Up to 250,000 Gulf War veterans have 'unexplained medical
symptoms'
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 10, 2010; 11:57 AM
Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR2010040904712.html
As many as 250,000 veterans of the first Gulf War "have persistent unexplained
medical symptoms" whose cause may never be found, although genetic testing and
functional brain imaging may eventually shed some light on the problem.
That is one of the conclusions of a new review of research on the constellation
of physical complaints originally known as "Gulf War syndrome" experienced by
many soldiers soon after the United States drove invading Iraqi forces out of
Kuwait in early 1991.
The review, by the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, found
that the only illness clearly caused by the Gulf War is post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). It is present in 2 to 15 percent of Gulf War veterans
(depending on how it is diagnosed), and about three-times more common in them
than in soldiers who served at the same time but were deployed elsewhere.
The 12-member panel of medical experts also found "evidence of an association"
between Gulf War service and anxiety disorder, alcohol abuse, dyspepsia,
irritable bowl syndrome, and "multisymptom illness" (its term for Gulf War
syndrome) although not clearly a causal one.
Among the features of "multisymptom illness" are fatigue, muscle and joint pain,
poor sleep, moodiness, lack of concentration, and in some people, skin rash and
diarrhea. A survey of 10,000 veterans conducted in 2005 found that 37 percent of
those who were in the Gulf had the illness, compared to 12 percent deployed
elsewhere.
An increase in vague symptoms and persistent pain has also been seen in some
non-American groups, including British troops who served in the Gulf, and Danish
peacekeepers who were there after the war.
"We concluded that these symptoms are highly prevalent, persistent, and
apparently disabling in this veteran population, even two decades after the
war," said Stephen L. Hauser, the panel chairman and a professor of neurology at
the University of California at San Francisco. "They defy efforts, thus far, to
fully understand their cause."
The 289-page report released Friday was generally praised by advocates for more
attention to Gulf War veterans, and those who believe there is a cause to be
found for Gulf War syndrome.
Paul Sullivan, director of Veterans for Common Sense, in Washington, said his
organization will now ask Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki to
propose regulations that will provide disability benefits and free medical care
to all veterans suffering from "multisymptom illness."
"This is a huge victory for Gulf War veterans," said Sullivan, a 47-year-old
former Army scout who said he has been ill since his Gulf service.
Two years ago, the VA-appointed Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War
Veterans' Illnesses issued a report saying that toxic exposures were probably
the cause of Gulf War illness.
Its chairman, James Binns, asserted Friday that the two reports "agree on the
most important things -- that the multisymptom illness that affects so many Gulf
War veterans is a terrible, distinct illness, and that this nation can and
should launch a Manhattan Project-style research program to identify treatments
and prevent this from happening again."
The Institute of Medicine panel, whose members are academic physicians and
epidemiologists, reviewed 1,000 studies, focusing particular attention on 400
completed since the institute's last review of Gulf War illnesses in 2006.
Many veterans think exposure to pesticides, medicines and environmental toxins
damaged soldiers' brain and immune systems, causing chronic illness. Some
experts believe the symptoms are the consequence of deployment stress,
especially fear of chemical weapons, which Saddam Hussein threatened to use but
did not.
Some others, however, argue that "Gulf War syndrome" is an amalgamation of
physical complaints that are extremely common in all populations, civilian and
military. They have been exaggerated and given a name, and are thus as much a
cultural phenomenon as a medical one.
The panel called for "genome-wide association studies," which scan large numbers
of people looking for gene variations shared by sufferers of a single disease.
It also said that sensitive brain imaging and tests for overstimulation of the
immune system are promising tools for future research.
Because "multisymptom illness" is common outside the Gulf War veteran
population, finding "biomarkers" that identify people at risk for it may also be
useful "for nondeployed veterans and for civilians with a range of medically
unexplained symptoms," the panel members wrote.