Gulf War veterans have reported health problems that they attribute to their military service, but little is understood about the nature or extent of these conditions. To determine whether Kansas Gulf War veterans are affected by excess health problems, a population-based survey of 1,548 veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War (PGW) and 482 veterans who served elsewhere (non-PGW) was conducted in 1998. Gulf War illness, defined as having chronic symptoms in three of six domains, occurred in 34% of PGW veterans, 12% of non-PGW veterans who reported receiving vaccines during the war, and 4% of non-PGW veterans who did not receive vaccines. The prevalence of Gulf War illness was lowest among PGW veterans who served on board ship (21%) and highest among those who were in Iraq and/or Kuwait (42%). Among PGW veterans who served away from battlefield areas, Gulf War illness was least prevalent among those who departed the region prior to the war (9%) and most prevalent among those who departed in June or July of 1991 (41%). Observed patterns suggest that excess morbidity among Gulf War veterans is associated with characteristics of their wartime service, and that vaccines used during the war may be a contributing factor.

Veterans of Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield – the 1991 Gulf War (GW) – are a unique population who returned from theater with multiple health complaints and disorders. Studies in the U.S. and elsewhere have consistently concluded that approximately 25–32% of this population suffers from a disorder characterized by symptoms that vary somewhat among individuals and include fatigue, headaches, cognitive dysfunction, musculoskeletal pain, and respiratory, gastrointestinal and dermatologic complaints. Gulf War illness (GWI) is the term used to describe this disorder. In addition, brain cancer occurs at increased rates in subgroups of GW veterans, as do neuropsychological and brain imaging abnormalities.Chemical exposures have become the focus of etiologic GWI research because nervous system symptoms are prominent and many neurotoxicants were present in theater, including organophosphates (OPs), carbamates, and other pesticides; sarin/cyclosarin nerve agents, and pyridostigmine bromide (PB) medications used as prophylaxis against chemical warfare attacks. Psychiatric etiologies have been ruled out.This paper reviews the recent literature on the health of 1991 GW veterans, focusing particularly on the central nervous system and on effects of toxicant exposures. In addition, it emphasizes research published since 2008, following on an exhaustive review that was published in that year that summarizes the prior literature (RACGWI, 2008).We conclude that exposure to pesticides and/or to PB are causally associated with GWI and the neurological dysfunction in GW veterans. Exposure to sarin and cyclosarin and to oil well fire emissions are also associated with neurologically based health effects, though their contribution to development of the disorder known as GWI is less clear. Gene-environment interactions are likely to have contributed to development of GWI in deployed veterans. The health consequences of chemical exposures in the GW and other conflicts have been called “toxic wounds” by veterans. This type of injury requires further study and concentrated treatment research efforts that may also benefit other occupational groups with similar exposure-related illnesses.

Background: At least one-fourth of U.S. veterans who served in the 1990–1991 Gulf War are affected by the chronic symptomatic illness known as Gulf War illness (GWI). Clear determination of the causes of GWI has been hindered by many factors, including limitations in how epidemiologic studies have assessed the impact of the complex deployment environment on veterans’ health.Objective: We sought to address GWI etiologic questions by evaluating the association of symptomatic illness with characteristics of veterans’ deployment.Methods: We compared veteran-reported wartime experiences in a population-based sample of 304 Gulf War veterans: 144 cases who met preestablished criteria for GWI and 160 controls. Veteran subgroups and confounding among deployment variables were considered in the analyses.Results: Deployment experiences and the prevalence of GWI differed significantly by veterans’ location in theater. Among personnel who were in Iraq or Kuwait, where all battles took place, GWI was most strongly associated with using pyridostigmine bromide pills [odds ratio (OR) = 3.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.7, 7.4] and being within 1 mile of an exploding SCUD missile (OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.5, 6.1). For veterans who remained in support areas, GWI was significantly associated only with personal pesticide use, with increased prevalence (OR = 12.7; 95% CI: 2.6, 61.5) in the relatively small subgroup that wore pesticide-treated uniforms, nearly all of whom also used skin pesticides. Combat service was not significantly associated with GWI.Conclusions: Findings support a role for a limited number of wartime exposures in the etiology of GWI, which differed in importance with the deployment milieu in which veterans served.

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