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Subscribe to RSSThere’s no good single treatment for the depression, pain, headaches, lack of sleep and other symptoms that nag many veterans of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, experts said on Wednesday. But that doesn’t mean that the Department of Veterans Affairs shouldn’t take the complaints seriously and offer what help is available, from antidepressants to acupuncture and support groups, the Institute of Medicine panel said.
It recommends that the VA get a better grip on the problem, examining veterans as soon as they are discharged and keeping better records of their maladies. The VA should also actively look for veterans who are suffering and offer help.
The issue of whether “Gulf War Syndrome” even exists has been controversial almost since the first Gulf War began in 1991. Veterans complain they have been labeled as malingerers and denied treatment or compensation. Congress asked the Institute, one of the independent National Academies of Science, to examine the issue in 2010.
The report doesn’t offer any clear medical guidance, but it does call on the VA not only to act on complaints from veterans, but to reach out into the community to educate them about the syndrome. It’s no longer called Gulf War syndrome but chronic multisystem illness or CMI.
“Chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) is a serious condition that imposes an enormous burden of suffering on our nation’s veterans,” the report reads.
“Veterans who have CMI often have physical symptoms (such as fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms) and cognitive symptoms (such as memory difficulties) and may have comorbid syndromes with shared symptoms (such as chronic-fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome) and other clinical entities (such as depression and anxiety).”
The panelists, who include experts in family medicine, alternative medicine, rehabilitation and chronic pain, reviewed other studies about the syndromes.
"Based on the voluminous evidence we reviewed, our committee cannot recommend using one universal therapy to manage the health of veterans with chronic multisymptom illness, and we reject a 'one size fits all' treatment approach," Dr. Bernard Rosof, who chaired the panel, said in a statement.
"Instead, we endorse individualized health care management plans as the best approach for treating this very real, highly diverse condition,” added Rosof, an expert in health care quality who heads the board of directors of Huntington Hospital in New York.
The report only partly satisfies Paul Sullivan of Austin, Texas, a 49-year-old Gulf War veteran. “That’s very good that the Institute of Medicine is suggesting that the VA take this issue seriously,” Sullivan said in a telephone interview. “VA has ignored the problems of Gulf War veterans for more than two decades.”
Sullivan who works doing veteran outreach at the law firm Bergmann & Moore, says he started suffering repeated respiratory infections, including bronchitis and pneumonia, when he returned from Iraq 22 years ago.“I came back with chronic respiratory problems and essentially, VA’s response had been to treat with antibiotics as needed,” he said. “It helps. But it doesn’t help me understand what causes it.”
Sullivan says he was exposed to many possible sources of damage to his lungs and breathing passages, including smoke from burning oil wells, pesticides and experimental drugs to counteract nerve agents. Thousands of veterans make the same complaints. “I was a healthy, fit person prior to joining the military, while in the military and while I was in the war zone,” Sullivan says.
The Institute of Medicine report is full of sympathy.
“About 700,000 military personnel served in the 1991 Gulf War, and as of September 2011, about 2.6 million military personnel have been deployed to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. There is no script for the stresses that are endured; they are personal and many,” it reads.
“We hope that our recommendations will make a difference in the lives of people who have CMI. It is clear that this condition has adversely affected the health and well-being of a substantial number of our veterans and their families.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs should put into place a long term, systemwide approach to managing the many different and varying symptoms of veterans with CMI, which include pain, respiratory and digestive ailments, the panel said. But it doesn’t have specific medical advice.
“CMI may benefit from such medications as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and cognitive behavioral therapy,” it suggests. These are all treatments for depression but they have also been shown to help patients manage pain.
It also says VA needs to examine veterans as soon as they are discharged. “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should commit the necessary resources to ensure that veterans complete a comprehensive health examination immediately upon separation from active duty,” the report advises.
“The results should become part of a veteran’s health record and should be made available to every clinician caring for the veteran, whether in or outside the VA health care system. Coordination of care, focused on transition in care, is essential for all veterans to ensure quality, patient safety, and the best health outcomes. “
The report calls for “CMI champions” at each VA medical center who would help coordinate care. Civilian doctors should be included when they want to be, the report adds.
And it says the VA should pay for better studies. “The Department of Veterans Affairs should fund and conduct studies of interventions that evidence suggests may hold promise for treatment of CMI. Specific interventions could include biofeedback, acupuncture, St. John’s wort, aerobic exercise, motivational interviewing, and multimodal therapies,” the report says.
Related stories:
VA reopens Gulf war veterans' files
Gulf War illness tied to chemical exposure
Study says Gulf War syndrome doesn't exist
Don’t miss the latest health news on NBCNews.com
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So, back to ignoring the problem again?
well you know it's easier when our troops die in battle because then the gov't doesn't have to PAY for their healthcare right REPUBS.....they wanted the wars and don't mind funding the wars BUT when it comes time to take care of our service men and women they are no where to be seen.....they call them FREELOADERS and LAZY......SMDH!!!
And a BIG THANK YOU to those who have served or who are currently serving our country.....you guys and gals ROCK and I'm grateful for your service!!!
Lesson: Re-evaluate the consequences of war before you start falsifying WMD as a reason to invade a country.
“VA has ignored the problems of Gulf War veterans for more than two decades.”
They have forgotten about us Vietnam veterans, altogether.
Brother Lucas, you seem to be another vet that hasn't been paying attention especially the last four years, suggest a visit to the VA site and backlinks to partner sites as well as this administrations cabinet who've joined Shinseki in helping. It isn't 'they' it's the country and a certain political party, they call themselves that, who seek to privatize the VA as they do war, it's responsibility and lack of sacrifice on, and especially this past decade plus, added to the previous decades and the wars of!!
This foot dragging by the VA is normal for them and the government .
How many years did it take them to admit agent orange was used and messed up thousands of us . Was the leading cause of death in thousands more. For now we NAM vets have been put on the back burner so to speak. Yes there is still some excess baggage we came home with that the VA refuses to look at let alone treat us for. You may want to look at a much bigger picture this time. There are more returning vets with more and larger problems then we did. I am glad to take a back burner spot and allow the younger vets get all the help they need. The government has no problem sending us off to war. But they foot drag or refuse to take care of us when we return home A.F.U. The younger you are, when you receive treatment . The longer they must take care of you. THE more money spent long term. The longer they can keep you out of treatment the less money it costs them and the closer to death you are. Their game plan is simple. Keep you out of the system for as long as possible. Looking back at my own experiences with the VA. I see that nothing has changed in over 40 plus years.
What Gulf War problems...?
How does a Country HONOR It's Fallen, by Their Own 'Sacrifice' in Taking Care of the Brothers and Sisters They Served With!!
No Revenues {especially from the wealthy nor their private reagan capitalism economic investments, free market supply side capitalism} = No Sacrifice = No Support = DeJa-vu all over again!!
Deficits started Rising Before 9/11, not a dime has been paid for the wars, and especially the no-bid contracts as well, off the books till the present administration that now continues and all still being borrowed, remember that Huge Baghdad Embassy, as well as the now decades coming of the results of both wars added to the decades previous and those wars in the underfunded peoples responsibility the Veterans Administration!!
USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71
Veterans Frustrations Pointed in Wrong Direction
And for many always have been. The Veterans Administration is the Peoples Responsibility!!!
Look, this is very very simple. If the flag wavin 'patriots' of the 'support the troops' meme's, cheap magnetic ribbons and equally cheap lapel flag pins, Demanded they Sacrifice as they cheer on wars and send others into so they can yell their 'patriotism' and have a few parades with plenty of short time 'welcome home' the VA would have been the Agency it should have been decades ago. And this past decade plus was the perfect example, DeJa-Vu all over again. Not a Dime has been Sacrificed for these two more wars of choice, you all cheered on the abandoning the main missions for even sending the military into that region, quickly, with the first drum beats pointed at Iraq, and extremely little was done for the Veterans of in the early years as the tax cuts came with both till the 110th and 111th Congresses, 112th, House especially, is back to trying to cut as it will in the coming 113th, and especially after the executive administrations changed, despite the obstruction. The present VA Administration has been fighting, while still way under funded and these last years obstructed by those that want to privatize it, to build what should already have been built by the people served long ago. They've done so, with some success thankfully, because there's finally an executive administration and it's cabinet who care and help by 'joining forces'
That underfunding, and ignoring the veterans of, you're even doing that again, causes the agency to need more funding, in many area's of that vast agency and charged with caring for those who served, to catch up with the abilities they should have had long ago if not leading in and moving that into the private sectors. That extra is many many times more then just costs, time and money, of maintaining and innovating what should have already been, which saves money and runs much more orderly and up to date if not ahead of!
USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71
Maybe if the VA stopped spending money to send people to expensive "conferences" that are little more than government paid vacations for those who attend the funding issue might be taken more seriously. So long as the VA has money to waste on things like this, on the order of a little over $100 million, the cry of not having enough money to do their job will be viewed with extreme scepticism. When an agency blatantly wastes money it is given on non-essential frills like lavish conferences and VA branded give away items, it is hard to justify giving them more money. I am ex-military and I fully agree that we need to take care of our vets, but the VA needs to get their wasteful spending under control before they can expect to be taken seriously when they plea for more money.
If anybody expects ANY government agency to do anything other than talk and form "committees" that accomplish nothing, they're living in a dream world.
Governments destroy everything that they come into contact with.
I know a lot of vets & none of them get the medical treatment they deserve. Hell, the VA in Cincinnati charges interest on all bills unless they are paid in full with in 30 days. I am not a vet & I have never been charged interest on any medical bill, but vets are. Another FUBAR system.
i'm not sticking up for the va but i really find it hard to believe what you are saying about cinncy the director should be arrested on extortion charges,the va i go to is one of the best in the U.S.no attitudes or anything and some vets can be bothersome.
I can show you my co-worker's bills.
Civilian hospitals screws with the V.A. as well. I once went to an emergency room on Workers' Comp insurance after an incident on the job, but for some reason or other, the hospital couldn't get their billing system straight with WC. So they tracked me down using my Social Security number and charged $240+ to the V.A. under my name for services! The WC company provided any and all information they needed about billing them but the hospital charged the government instead. Messed-up world, the health care industry.
Problems not only exist with current Veterans but Retired Veterans too who have had their Tricare rates increased this past December. These Retired Veterans were given word by the leadership of this Country that if they survived 20 or more years of Honorable Service, they and their eligible family members would receive no cost health care for life at military medical facilities. This word was broken after the Cold War ended and the Base Realignment and Closure Commissions began. Many Bases were shut and along with them many Military Medical Facilities were shut down too. Thousands of Retired Veterans were put out of the Military Medical System, forced to go onto Tricare which they now have to pay for and be seen by Civilian Providers. Their Prescriptions now cost them more and more every year.
These Retired Veterans kept their word, but the Leadership of this Country did not keep their word.
If you make the Military a Career, you no longer get No Cost Health Care for your Family, and don't even try talking about Dental.
The Wars are winding down and Veterans are quickly becoming distant Memories.
Here is a link to a briefing prepared for Congress, the Media and the Public that explains these details for Retired Veterans on this issue,
http://mrgrg-ms.org/brief00.html
After reading this link consider weather or not your child should even consider the Military as a Career.
It is not the Deal it used to be, especially if you can survive to Retirement Age in the Military.
its called "promise you the world but you give you nada when it comes time for your payback"the puzzies who run the country will send you to die but they would never think to join the service themselves,nor would they send their kids(only a few do)off to war,i don't know why these scummy pieces of dung think they are above the rest of us veterans,they knew about dioxin and what it could do to humans as far back as 1947 in edinburg england,seveseo italy is where a doctor let the cat out of the bag and then the politicians had,for lack of a better phrase,a change of heart,but you have to have a heart for it to change.
Thanks for your service shipmate!
Well at least they just acknowledged the poisoned drinking water at Camp Lejeune recently. What they do about that now remains to be seen..
My husband and I lived on base at Lejeune when that water was bad. He died 5 years ago from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) which they assume is service related.
I was very proud of my Marine, but wish that there had been more care taken of those who survived Viet Nam and came home to poisoned water.
Don't know if it has affected me, but if so, I would never be able to prove it.
Cecilia Padfield
There is a registry now for everyone who was stationed at Camp Lejeune during this ground water contamination and I am pretty sure President Obama recently took action on this.
Try Google and get into the registry. I am not sure what will become of it but it can't hurt to get onto the registry.
Cecilia Padfield
Here is the Government website on the Groundwater Contamination at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/
19th Century English Poet Rudyard Kipling wrote of 'Tommy' (British slang for their GIs). As you can see nothing has changed:
......Excerpt....
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
that's great
So true!
Check this link out,
http://mrgrg-ms.org/brief00.html
No one is even mentioning the Poisoned Drinking water that many Marines consumed over many years at Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune, N.C.
Marines and their families.
Cecilia Padfield
Sorry, my bad.
Correction; Marines and their Families.
Briefing to educate the Congress, the media and the Public.
http://mrgrg-ms.org/brief00.html
The real treatment is not having to send them into a very high stress environment in the first place. Nothing has changed since my "years" in Vietnam. You come out of high school, walk into an intensified training environment, off to war. Every day you're there it's the same. No time off, little mental relaxation, seeing your "team mates" systematically disappear through your time over there. Then you come home and you're happy to be back. But the thing you can't shake is that mental "readiness" you've learned to maintain. Where's my weapon, where's a safe place to be in an attack, what do I need to do if I or a buddy get hit? It doesn't go away for a long time. The physical ramifications are there, whether anyone believes it or not.
I personally think that a good vocational learning program i.e., construction, electronics, medicine etc., would be a great way to train all returning vets for re-entering the civilian force. Many of these men and women, fresh out of school, were not prepared for civilian life and need expertise in something other than combat!
Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy (OMT) is a potential SINGLE TREATMENT... and it has been proposed to DOD and VA. They choose to ignore it.
All wronged veterans need to join this class action suit ASAP. All wronged veterans and theri family members are encouraged to join this lawsuit ASAP.
Kendall Et Al vs VA Et Al
United States District Court Conspiratorial Deprivation of Civil rights Under Color of Law and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
1:07-cv-00103-LMB filed 3/1/2007
To enable class action members - Veterans and family members - to get applicable downloads, forms, calendar, and other information updates, as well as to communicate to the entire class action membership (those listing email addys), the following Yahoo! Group has been set up.
Here are the details on vetcivrights:
Group home page:
Group email address: vetcivrights@yahoogroups.com
Veterans and their family members may apply to join this group.
VETCIVRIGHTS Group Homepage:
VETCIVRIGHTS Group Homepage: www. groups.yahoo.com/group/vetcivrights
This is not "NEWS" it's same old stuff. I served in Nam (68-69) and the Goverment, I know for a fact, has been treating the men and women that served like this every since then. It might be getting worse now that the Repubs can't get thier heads out of ass long enough to see this is a real problem. They just want to show Obama, who has been trying to get something done, no mater what the cost to the American people they are not going to agree with him on anything.
I have visions of Teapublicans yelling at that disabled Vietnam vet a number of years ago, calling him lazy. I live in Utah and have Schizotypal Personality Disorder and have struggled to get any help after the state diagnosed me. It makes me sad how all the 47% are treated. I can"t work because of the severe mental breaks I suffer from. Maybe we all will be treated better in the future. I honor all those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Thank You!!
There is a highly successful treatment that has been used for hundreds of veterans. Unfortunately, the VA will never use it as they consider it "experimental." It is EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and it has worked wonders for many veterans who have found no relief from standard therapies.
I have to go see a VA "specialist" for my service connected disability. This is what he said: "Go see a private doctor because I can't do anything for you until you're on dialysis again." He knew I had private insurance. I haven't been back there since, and he just renews my meds every year without me seeing him.
Best VA I was ever at: Salt Lake City ---back in the early 90's...after 1st Gulf War...admittedly a little surprised i was female when I showed up for a inpatient procedure, but rolled with it. Some of the nicest older vets (patients) I have ever encountered. I guess female vets were sort of a rarity in the VA hospital then.
Worst: Rochester, NY <---avoid at all cost....keep copies of ALL records...trust nothing they say about what they have done or will do...nothing.
US health services has found troops with depression are low in DHA from Omega 3's,and that having low omega 3's are responsible for a 62% increase of deression even with those on drug treatments. So give them omega 3's and sam-e and st.john's wart that would be an inexpesive way to treat without side effects.
Hmmm.
You work for the Devil and you end up getting sick.
And you are surprised?
Here is a clue. War is Hell. If you fight in a war you literally and figuratively go to Hell.
When you go to Hell, you never come back. It doesn't work that way. You made the decision to go to Hell, so you are stuck there for the rest of your life. No amount of counseling or pill can change that.
There are a LOT of "veterans" in my community. I can tell by looking at a "veteran" if he or she was in combat. They all have a dead look in their eyes. It is very easy to discern.
One of the biggest scams in my community is counseling for PTSD. How do you tell a war criminal that they are not a war criminal? What language do you use? What do you tell them? It is OK that you killed a baby? It is OK to kill women and children? That a victory on an asymmetrical battlefield means something?
All of the "veterans" in the US combined fought a total of one battle that was symmetrical since the Civil War: where both sides have artillery support, tanks, infantry in armoured personnel carriers, and air support. It was at the Kasserine Pass and it was a devastating defeat.
Seems to me, that I remember those guys that went to VietNam didn't exactly make the decision to go to war.
I recall something about a draft, Selective Service, whatever. Not exactly a choice.
I have been out of the service since 1969. The VA medical services has not gotten any better over the years, I try avoid the VA whenever possible. If you don't know what the VA is like just think of how it would be if the Post managed veterans affairs.
All Desert Storm/Gulf War vets who have not done so and have had symptoms - file claims NOW. No matter how ridiculous some parts of the V.A. is. This article is an indicator that now is the best time to do so. Yes, the government is very wrong to lag on these things, but it is your benefit.
The Gulf War Syndrome is thought to be tied to the pill, Mestinon or PB, given to the soldiers to protect them from a chemical/nerve weapon attack. It is a drug, that is a mild nerve agent, for a disease called myasthenia gravis. Unfortunatly, they found out too late it wasn't to be given to healthy people. To verify or get more information check the Playboy article from 1994 or 1995 called "The Pill" and it lays it all out. The syndrome is nothing more than poisoning that the military did to them.