Environmental Influences on Illnesses in Persian Gulf War Veterans

The United States deployed 697,000 troops to the Persian Gulf for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 to 1991. Battle-related morbidity and mortality were remarkably low, and the incidence of nonbattle injuries and illnesses was far lower than has been seen in other military conflicts (“Medicine in the Gulf War,” 1991). However, subsequent to the war, some veterans have reported common, nonspecific symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, rashes, and joint or muscle aches. Concerns were expressed about the possibility of environmental exposures unique to the combat arena having an etiologic role. To address this, the Departments of Veterans’ Affairs (VA, 1992) and Defense (DoD, 1994) established registries for the comprehensive, standardized evaluation of Persian Gulf War (PGW) veterans. A national hotline was established and concerned veterans were encouraged to call to arrange evaluations. By June 1996, more than 70,000 had registered with the VA and more than 30,000 with the DoD (it should be noted that some individuals are on both registries).