Nov 19 2008
Lou Gehrig’s Disease and today’s Veterans
My father died of Lou Gehrig’s disease nearly twenty years ago. It is an awful disease that dooms the victim to a slow death. For many years amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease was considered a “niche illness”. So few people contracted it that deeper research was not felt feasible. That opinion is changing today with the onslaught of numerous Gulf War veterans suffering from it.
The federal government will provide disability pay, lifetime health care and death benefits for all veterans with Lou Gehrig’s disease, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday, saying the disease was linked to military
All veterans with the illness will be eligible, regardless of when or where they served. The 10-year cost for death and disability benefits is projected at $505,839,000, said Tom Pamperin, the deputy director of the compensation and pension service at the Veterans Affairs Department. That figure does not include health care costs. (Source: NY Times)
It is about time this killer was taken seriously. Finally there may be some serious research into it’s source and causes. For years after my father died I was always looking over my shoulder. At that time it was speculated to be a genetic thing. Today they realize it goes much farther than that.
The fatal neurological disease, named after the legendary New York Yankee, is rare, afflicting about 30,000 Americans, fewer than 10 percent of whom served in the military. It progressively kills motor neurons until total paralysis sets in. But the mind stays sharp, leaving patients fully aware of their deterioration. Most die within five years of diagnosis.
No one knows for sure what causes ALS, but some veterans and their families believe it can be caused by exposure to chemicals and toxins, including nerve agents that they suspect were in the air during the first Gulf War. Studies have provided no answers, and scientists are skeptical that there is a link.
They point out that in scientific terms, the incidence rate among veterans is relatively low when compared with environmental links established for other diseases. Smokers, for example, are 10 to 20 times more likely to contract lung cancer than nonsmokers, one scientist pointed out.
Testifying before a congressional committee last summer, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas R. Mikolajcik, who has ALS, said the government has not done enough research on potential causes and might be exposing service members now in Iraq to an elevated risk of the disease.
“If we know that it happened in the first Gulf War, and now we’re exposing millions more, why aren’t we doing more, and how are you going to answer those people in three, five, 10 years that come down with this disease?” Mikolajcik said in an interview. (Source: Veterans Today)
For more information about this disease please visit the ALS Association and the MDA ALS page.
