Veterans’ risk of developing ALS may be higher

Veterans’ risk of developing ALS may be higher
By Robin Erb
The (Detroit) Free Press
Posted : Sunday Aug 5, 2012

A small number of studies have suggested military veterans may be at a higher risk for developing ALS.

It’s enough evidence that, in 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs began setting aside benefits specifically for anyone who had been in the service and developed the disease.

Although benefits vary depending on service time and other factors, ALS was categorized as a “presumptively compensable illness.” In other words, veterans diagnosed with ALS are eligible for monthly disability pay and funds to modify their homes, vehicles to transport them, insurance for dependents and survivors’ benefits.

From January 2003 to September 2011, Veterans Affairs — prompted by anecdotal reports of young veterans returning from the Persian Gulf War and developing ALS — collected information and even blood samples from willing veterans with ALS, said Dr. Eugene Oddone, who ran the registry and is now director of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care at the VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

The goal was to determine whether ALS really was more prevalent among veterans and, if so, among which veterans and why. The results were mixed.
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