Gulf War syndrome is real, federal panel concludes

A report issued by a congressionally mandated panel made up of scientists and veterans concluded "that Gulf War syndrome is real and still afflicts nearly a quarter of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict," writes Mary Engel and Thomas H. Maugh II of the Los Angeles Times. The story is important in rural areas, which provide a disproportionate share of military recruits and often suffer from lack of access to medical care for veterans.

The report refutes longstanding government claims that deemed Gulf War syndrome was the result of stress and other unknown causes. Previous reports, including one by the Institute of Medicine, that found no evidence of the existence of Gulf War syndrome were apparently hampered by the Veterans Administration.

Engel and Maugh write, "The bulk of the evidence about the neurotoxic effects of the chemicals to which the soldiers were exposed comes from animal research, but the VA ordered the institute to consider only the much more limited human studies, skewing the results, the panel said." The report lists exposure to two different chemicals as the major causes of Gulf War syndrome. "The major causes of the disorder appear to be self-inflicted," write Engel and Maugh. "Pyridostigmine bromide was given to hundreds of thousands of troops in the fear that the Iraqis would unleash chemical warfare against them."

Symptoms associated with Gulf War syndrome include memory and concentration problems, persistent head aches, fatigue and pain. "The report vindicates hundreds of thousands of U.S. and allied veterans who have been reporting a variety of neurological problems -- even as the government maintained that their symptoms were largely due to stress or other unknown causes," Engel and Maugh report. (Read more)