ARMY TO JOIN PROBE OF GULF SICKNESS.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Army scientists have agreed to help study a California researcher's claim that he has found a possible bacterial explanation for some illnesses suffered by Gulf War veterans. Army Lt. Gen. Leslie Burger, commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center Walter Reed Army Medical Center, major hospital complex in Washington, D. C., and Forest Glen, Md.; est. 1923 and named for U.S. army surgeon Walter Reed. It is composed of seven units including a general hospital and a research institute. There are several thousand beds. , will bring together federal and independent scientists next month to determine how to probe biochemist Garth Nicolson's research into mycoplasma mycoplasma Any of the bacteria that make up the genus Mycoplasma. They are among the smallest of bacterial organisms. The cell varies from a spherical or pear shape to that of a slender branched filament. , microorganisms known to sometimes cause disease. Nicolson says he found a genetically altered version of mycoplasma in the blood of half of the several hundred sick veterans he has tested. He says antibiotics have successfully treated some of them. At a meeting Monday, infectious disease Infectious disease A pathological condition spread among biological species. Infectious diseases, although varied in their effects, are always associated with viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites and aberrant proteins known as prions. experts agreed that investigating Nicolson's work ``is not an unreasonable approach,'' Walter Reed Noun 1. Walter Reed - United States physician who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1851-1902) Reed spokesman Ben Smith said Thursday. Thousands of veterans of the 1991 war complain of memory loss, joint and muscle pain, depression, skin rashes and chronic fatigue. While the government insists there is no single Gulf War syndrome Gulf War syndrome, popular name for a variety of ailments experienced by veterans after the Persian Gulf War. Symptoms reported include nausea, cramps, rashes, short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and birth , suggested causes range from chemical weapons exposure to an interaction between the medications and vaccines soldiers were given. Nicolson, director of the nonprofit Institute for Molecular Medicine in Irvine contends the mycoplasma was genetically altered deliberately as a biological weapon. The Pentagon had refused to collaborate with Nicolson, prompting Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., to arrange Monday's meeting. ``We owe it to the people who are still ill . . . to look at this more thoroughly,'' Dicks said. Nicolson could not be reached Thursday, but told The Post-Intelligencer in Seattle that only scientists independent of the Pentagon could be trusted to do an objective study. |
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