Study discounts Gulf War cancer link Statistics Canada KEYWORDS: ""PTSD"" OR ""POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER"" OR ""POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER"", ""DEPLETED URANIUM"", ""SADDAM"" OR ""SADDAM HUSSEIN"", ""GULF WAR"" NEAR ""SYNDROME"", ""DEFENCE PERSONNEL"" OR ""MILITARY MEMBER*"" OR ""FORCES MEMBER*"" Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service OTTAWA - A major study by Statistics Canada has concluded that veterans of the 1991 Gulf War are not contracting or dying from cancer at any higher rate than the general population. But a former Canadian Gulf War veteran, who is leading the fight for recognition of ailing Canadian Forces members, dismissed the survey as a red herring that was too narrowly focused on cancer and death. Retired captain Sean Bruyea, a former Forces intelligence officer, said the survey all but ignores the complicated range of symptoms -- known as Gulf War Syndrome -- that veterans continue to live with today. ""Gulf War Syndrome isn't about the tragedies of cancer and mortality,"" Mr. Bruyea said. ""Why did they commission a study which has to do with people who are already dead or potentially in a terminal stage with cancer?"" The four-year study, in conjunction with the Canadian Forces, was designed to investigate claims by Gulf War veterans who have complained of various symptoms since serving in the Persian Gulf after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent 1991 Gulf War. Released yesterday, the Canadian study joined the growing international pool of medical research on this controversial topic, and produced similar findings to research in the United States and Britain on Gulf War Syndrome. The study examined the medical records of all 5,117 Forces members deployed to the Gulf between Saddam's August, 1990, invasion of Kuwait and the October, 1991, withdrawal of forces. They were compared with 6,093 Forces personnel who were not deployed. Their records were also cross-referenced with the death and cancer registries maintained by the provinces and territories and the national numbers maintained by Statistics Canada. ""These results are consistent with those of other larger studies on the health of Gulf War veterans of other countries. Canadian Gulf War veterans did report symptoms and common illnesses at significantly higher rates than other veterans of the same era,"" the study states. ""However, they did not appear to be at increased risk of dying or developing cancer."" If the government recognized the blanket of symptoms encompassed by Gulf War Syndrome, it could be liable for millions of dollars in disability benefits. Thousands of troops from the U.S., Britain and Canada have raised questions about a host of undiagnosed illnesses and symptoms such as diseases of the bones and joints, and the digestive and respiratory systems. Depression, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, dizziness, chronic fatigue and memory problems have also been cited. Statistics Canada says the 5,117 Canadian veterans whose records were part of the study ""had a higher prevalence of self-reported illnesses,"" as well as high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder than the control groups. The study also acknowledges that exposure to ""vaccines, medications, and chemical agents"" have been blamed for the symptoms. The cocktail of protective drugs given to soldiers, oil well fires, biological weapons, depleted uranium from bombs and other environmental hazards have also been blamed for the symptoms. ""However, to date, there has been no consistent association between illness and exposure to these substances,"" the report states.
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