Gulf war illnesses.

Many Gulf War illnesses may be autoimmune disorders caused by the chemical and biological stressors pyridostigmine bromide, and adrenaline.

Gulf War-related illnesses are mostly common ailments, but with incidence rates that exceed those expected in the population of Gulf War veterans. These illnesses may be the result of combinations of chemical and physiological stressors which may have caused acute cellular effects sufficient to initiate processes of autoimmunity to various organs, tissues or types of cells. Two main suspects in...

Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses

In 1990 and 1991, approximately 697,000 U.S. troops were deployed in the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The United States suffered relatively few casualties during the brief air and ground war against Iraq. Since returning home, however, many veterans have developed illnesses that appear to be related to their military service in the Gulf. Researchers caution tha...

Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans Scientific Findings and Recommendations Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans Scientific Findings and Recommendations

Mortality among US and UK veterans of the Persian Gulf War: a review.

Mortality data on Gulf War veterans was reviewed as a means of evaluating the long term consequences of the war. Studies were located from searches of Medline, Proceedings of the Conference on Federally Sponsored Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses Research, Proceedings of the American Public Health Association Annual Meetings, Annual Reports to Congress, and personal contacts with knowledgeable inves...

Hospitalizations for unexplained illnesses among U.S. veterans of the Persian Gulf War.

Persian Gulf War veterans have reported a variety of symptoms, many of which have not led to conventional diagnoses. We ascertained all active-duty U.S. military personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf War (552,111) and all Gulf War era military personnel not deployed (1,479,751) and compared their postwar hospitalization records (until 1 April 1996) for one or more of 77 diagnoses under the Int...

Can epidemiology clear the fog of war? Lessons from the 1990-91 Gulf War.

Despite over US $200 million having been spent researching illnesses following the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, the nature and cause of such illnesses remains controversial. In this narrative review, we discuss some of the methodological issues that have affected epidemiological studies on this topic. These include low-response rates, ascertainment bias, recall bias, problems identifying suitable ...