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Pentagon prepares to screen soldiers for war illnesses
Fort Stewart (Georgia), June 03: Hoping to avoid the delays and denials sick soldiers faced after the first Gulf war, the Pentagon has ordered health screenings for every soldier, sailor, marine and airman sent into the Iraq war.
Fort Stewart (Georgia), June 03: Hoping to avoid the delays and denials sick soldiers faced after the first Gulf war, the Pentagon has ordered health screenings for every soldier, sailor, marine and airman sent into the Iraq war.
Within 30 days of their homecoming, every one will fill out a health questionnaire, review it with a health provider and give a blood sample - a sweeping effort to defend against potential health problems among the estimated 250,000 troops sent to the Persian Gulf region during the war.
"We're prepared this time, whereas in the first Gulf war we really weren't," said Col Paula K Underwood, an Army doctor. "We're doing it across the board and we're not waiting for them to come to us."
"This is unprecedented, really, in military medicine," she added.
After the first Gulf war 13 years ago, tens of thousands of veterans complained that they suffered a range of chronic symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue, joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches and rashes.
An estimated 100,000 veterans with Gulf war illnesses have been reported since that war.
Researchers have yet to determine conclusively what made the soldiers sick after hundreds of studies looking at possible causes including stress, low-level nerve gas exposure, pesticides and depleted uranium from armour-piercing ammunition.
The Pentagon says about 130,000 soldiers in the 1991 war were exposed to sarin nerve gas when US troops destroyed an Iraqi weapons depot.
There have been no reports of troops being exposed to chemical weapons during the recent war.
Bureau Report
"We're prepared this time, whereas in the first Gulf war we really weren't," said Col Paula K Underwood, an Army doctor. "We're doing it across the board and we're not waiting for them to come to us."
"This is unprecedented, really, in military medicine," she added.
After the first Gulf war 13 years ago, tens of thousands of veterans complained that they suffered a range of chronic symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue, joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches and rashes.
An estimated 100,000 veterans with Gulf war illnesses have been reported since that war.
Researchers have yet to determine conclusively what made the soldiers sick after hundreds of studies looking at possible causes including stress, low-level nerve gas exposure, pesticides and depleted uranium from armour-piercing ammunition.
The Pentagon says about 130,000 soldiers in the 1991 war were exposed to sarin nerve gas when US troops destroyed an Iraqi weapons depot.
There have been no reports of troops being exposed to chemical weapons during the recent war.
Bureau Report