Health Highlights: Nov. 15, 2008
Nov. 16 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Medical Panel Recommends $60 Million for Gulf War Illness Research
While the U.S. government is trying to handle the injuries and ailments suffered by thousands of Armed Services veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, an advisory panel is recommending millions of dollars for research into the illnesses suffered by as many as 210,000 soldiers who served in the 1991 Gulf War.
According to the Associated Press, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake will get a report Monday from a medical advisory panel recommending an increase of funds for research into what has become known as Gulf War illness, from $5 million to $60 million.
Symptoms, which researchers say were recorded in much higher percentages among soldiers deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 than in those who did not go, include fatigue, loss of memory, unexplained pain throughout the body, headaches, and difficulty sleeping, the A.P. reports.
Possible reasons for these ailments include exposure to pesticides used for insect control and pyridostigmine bromide pills, which were protection against nerve agents. But more research is needed to substantiate the cause of Gulf war illness, the panel concluded.
Calling the need to find the cause and provide treatment to Gulf War veterans a "national obligation," the panel wrote: ""Substantial federal Gulf War research funding has been used for studies that have little or no relevance to the health of Gulf War veterans," the panel concluded, and stressed that the money had to be used for research into Gulf war Illness, the A.P. reports.
Gardasil Protects Men Against Genital Warts: Study
A new study says the anti-cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil also reduces men's risk of genital warts, which can lead to cancer of the penis and anus.Gardasil protects against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV).
The 30-month study of 4,065 males, ages 16 to 26, found that those who received the vaccine were 90 percent less likely to develop genital warts.The findings were presented Friday at a meeting of the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia, Bloomberg news reported.
Related Stories
ABC News Live