Because Vietnam veterans comprise the majority of all living veterans and most are now older adults, the urgency and potential value of studying the long-term health effects of service in the Vietnam War, including effects on mortality, is increasing. The present study is the first prospective mortality assessment of a representative sample of Vietnam veterans. We used one of the longest follow...

Medical policy-makers have concluded that stress from wartime trauma and deployment constitutes an important cause of the chronic physical symptoms observed in US veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War. The author reviewed scientific articles from peer-reviewed journals referenced in the final report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' illnesses and conducted a MED...

INTRODUCTION A sizable literature has analyzed the frequency of alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking among veterans. However, few studies have examined patterns of alcohol use in veterans of the first Gulf War or factors associated with problem drinking in this population. We examined the frequency and patterns of alcohol use in male and female veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War o...

The underlying etiology and pathogenesis of Gulf War veterans' illnesses continue to be under intense investigation. Reports have suggested the basis for these illnesses may be an altered immune system, but compelling evidence is lacking. We sought to determine whether in vitro immune responses were abnormal in symptomatic Gulf War veterans relative to matched controls. A randomized case-contro...

In this edition of Psychological Medicine, research findings are reported from two studies of British Gulf War veterans (David et al. 2002; Everitt et al. 2002). Both studies were carried out at King’s College ‘Gulf War Illness Research Unit ’, which was established in 1996. The two studies were conducted to examine the causes of unexplained symptoms among Gulf War veterans. The results present...

Although recent veterans have been found to be at increased risk of psychiatric disorders, limited research has focused on alcohol or substance use disorders. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether alcohol or substance use disorders were more common in Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq War veterans compared with military comparison groups nondeployed to the corresponding confli...

It is unlikely that Gulf War veterans are suffering chronic effects from illnesses caused by chemical warfare nerve agent exposure. Extensive investigation and review by several expert panels have determined that no evidence exists that chemical warfare nerve agents were used during the Gulf War. At no time before, during, or after the war was there confirmation of symptoms among anyone, milita...

BACKGROUND Differences in the characteristics and mental health needs of female veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan war compared with those of veterans of other wars may have useful implications for VA program and treatment planning. METHODS Female veterans reporting service in the Iraq/Afghanistan war were compared with women reporting service in the Persian Gulf and Vietnam wars and to men rep...

The reporting of pain was compared for U.K. Persian Gulf War veterans, veterans from the Bosnian conflict, and personnel employed in the military at the time of the Persian Gulf War but not deployed (era comparison group). Pain manikins were used to assess the prevalence of the reporting of pain in different body sites and the prevalence of the reporting of widespread pain, in relation to compa...