(Host) Congressman Bernie Sanders has secured a $5 million federal grant to study the specific causes of Gulf War Illness. Sanders has been working on the issue for more than a decade. It’s estimated that as many as 100,000 soldiers who served in the first Gulf war in the early 1990s have reported a number of illnesses that could be related to chemical exposure in the battlefield.
Sanders says the information from the new study may also show links between a variety of illnesses and low level chemical exposure in the workplace or home:
(Sanders) “This can have a huge impact not only in addressing the problems that 100,000 American soldiers are suffering from – in terms of Gulf War Illness – but there are probably millions of Americans who are suffering through these various civilian illnesses, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivities and fibromyalgia. This research is enormously important.”
(Host) Sanders says he hopes the new research will encourage the Veterans Administration to offer new treatment options for many of the veterans who are afflicted with Gulf War Illness.
Sanders says most of the money will be used to fund new research by Nobel Prize winning scientist Doctor Paul Greedgard.