21.
Blood Tests Suggest Reason Behind Gulf War Syndrome
in Top 25 Censored Stories for 1998
Source: INSIGHT Title: “Sickness and Secrecy,”
Date: August
25, 1997,
Author: Paul M. Rodriguez
SSU Censored Researchers: Robin Stovall and Kecia Kaiser
SSU Faculty Evaluator: Andy Merrifield, Ph.D.
Gulf War-related illnesses are rampant among American war
veterans. One suggestion as to the cause of the illnesses has surfaced with new
blood tests on the most seriously ill victims. A synthetic substance, squalene, banned for use in humans, has been found in blood
tests of hundreds of sick Gulf War veterans, some of whom never left U.S. soil.
Complicating the issue is the U.S. Department of Defense’s “loss” of over
700,000 service-related immunization records, which might provide a clue as to
why squalene is showing up in Gulf War veterans’
blood samples.
Analysis of the blood samples has shown antibody levels of
the experimental adjuvant compound known as squalene.
This compound, not approved for internal human use other than in highly controlled
experiments, has been studied on animals and humans as a promising tool that
might help boost the body immune systems against influenza, herpes simplex, and
HIV. Only government agencies are involved in human experimental tests using adjuvants (including squalene)
yet the government has denied that experimental HIV
immunization tests were ever expanded to the general population of sick people
or military personnel.
The military has rejected any claim that immunizations
administered to Gulf War military personnel prior to leaving for the war
contained any adjuvants, but actual immunization
records for the period have either been lost or destroyed. This has led to
speculation in several circles that the government used military personnel to
test experimental immunizations.
Military samples of blood drawn from the vets showed
positive reactions for squalene antibodies. Samples
of test subjects involved in federal experimental HIV studies also show
positive reactions for squalene. It should be noted the
medication administered to those involved in this HIV study contained the
adjuvant squalene. These test subjects have never
served in the military.
A military lab researcher interviewed by Insight was quoted
as saying, “We have found soldiers who are not sick that do not have the
antibodies, and we found soldiers who never left the United States, but who got
shots (administered by the military) who are sick—and they have squalene in their systems. We found people who served
overseas in various parts of the desert that are sick who have squalene. And we found people who served in the desert but
were civilians who never got the shots, who are not sick and do not have squalene.”
Many people believe that there is probably no single cause
for Gulf War Syndrome. Due to the disappearance of the inoculation records,
even the most elementary checks cannot occur.
UPDATE BY AUTHOR PAUL M. RODRIGUEZ: “Since publication, none
of the so-called mainstream press has followed up on the original story (or
subsequent reports) by Insight. This may be due to the controversial nature of
the issue and/or obstruction by military and politicos who alternatively have
denied, rejected, or brushed aside the story.
“The Insight stories were (and are) based on preliminary and
ongoing medical tests by one of the country’s most prestigious laboratories.
This laboratory, which plans soon to seek ‘peer’ reviews, has initially
confirmed the highly unusual discovery of antibodies to a polymer compound
called squalene in the blood of sick Gulf War
soldiers who served overseas as well as in the blood of those who never left
the United States. In both camps, the sick soldiers received multiple
inoculations and immunizations.
“At first, Defense Department and military/veterans’
officials denied they had such a substance, even experimentally. Then slowly
over many months it was learned—and officials conceded—that squalene
has been, in fact, tested extensively as a promising new ‘adjuvant’ compound in
experimental drugs to protect troops against malaria, herpes, and potentially
even HIV. However, to this day, the government denies it ever used squalene during the Gulf War period.
“This poses several intriguing questions, not the least of
which is: Why does something that’s not supposed to be there show up in sick
vets? Bipartisan members of Congress and the General Accounting Office are now
looking into the issue. Insight will continue to report what is found, and, of
course, what is not found.”
Source: http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/21-blood-tests-suggest-reason-behind-gulf-war-syndrome/