US military duty linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) People who serve in the US military appear to face an increased risk of developing the fatal neurological disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, but the cause remains unclear, a panel of experts has said.

A six-member Institute of Medicine panel said yesterday in a report the evidence of a link between military service and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) later in life is rather sparse, but a review of five prior studies suggests it does exist.

These experts said more research is needed to confirm the finding and explore possible causes such as toxic chemicals encountered in the military, trauma and strenuous physical activity.

Their report cited results from three epidemiological studies showing that US troops deployed for the 1991 Gulf War were up to twice as likely to develop ALS later in life than the general population or veterans who served at the same time but were not sent to the Gulf region for the war.

The report also cited data originally collected in a cancer study from hundreds of thousands of people who served in the US military from 1910 to 1982 that indicated a 1.5 times greater risk for ALS, suggesting the link is not restricted merely to the Gulf War.

A fifth study, the report said, found no link.

''Would I stick my neck out and say I don't think there's any question (a link exists)? I think there's still a question. I'd like to see this confirmed,'' Dr. Richard Johnson, chairman of the panel and a neurologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in an interview.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs requested the report from the Institute of Medicine, which provides independent expertise to U.S. policymakers and others.

ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease for taking the life of the famous New York Yankees baseball player in 1941, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles.

Most who develop ALS die from respiratory failure three to five years after onset of symptoms. No effective treatment exists.

RISK FACTORS ''This is where the next step in the research needs to go -- to look and try to identify what might be the characteristics of military service that could put people at risk,'' Christina Wolfson, a panel member and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at McGill University in Montreal, said in an interview.

''It could be a multitude of small triggers, and it's only when they all come together in the same individual who may be genetically susceptible that they will cause disease,'' Wolfson added. ''It might be in the war environment or a military environment, there may be a higher probably of all those things coming together.'' The report was released on the U.S. holiday honoring veterans, two months after another Institute of Medicine panel found that while troops deployed for the Gulf War get sicker than most other veterans, evidence for a suspected Gulf War Syndrome is lacking.

That report noted an increased risk of ALS among Gulf War veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs provides disability compensation to Gulf War veterans with ALS, but not other veterans.

Steve Gibson of the ALS Association advocacy group said the new report should prompt the government to give compensation to all veterans diagnosed with ALS.

The report did not look at data regarding people who have served in other militaries around the world.

About 20,000 Americans have ALS and 5,000 Americans are diagnosed with it annually.

REUTERS BDP ND0918