thedrifter
07-26-05, 06:51 PM
July 26, 2005
Brain cancer in Gulf War vets linked to nerve agent
By Liz Szabo
USA Today
For the first time, a study has found an increase in brain cancer deaths among Gulf War veterans who potentially were exposed to the nerve agent sarin by the destruction of Iraqi weapons in 1991.
About 100,000 of the 350,000 Army soldiers in the Persian Gulf may have been exposed to sarin and other chemical weapons after soldiers blew up two large ammunition caches in Khamisiyah, Iraq, in March 1991, according to a study commissioned by the military and performed by the Institute of Medicine, which advises the government on health policy.
At the time, the military didn’t believe the Iraqi rockets that were destroyed contained any chemical weapons, and no one showed signs of chemical warfare exposure, says Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director for the Deployment Health Support Directorate in the Department of Defense.
Later, however, United Nations inspectors found that some of the weapons contained sarin, a nerve agent that can cause convulsions and death. The military has since contacted about 300,000 veterans to let them know whether they may have been exposed.
Soldiers in the “hazard area” — a region that includes anywhere that winds might have carried chemical weapons — were about twice as likely as those outside it to die from brain cancer, according to the new article, published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Because the actual number of brain cancer cases was small, the overall mortality rate for veterans in the hazard area and outside the area was the same.
Among unexposed soldiers, researchers found a brain cancer death rate of 12 deaths per 100,000 people between 1991 and 2000, says William Page, director of the study. Over the same period, researchers found 25 brain cancer deaths per 100,000 veterans who were exposed.
“It’s a doubling of risk, but it’s still a pretty small risk,” says Page, a senior program officer at the IOM.
Sarin has never been shown to cause cancer. Page suggests researchers follow veterans to see if the risk of brain cancer, which is believed to develop over 10 to 20 years, changes over time.
The study doesn’t prove that being in the hazard area caused brain cancer, Page says.
Melissa Bondy, a professor of epidemiology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, says she is surprised that only one or two days of exposure would increase brain cancer mortality. Chemicals typically take years to cause cancer.
Other experts note the study may shed light on the causes of brain tumors, about which doctors know little.
“It’s a very solid study,” says Faith Davis, a University of Illinois-Chicago professor. “It needs to be taken seriously.”
Ellie
Brain cancer in Gulf War vets linked to nerve agent
By Liz Szabo
USA Today
For the first time, a study has found an increase in brain cancer deaths among Gulf War veterans who potentially were exposed to the nerve agent sarin by the destruction of Iraqi weapons in 1991.
About 100,000 of the 350,000 Army soldiers in the Persian Gulf may have been exposed to sarin and other chemical weapons after soldiers blew up two large ammunition caches in Khamisiyah, Iraq, in March 1991, according to a study commissioned by the military and performed by the Institute of Medicine, which advises the government on health policy.
At the time, the military didn’t believe the Iraqi rockets that were destroyed contained any chemical weapons, and no one showed signs of chemical warfare exposure, says Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director for the Deployment Health Support Directorate in the Department of Defense.
Later, however, United Nations inspectors found that some of the weapons contained sarin, a nerve agent that can cause convulsions and death. The military has since contacted about 300,000 veterans to let them know whether they may have been exposed.
Soldiers in the “hazard area” — a region that includes anywhere that winds might have carried chemical weapons — were about twice as likely as those outside it to die from brain cancer, according to the new article, published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Because the actual number of brain cancer cases was small, the overall mortality rate for veterans in the hazard area and outside the area was the same.
Among unexposed soldiers, researchers found a brain cancer death rate of 12 deaths per 100,000 people between 1991 and 2000, says William Page, director of the study. Over the same period, researchers found 25 brain cancer deaths per 100,000 veterans who were exposed.
“It’s a doubling of risk, but it’s still a pretty small risk,” says Page, a senior program officer at the IOM.
Sarin has never been shown to cause cancer. Page suggests researchers follow veterans to see if the risk of brain cancer, which is believed to develop over 10 to 20 years, changes over time.
The study doesn’t prove that being in the hazard area caused brain cancer, Page says.
Melissa Bondy, a professor of epidemiology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, says she is surprised that only one or two days of exposure would increase brain cancer mortality. Chemicals typically take years to cause cancer.
Other experts note the study may shed light on the causes of brain tumors, about which doctors know little.
“It’s a very solid study,” says Faith Davis, a University of Illinois-Chicago professor. “It needs to be taken seriously.”
Ellie