GWS & Vaccines

[Guest guest]

The Gulf War's equivalent of Agent Orange - 1/4 of troops affected!

If You Let the Idiots Talk They’ll Tell You What You Want to Know

Kent

Heckenlively, Esq

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/11/if-you-let-the.html

Full report of RAC-GWVI -- Nov. 17, 2008

I’m still trying

to get my mind around the 452 page government report recently released

on Gulf War illness and its implications for the vaccine/autism

controversy.

For those keeping score, two years ago the National Academy of

Sciences released a report asserting there was no such thing as Gulf

War illness.  (“VA-Funded Report Unable to Find Evidence of a Complex

of Symptoms”, www.msnbc.com, September 13, 2006).

The congressionally mandated report entitled “Gulf War Illness and

the Health of Gulf War Veterans” is devastating in its findings.  As

reported in the November 17, 2008 of USA Today (“Gulf War Syndrome is a

Real Illness, Study Finds”), “The illness resulted from exposure to

chemicals and anti-nerve-gas vaccinations received, and no effective

treatment has been found.  It affects 25% of the 695,000 U.S. Gulf War

vets (author’s note - approximately 173,000 service members) and

perhaps 55,000 British veterans.”

In

coverage by Reuters (“Gulf War Illness is Real, Report Finds”, November

17, 2008), they noted that, “Symptoms include persistent headaches,

widespread pain, cognitive difficulties, unexplained fatigue, skin

rashes, chronic diarrhea and digestive and respiratory problems.”  (Can

there be a show of hands from the parents of children with autism as to

whether their kids suffer from any of these problems?)

I wonder how the National Academy of Sciences feels about missing

nearly 225,000 veterans with Gulf War Syndrome?  Will any investigation

be done as to why the National Academy of Sciences failed so miserably

in this task?

As an attorney I usually liked to just let clients or witnesses

talk.  They’d inevitably tell me what I wanted to know.  It was the

things they said and those they didn’t.

As a parent investigating whether vaccines contributed to my

daughter’s autism and neurological problems I took a similar approach. 

I decided to simply read the section on vaccines.  Roughly 27 pages of

the 452 page report is dedicated to the issue of vaccines and Gulf War

syndrome.  Could the health problems of Gulf War veterans who received

multiple vaccinations shed any light on the vaccine/autism theory?

(Approximately 70% of soldiers reported receiving more than 5 vaccines,

while 30% reported getting more than 10.)

A good deal of the report is historical and explanatory of the

vaccination program, but it states the issue quite clearly, “The

central question related to vaccines for Gulf War veterans is whether

any of the vaccines they received, or some combination of those

vaccines, contributed to the development of Gulf War illness or other

chronic health problems.”  (P. 105)

The authors of the report are honest enough to admit that seventeen

years after the guns of that war have fallen silent, the question is

still unanswered.  “In Volume One of the IOM Gulf War and Health series

of reports reviewed research information on effects of the anthrax

vaccine, botulinum toxoid, and multiple vaccinations.  The report

concluded that, while evidence clearly indicated that vaccines are

associated with transient adverse effects, there was insufficient

evidence to determine whether the vaccines considered, or multiple

vaccinations, are associated with long-term adverse health effects. 

The Department of Defense also commissioned the RAND Corporation to

conduct a review of scientific information related to vaccines

administered to Gulf War Veterans, a report that has not yet been

published.” (P. 106)

One of the early clinical indicators that something was biologically

amiss with the Gulf War vets was the detection of squalene antibodies

in the blood of many of those suffering from Gulf War syndrome. 

Squalene is a naturally occurring oily substance found in plants and

animals, as well as a variety of foods, lotions and cosmetics. 

While it appears it is safe to eat products containing squalene, it

is theorized that like many substances otherwise safe, it is unsafe to

inject it.  Squalene has been detected in low amounts in some vaccine

lots, and has been used as an ingredient in some experimental vaccines,

but was not approved for general usage.

However, while the question of whether squalene was added to the

Gulf War vaccines is hotly debated, researchers compared the effect of

this suspected ingredient, to a placebo, as well as aluminum, a known

ingredient of the vaccines.  The results were mixed as to squalene, but

what the authors reported for aluminum was terrifying.

“Overall, the aluminum adjuvant produced more adverse effects than

placebo, squalene, or the combined adjuvants.  After six months, mice

injected with the aluminum adjuvant exhibited significant declines in

muscle strength and endurance, and increased indicators of anxiety,

compared to placebo.  Aluminum adjuvant was also associated with

indicators of increased central nervous system inflammation and motor

neuron loss, as reflected by a significant increase (350%) in the

number of reactive astrocytes in the lumbar spinal cord and neuronal

apoptosis in the motor cortex and spinal cord.  Investigators concluded

that their findings were consistent with an association between

aluminum adjuvants and neurological deficits.  By contrast, squalene

adjuvant was associated with fewer changes in brain and behavior, none

of which was statistically significant.” (P. 119)  (Author's note -

This specific research finding by Dr. Shaw of the

University of British Columbia is high-lighted in the Generation Rescue

list of scientific reports relating to vaccines and autism.)

According to the authors of the report, squalene, which may not have

been in the vaccines, is safe, while aluminum which appears to be

highly destructive to the brain and central nervous system was in the

vaccines.

Is anybody feeling better now?

On that question of whether multiple vaccinations could cause Gulf

War Illness, the authors noted that no U.S. study had been done, but

two British studies had looked at the question.  The first was a 1999

study from King’s College which reported “Gulf War veterans who

received the largest number of vaccines for the war had significantly

worse health, on multiple measures, than veterans who received fewer

vaccines.” (P. 123) 

A question arose whether actual deployment in the theater of war

contributed to the health problems, but the investigators “found no

significant differences between effects of multiple vaccines

administered before and during deployment.”  (P. 124)  In other words,

being in the war zone had no effect on your symptoms, only the number

of vaccines you received.

While some questions were raised about the initial study, the

authors wrote “A second British study provides a more informative look

at this issue.  Controlling for effects of multiple exposures during

deployment, investigators at the University of Manchester reported that

the number of inoculations received by British Gulf War veterans was

significantly correlated with overall symptom severity, and with

symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.  The Manchester study also indicated

that there were no differences between effects of vaccines received

prior to and during deployment.” (P. 124)

The clear implication of these two studies is that the more vaccines

you received, the more health problems you had.  So, is it crazy think

that an increase in the vaccination schedule from 10 to 36 by the age

of six has taken place without a corresponding massive increase in

neurological problems like autism?

Anywhere from 5 to 10 vaccines given to adults in a short period of

time decimated our army.  (Actually, that's an understatement, as the

word decimate comes from the Roman period when rebellious armies would

have punishment inflicted on one out of every ten soldiers.  The rate

at which our soldiers suffer from Gulf War illness is one in four.) 

Our children are not just tiny people, but have fundamentally different

immunological systems.  That's why the medical establishment recently

gave a blanket warning against giving cold and cough medicines to

children under two.

In the recommendations the authors suggested the following research

in regards to vaccines: “In previously-conducted and future

epidemiologic studies of Gulf War veterans, analyze associations

between Gulf War illness and individual vaccines, combinations of

vaccines, and total number of vaccines received using methods that

control for potential confounding by other Gulf War-related

exposures.”  (P. 127)

The truth about Gulf War illness has finally come out.  Our Gulf War

army suffered a casualty rate of 25% without even taking the field of

battle.  If a general had suffered such a loss he would’ve been brought

up on charges of incompetence. 

Perhaps it was best expressed by Hardie, a Gulf War veteran

from Madison, Wisconsin, quoted in the Reuters article.  He said,

" Today's report brings to a close one of the darkest chapters of the

1991 Gulf War, and that is the legacy of Gulf War illness.  For those

who ever doubted that Gulf War veterans are ill, this report is

definitive, and exhaustive. "

I pray the day soon comes when we can close the dark chapter on the

cause of autism, and get the best minds working on treatments which

help every child.

Kent Heckenlively is Legal Editor for Age of Autism