UNEXPLAINED ILLNESSES AMONG DESERT-STORM VETERANS - A SEARCH FOR CAUSES, TREATMENT, AND COOPERATION

Between August 1990 and March 1991, the United States deployed 697 000 troops to the Persian Gulf to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Since the Gulf War, most veterans seeking medical care at Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense medical facilities have had diagnosabl e conditions, but the symptoms of several thousand veterans have not b een readily explained. The most commonly reported, unexplained complai nts have been chronic fatigue, rash, headache, arthralgias/myalgias, d ifficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, and irritability. These sympto ms have not been localized to any one organ system, and there has been no consistent physical sign or laboratory abnormality that indicates a single specific disease. Because of the unexplained illnesses being experienced by some Gulf War troops, a comprehensive clinical and rese arch effort has been organized by the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services to provide care for veterans a nd to evaluate their medical problems. To determine the causes and mos t effective treatments of illnesses among Gulf War veterans, a thoroug h understanding of all potential health risks associated with service in the Persian Gulf is necessary. These risks are reviewed in this art icle and include possible reactions to prophylactic drugs and vaccines , infectious diseases, and exposures to chemicals, radiation, and smok e from oil fires.