Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 04:56, 15 August 2004

Gulf War syndrome is the name given to a variety of psychological and physical symptoms suffered by veterans of the Gulf War. The symptoms have been remarkably wide-ranging, sometimes somewhat ill-defined, and distinguished by the number of theories advanced as to their origin.

Various causes that have been suggested, some more likely than others:

• Depleted uranium poisoning
• the side-effects of drugs given for protection against nerve agents
• Autoimmune diseases induced by squalene, an adjuvant used in anthrax vaccines to speed up the development of anthrax immunity.
• parasites
• biological or chemical weapons whose use has not been disclosed or discovered
• fumes from oil well fires
• aspartame poisoning. Large quantities of aspartame sweetened diet soft drinks were provided to Gulf War troops, often times sitting in high temperature conditions. This artificial sweetener breaks down at roughly 85 degrees F into, among other things, methanol, formaldehyde, diketopiperazine and formic acid.

A contrary view has been advanced, that GWS is not a physical illness, but a response to the stresses of war, and that similar syndromes have been seen as an after effect of many conflicts - for example, 'shell shock' after World War I, and post-traumatic stress disorder after the Vietnam War. If this were true, the unfortunate effect is that the psychologically based therapy that might help support those affected in their very real distress, is neglected in favour of a futile search for a non-existent physical cause: and repeated studies where a particular cause is found to be unconnected become regarded as further evidence for a cover-up by the authorities.

Another possibility is that some or all of the symptoms experienced are unrelated to service in the Gulf. A study for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence found no correlation between service in the Gulf and death from illness.

Although not identifying Gulf War syndrome by name, in June of 2003 the High Court of England and Wales upheld a claim by Shaun Rusling that the depression, eczema, fatigue, nausea and breathing problems that he experienced after returning from the Gulf War were attributed to his military service.

A new British study comparing 24,000 Gulf War veterans to a control group of 18,000 men found that those who had taken part in the Gulf war have lower fertility and are 40 to 50% less likely to be able to start a pregnancy. Among Gulf war soldiers, failure to conceive was 2.5% vs. 1.7% in the control group, and the rate of miscarriage was 3.4% vs. 2.3%. These differences are small but statistically significant.

Relationship between Gulf War Syndrome and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

The symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome are remarkably similar to those associated with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) leading some to believe that they are related. This similarity, and the fact that there is no medical test that will diagnose either (because of a lack of coherent symptoms and lack of a clear definition), has led most experts to conclude that neither illness is physical but purely psychosomatic. Others, mostly adherents of alternative medicine, believe that the cause of the illness is physical, although as yet unidentifiable, and that it will eventually be pinpointed, leading to the legitimisation of the illness and the development of successful treatments. This has occurred with asthma, allergies, repetitive strain injury and many other previously 'dubious' complaints. However, asthma, allergies, RSI and such have distinct and identifiable symptoms, which the Gulf War Syndrome and MCS have not. Also, the symptoms of asthma and allergies remain the same in double-blind tests, while the symptoms of MCS disappear in test where the subject is unaware of exposure to suspected substances.