GUELPH, Ont. - Military Veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS, and researchers have been trying to figure out why.
“It’s a great mystery that we’re trying to unravel, is it something about enlisting with the military or is it something about exposures experienced during the military,” questions Harvard University researcher Marc Weisskopf.
Retired Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, Bob Gibson wants answers too.
Gibson spent 12 years serving his country, flying into “sketchy” areas.
“The Gaza Strip, Cyprus, Damascus, Addis Ababa flying the Hercules for sometimes up to 18 hours a day,” Gibson said.
For six years, Gibson shared his troubling symptoms to a rolodex of different doctors across Canada.
Then in 2023, he finally received a difficult diagnosis.
“We got the bad news, I had ALS,” Gibson said.
There is no cure for the progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has affected Gibson’s mobility, but it hasn’t slowed down his quest to understand why military veterans such as himself are at a higher risk of developing the disease.
Speaking to CTV News from his home in Guelph, Gibson said he suspects his exposure to different chemicals while serving with the military may be a driving factor.
“We’d be in the Gaza Strip, and they’d have a pit fire where they’d be burning off excess fuels,” the retired pilot recalled.
A recent study published in the Journal Neurology, conducted in part by Weisskopf, found that the risk of developing ALS varies within military divisions.
The journal’s summary stated that “those serving in the Air Force, Navy, or Coast Guard may incur exposure to military environments that increase risk of ALS. It is imperative to identify relevant exposures to reduce harm to service members and, potentially, civilians with similar exposures.”
In the United States, the Department of Defense has committed millions to ALS research, .
Now, the ALS Society of Canada is calling on the federal government in Ottawa to do the same.
“Every Canadian needs to be concerned about ALS because they too are at risk of this disease, and we need answers for our veterans,” said Tammy Moore, CEO, of the ALS Society of Canada.
Gibson and the ALS Society of Canada are calling on Ottawa to come to the table with $50 million dollars to help fund critical research that is already underway.
“When you see how much we’re spending on our military today in Canada, $50 million is a drop in the bucket,” Gibson said.
CTV News asked Veterans Affairs Canada if the federal government was open to helping fund the research, but the department did not clearly answer our question.
In an email, a spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Canada wrote, “the department expedites requests for benefits, services and supports related to ALS, recognizing the significant and rapidly changing needs that can accompany this diagnosis.
This includes financial support, health care, home care, caregiver support, long-term care and other services a veteran may need, such as additional care in the home, assistance for caregivers, respite and palliative care.”
For Gibson, the funding he and others are requesting isn’t just to help researchers understand the cause of his disease, it’s also to help future generations. Gibson’s son, Kyle, is also a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, and he worries about others being diagnosed in the years ahead.
“The reality is, our military is growing, and if we don’t solve this mystery, more and more veterans are going to be diagnosed with ALS,” Kyle Gibson added.
The elder Gibson has already made a trip to Parliament Hill to petition the federal government to fund the important research. He plans to make another trip to speak with lawmakers this October.
Researchers believe if they can find out why members of the military are developing ALS, it will lead to a greater understanding of the disease for everyone.
