Blood Test Could Determine Who May Suffer from Gulf War Illness

2015-12-11T12:03:45-05:00

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3988779.shtml

"What they found was groundbreaking. Engdahl and his fellow researchers could determine from person to person by taking blood they could figure out who would suffer from Gulf War Illness with a high degree of accuracy.
How high is the accuracy? About 90 percent.
Engdahl said the breakthrough allows them to help people avoid these illnesses in the future by predicting patterns."

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are roughly 200,000 vets affected by Gulf War Illness. Ten thousand of those veterans live here in Minnesota...

Response by SPC(P) Jay Heenan made Dec 11 at 2015 12:28 PM

2015-12-11T12:28:35-05:00

This sounds like it will be helpful to thousands of Gulf War Veterans and that they use it to appropriately with other tests.

Response by SGT William Howell made Dec 11 at 2015 12:29 PM

2015-12-11T12:29:07-05:00

When I was in college I traveled home with a friend so we could deer hunt over the weekend. I had only been in the Navy at the time. My friend said we were going to go to a party Friday night and then hunt Sat morning. We got there and I met several of his friends. One of the people I met was a former Marine. We hit it off. He was sitting down when we met. He was telling war stories from the Gulf War and I was listening intently.

At some point he gets up to go get another beer. He has to hobble to the fridge favoring one leg. When he returns I asked him if he was injured in the war. Then the real story started. He was not injured. He had been in the area where they had destroyed a lot of SCUDs. When he returned home. he got a boil on his upper leg the boil got bigger and bigger. The doctors did not know what was going on. Before it was all over they had removed most of his quadriceps on his right leg. Because of this they discharged him. At the time the VA did not recognize Gulf War Syndrome and he was getting nothing for his injuries.

I spent the next day in a tree stand thinking of how our government had let this guy down and wondering how many more were suffering though this same thing.It was very surreal. I never saw him again, but it made a mark on me.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2015 1:07 PM

2015-12-11T13:07:23-05:00

Also, they finally starting putting soldiers retiring or getting out on the depleted uranium and burn pit exposure lists.

Response by SGT Kristin Wiley made Dec 11 at 2015 2:01 PM

2015-12-11T14:01:58-05:00

This is interesting, but it leaves out all the scientific details. What exactly is identified in the genes that indicates GWI?

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Dec 11 at 2015 2:07 PM

2015-12-11T14:07:49-05:00

Good news...now that it can be determined, the question is WHAT is it? and how to cure it and how to prevent it.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Dec 12 at 2015 10:31 PM

2015-12-12T22:31:35-05:00

Thanks for sharing. I'll share this with my brothers who fought in the Gulf War.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 13 at 2015 3:19 AM

2015-12-13T03:19:45-05:00

Heartwarming progress, if only medical advances were able to keep of with the destructive capacity of the human race.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Dec 13 at 2015 11:00 AM

2015-12-13T11:00:15-05:00

As long as it's used to treat illness, and not to deny claims that's fine...