ALS and the Military

This past summer we discovered that the Department of Veterans Affairs office was now offering a monthly benefit for widows of ALS. This applies to those widows that had a spouse that was diagnosed with ALS during or after military service. They could have served during war time or peace time. The benefit is around $1,000 a month, which is a lot to my mother. She is 71 years old, drawing my dad's social security and his retirement from Frontier Airlines, plus, she works part time at a local clothing store. If she were to get this VA benefit, she would have approximately $1,000 more a month and may not have to keep working.

I am calling it a benefit, but it is actually compensation according to Fred Campbell, chairman of VA outreach for American Ex-Prisoners of War. Mr. Campbell has written to "Dear Abby" a couple of times to notify the public of this new benefit. He has had a ton of replies to his notification.

After the Gulf War in the early 1990s, people who had served, especially men, started coming down with strange symptoms. It was dubbed the "Gulf War Syndrome". But, come to find out, many of those that were ill, ended up diagnosed with ALS. Understand that not all military developed ALS, but more than normal developed it when compared to non-military civilians. For some reason, yet to be discovered, people serving in the military - any branch - tend to have twice the chance of developing ALS. It doesn't matter whether it is war time or peace time.

There have been several different studies done over the past several years and they simply cannot pinpoint one specific trigger for ALS. They suspect that it could be exposure to toxins, stress, or other environmental issues.

Doctors do know that 10% of ALS patients are familial, which means it is passed down through the family, and 90% is sporadic, meaning people develop it at random.

I plan to follow the reports to see if they can determine the specific cause of ALS. So, hopefully, I'll have more information to follow.

If you or a loved one served in the military and have been diagnosed with ALS, please contact the Department of Veterans Affairs at (800) 827-1000 to get in touch with your closest office. We have started the process of paperwork for my mother to collect the benefits and I encourage you to do the same.