September 2000

(Corresponds to Chapter 7 in your text)

Trying to Get to the Bottom of Gulf War Syndrome

A panel of medical experts cannot find sufficient links between chemical agents associated with the 1991 Gulf War and Gulf War Syndrome, according to a report released September 7, 2000. The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and conducted by The Institute of Medicine, a private, nonprofit institution that provides health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences.

Gulf War veterans who have experienced chronic health problems following their service are asking whether exposure to various chemical or biological agents might be responsible. Thousands of troops did come in contact with a number of agents before, during, and after the war. Because Iraq had used biological weapons in the past, troops were given vaccines to protect them in the event of an attack.

The experts evaluated the published, peer-reviewed research on the agents of greatest concern to representatives of Gulf War veterans' organizations for any evidence of a link between long-term health effects and exposure to sarin, pyridostigmine bromide (PB), depleted uranium, and the vaccines to prevent anthrax and botulism. Most of these studies involved exposures in occupational settings, terrorist attacks, and clinical trials. Only a small number studied veterans who may have been exposed to these agents while serving in the Gulf War theater. Though in some studies the panel found correlation between the substances and symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome, in no case did they find sufficient evidence to conclude that there was a causal connection.

Gulf War Syndrome has been a controversial and elusive disorder. Symptoms include fatigue, headaches, sleep disorders, and memory loss. After a series of controversial decisions denying compensation for sufferers of Gulf War Syndrome, the Veteran's Administration has authorized payment for sufferers of the malady, even though its etiology and nature are not understood. There are no clear guidelines for diagnosing this condition, although veterans need an illness diagnosis to qualify for government medical benefits. Doctors treating veterans have often diagnosed anxiety and mood disorders and post traumatic stress disorder. These disorders often have some of the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome. Skeptics have suggested that it is psychological in origin, a somatoform disorder involving physical manifestations of psychological problems.

The U.S. Congress mandated studies of 33 specific potentially harmful chemical, biological, or environmental agents to which Gulf War veterans might have been exposed. This report is the first of a series; the next will review the scientific literature on pesticides and solvents.

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