From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs News Service

WASHINGTON – A recent scientific study supports a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy to recognize Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) among veterans of the Gulf War as a service-connected illness.

The study found that veterans who were deployed to the combat theater during the Gulf War were nearly twice as likely to develop the disease as veterans not deployed to the Gulf, accounting for 40 of the 107 cases identified among military personnel. Deployed Air Force personnel were 2.7 times more likely to develop ALS than non-deployed Air Force personnel.

The new ALS study, published in the Sept. 23 issue of the scientific journal Neurology and funded by VA and the Department of Defense (DoD), does not identify a cause for the disease or the increased occurrence in this group of veterans. 

ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, kills cells in the brain and spinal cord that control muscle movement, resulting in gradual wasting of the muscles.  Fatal in most cases, the disease usually strikes people between ages of 40 and 70.  The cause of the disease is unknown.

Earlier this year, VA established a national ALS registry to identify veterans with the disease - regardless of when they served - and track their health status.  ALS veterans who register must participate in an initial telephone interview that covers their health and military service and will be asked to participate in followup interviews twice a year thereafter. 

For more information about the ALS Registry, based at the Durham VA Medical Center, call 1-877-DIAL-ALS (1-877-342-5257) or e-mail ALS@med.va.gov.

Since 1994, the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services have spent $213 million on 224 research projects relating to the health effects of military deployment.  VA plans to spend up to an additional $20 million by the end of the 2004 fiscal year.