Gulf War Veterans last VA group 2009

This Committee this year has been spoke as "the OTHER" by other VA Offices and Committees.
There has been care not to speak of the Recommendations this Committee has made and Why ?




Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans, See activities of the Advisory Committee in providing advice to the Secretary on the full spectrum of health care and benefits issues that confront veterans on health care, compensation, VRE and Loans - (not Medical Research topics)
http://www1.va.gov/gulfwaradvisorycommittee/

final report
http://www1.va.gov/gulfwaradvisorycommittee/docs/AdvisoryCommitteeonGulfWarVeteransFinalReport-September2009.pdf

Gulf War Medical before Psych Brain

American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Criteria
Definition of Mild TBI
 Traumatically induced physiologic disruption of
brain function as indicated by at least one of the
following:
 Any period of loss of consciousness
 Any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the
accident
 Any alteration in mental state at the time of the accident
 Focal neurologic deficits that may or may not be transient
 Severity of the injury does not exceed:
 Loss of consciousness of 30 min
 GCS score of 13-15 after 30 min
 Posttraumatic amnesia of 24 hr
+++++++
Postconcussion Symptoms
 Physical
 Headache, dizziness, fatigue, noise/light
intolerance, insomnia
 Cognitive
 Memory complaints, poor concentration
 Emotional
 Depression, anxiety, irritability, lability

++++++++++++++
Mild TBI:
Five Meta-analytic Studies: I
(Binder, Rohling, & Larrabee, 1997; Binder & Rohling,
1996; respectively)
 Found the long-term cognitive impairment
effect size for mild TBI was very small (0.1 -
0.2) and not statistically significant
 In contrast the long-term effect of financial
incentives on cognitive impairment in a mild
TBI population was larger (0.5) and significant

++++++++++++++
PTSD and Cognitive Deficits
 Persian Gulf War veterans
 PTSD was associated with relative
performance deficiencies on tasks of:
 sustained attention
 mental manipulation
 verbal learning
 executive control, and
 performances were characterized by errors
of commission and intrusion
Vasterling et al., Neuropsychology, 1998;12:125-33

+++++++++
Cognitive Sequelae
post concussion

Waitng for Hearing GWI at US House - VA

No Press release made for ACGWV as of this date. This was the last Committee to obtain comments for vets around America. What were their Recommendations ?
www1.va.gov/gulfwaradvisorycommittee


This DoD office has not web site or direct contact information, yet Senators are waiting for their Comments. Deployment Health Working Group does not appear to be part of our latest transparent government.

The House is waiting for the Comments of the IOM's latest report or is this delaying ? Why are we wating for "peer review" to say no consensus.

Waiting for the Federal Registry to publish the Report of the "Gulf War Veterans Illness Task Force (GWVITF). The chairman is John R. Gingrich, Chief of Staff Office, Vermont Avenue Washington DC. He is a gulf war veteran, yet what will he do now working at VA headquarters ?

GW advocates on health care - disablities and benefits will not be told of hearing date until it too late to get flights to attend this hearing.

The hearing had a title of

"Gulf War Illness: The future for Dissatisfied Veterans'

-this can't be good, so government staffers will do their best to supress the fire and or veterans inputs and participation at this hearing. Which will be in March or April 2010 - TBA

Gulf War Illness or Fibromyalgia

When I first had fibromyalgia (FM), my doctors and I were very concerned.
I went from being a fit woman who us servicewoman, ate right, exercised regularly, and had a great life with many friends and a close family.
Suddenly I was terribly ill with cribble pain. My primary Care (VA) phyician couldn’t understand what was wrong, nor could several other local specialists.

Finally I was diagnosed at the Dr Daniel Clawu, Georgetown Univ MD. (rheumatologist)
I had no idea that FM could be so debilitating. I have found nothing for the crushing fatigue. FM is very real. Gulf War Veterans illness is Real.
Add Brain fog, brain fog, brain fog and IBS.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/the-voices-of-fibromyalgia/

People who suffer from fibromyalgia experience problems beyond the pain caused by their illness. Their condition is little understood and hard to explain, and often they are disbelieved by doctors. Even friends and loved ones may express skepticism toward the fibromyalgia sufferer, who, burdened with inexplicable pain, may cancel social plans, miss work and recoil from physical affection because it hurts too much.

http://www.fms-help.com

GW illness and GI tract problems

Many IBS patients experience symptoms in other parts of their bodies that may be associated with their IBS. These symptoms can be digestive, like nausea and heartburn, or totally unrelated to the digestive system, such as headaches and frequent urination. Sadly, these symptoms are often minimized by healthcare professionals and VA doctors.

It is interesting to find those who has filed for undisgnosed illness and desert storm deployed...today write/post about their most serious sympthom.

Yes it appear to the stem from brain changes; yet I had diarrehea after GW for 9 years straight. I now fall into the IBS group.

Follow up at this discussion:
http://ibs.about. com/u/ua/ symptomsofib1/ OtherSymptoms. htm

Gulf War US House hearing 2010

If the VA home page says the following:

VA and Open Government
Government should be transparent, allow for citizen participation, and encourage collaboration among organizations. And that’s what VA aims to accomplish through the new Open Government Initiative.

Then why is the next hearing on a Gulf War Veteran issue being kept under the radar, will not be publishized until 48 hours before the meeting -- too late for the average statkeholder/veteran or NSO to give input/comments.

Hearings »
Gulf War Illness: The Future for Dissatisfied Veterans
United States House of Representatives.
Committee of Veterans Affairs
Washington, DC 20515 (202) 224-3121

My fellow Comrade please pay attention