
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 30, 1994                   TAG: 9409300040
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CHEMICALS MAY CAUSE VET ILLNESS

George Vaughan's health steadily has deteriorated since he returned from the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and he's sure the cause is his exposure to a wide range of chemicals there. Pentagon doctors think he may be right.

``I firmly believe my problems come from multiple chemical sensitivity,'' Vaughan, 32, a sergeant at Fort Mead in Oregon, said Thursday. Vaughan has suffered tumors in his arms, precancerous polyps, loss of equilibrium and short-term memory problems since serving six months in the gulf.

He says his reactions to chemicals are so strong that even ordinary household cleaning detergents now make him vomit.

Since the war, thousands of veterans have complained of similar symptoms that have been inconclusively linked to oil fire fumes, pesticides, parasites, vaccines or possible exposure to chemical or biological toxins.

The Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department have more than 30 research projects under way, and have set up extensive registries to examine and treat sick vets. The VA registry lists more than 29,000 veterans, and a Pentagon hot line is receiving more than 100 calls a day.

But doctors say they have found no single cause of ``Persian Gulf Syndrome,'' and say there is no evidence of increased miscarriages or birth defects in the families of veterans with undiagnosed health problems.

In hearings Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee's personnel panel, Maj. Gen. Ronald Blanck, head of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, said doctors have been able to diagnose many of those who come in. However, he said, ``There is still left a number of people even after extensive exams who are clearly ill and we can't diagnose.''

Blanck said he was convinced that there are ``some susceptible individuals'' who are reacting to a combination of chemical exposures.

Dr. Sue Bailey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for clinical services, said it would be a mistake to ascribe a diagnosis that is not accepted by the medical community. But she said she was ``very open to the possibility'' that multiple chemical sensitivity was a factor in the illnesses.

That has yet to be proven to be a definable disease, although a growing number of doctors believe that exposures to chemicals in daily life are responsible for a health syndrome affecting thousands of Americans.

by CNB