# PERSIAN GULF SYNDROME



## Guest (Jun 16, 1999)

I WAS WONDERING IF ANYBODY ELSE IS OUT THERE THAT WAS IN THE GULF DURING THE WAR THAT HAS ALL THE PAINS THAT I HAVE. I HAVE A WHOLE SLEW OF MYALGIAS AND ALSO MYOSITIS THAT THEY CANT SEEM TO FIND OUT WHY SO I SIT HERE AND SUFFER WHILE UNCLE SAM SITS ON THE ISSUE


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## moldie (Sep 25, 1999)

I'm sorry to hear of your plight Sugar Ray. Yes, the similarities between the two syndromes are remarkable. Perhaps you would enjoy reading the book: Chemical Exposures- Low Levels and High Stakes (by Nicholas A. Ashford and Claudia S. Miller). I believe this to be an exerpt:"Dioxin and PCBs are part of a large group of chemical compounds called organochlorines. Organochlorines are made on purpose or by accident (as a by-product of other processes) by combining chlorine with organic substances, usually petrochemicals. Organochlorines began being manufactured and widely used in the 1940s. They were the result of wartime experiments to create more lethal chemical weapons.Organochlorines are now found everywhere on earth according to a publication by Greenpeace, the international environmental organization. At least 177 of them have been found in human tissue and fluids in the US and Canada, including in fat, mother's milk, blood, semen, and breath. They are responsible, researchers believe, for declining sperm counts of men over recent decades."and in another chapter(4), in the same book:"A model study of 14 firefighters exposed to polychlorinated bephenyls (PCBs- used in this case to insulate electrical transformers) and their combustion products in a transformer room fire, showed significant impairment of memory, cognition function and perceptual motor speed compared to unexposed firefighters from the same dept. (Kilbourn 1989). Two days to 3 mos. after the fire, all 14 of those exposed noted symptoms such as: extreme fatigue (8), headaches (7), muscle fatigue (9), joint aches (5), memory loss (8), and impaired concentration (6). Only by employing an extensive battery of neurobehavioral tests and comparing scores with controls were their physicians able to detect these alterations, which were very apparent to the fireman themselves."The Medical College of Wisconsin has done a number of tests/reports on PCBs. The US Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration have also done some on radiation and I'm sure there are others.In my case I was interested in the studies because of the reports of Rheusus monkey testing and it's possible connection between PCBs and Endometriosis- also remarkable. (If anyone wants to know more about those, I'll fill you in). Good Luck to you in finding some answers Sugar Ray and thankyou for serving our country at "high risk." PS: Do you have the same trigger point symptoms as in FMS?- (click on search at the top of the page to find them). What other symptoms do you have?------------------[This message has been edited by moldie (edited 06-16-99).][This message has been edited by moldie (edited 06-16-99).]


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