thinks or other doctors listed here Another thought: you would have this odd assortment of symptoms to be the chemical exposures I focus on and since they are common place, it could also be a coincidence. In any case, learn about these and avoid use if possible. Please note, that what I share is based on one of the chemicals gulf war vets were exposed to; however, it is also one that causes all the symptoms of gulf war syndrome I am writing my US Senators to ask help for our entire population - against this commonly used chemical
Gale Administrator	February 03, 2004 Much depends on what the source of the exposure was, as well, as to whether it can be passed from one to another. Aside from vaccinations (PB tablets, anthrax, antimalarial, etc.), there was a cesspool of toxins to include smoke from oilwell fires, inhalation of silica from the sand storms, virus from sand flea bites, contaminated water, sarin and mustard gas exposures, etc. Not everyone was exposed to the same elements and not everyone reacts the same way to the same thing. I think the biggest concern (for the most part) is passing along the illnesses through blood transfusions and exchange of body fluids. Thank you for your kind words and concern, Siegfried. It's prudent to be aware of "global matters", but don't let it worry you to the point of being paranoid. Although there are other things out there (besides Gulf War Illnesses) like AIDS, killer flu viruses, mad cow disease etc. we need to do what we can to prevent as much as we can, and then focus on the good things in life.

2-7-04