By Suzanne Gamboa - The Associated Press

About 16 years after serving in the Persian Gulf War, Julie Mock still struggles with health problems, including multiple sclerosis.

She believes her problems stem from vaccines she received at the time, as well as exposure to chemicals while she was deployed with the Armys 87th Medical Detachment.

Mock, who testified Tuesday in Washington at a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing called by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said her two sons also were born with developmental disabilities and other problems.  "We wont let you forget," Mock said. "We wont let you leave us behind. Please help us and our families."  The United States has spent about $300 million researching Gulf War illnesses.

"Yet we still dont have an answer," said Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the committees top Republican.  "While Im frustrated by the lack of progress, I remain heartened by the fact that we know more now than we did when we started. Im also heartened by what I see as an emerging consensus. "  That consensus, he said, was that Gulf War illnesses are seen as real problems.

Dr. Lea Steele, scientific director for the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illness, said by far the biggest problem is a group of symptoms that tend to be grouped under the
blanket term "Gulf War Illness" severe headaches, profound fatigue, memory problems and persistent body pain. Skin lesions, respiratory and other problems also fall into this category, she
said.  "We know veterans who have had diarrhea for 16 years," Steele said.

But there are other problems, too, she said. Her committee is recommending more testing on other diagnosed conditions such as Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrigs disease,
which one large Veterans Affairs study suggested has occurred in twice as many Gulf War veterans as non-Gulf veterans.  And troops downwind of a large weapons depot destroyed in 1991 in Iraq have died of brain cancer at twice the rate of veterans who served in other areas, she said.

Dr. Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer for the Veterans Health Administration, said the VA is funding more studies of brain cancer, MS and other conditions.

"We must all work together to make this a reality so that what happened to our troops in the first Persian Gulf War is not repeated," Akaka said.

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