Investigating the respiratory health of deployed military personnel

Michael J. Morris, Lisa L. Zacher, David A. Jackson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent news media articles have implied a direct relationship between environmental exposures such as burn pits during current deployments and the development of serious and debilitating chronic pulmonary disease. These articles suggest that the military is superficially investigating evidence that establishes a link between deployment and development of chronic lung disease. Anecdotal cases of military personnel with lung disease are detailed to suggest a systemic problem with undiagnosed and untreated pulmonary disease in deployed service members. Despite these contentions, the U.S. Army Medical Department and other agencies have been actively pursuing numerous scientific investigations into deployment-related lung disease to define the severity and prevalence of the issue. This article will review relevant research efforts by the U.S. military in the existing medical literature and address the current efforts planned by the services to systematically investigate the possibility of deployment-related pulmonary disease.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1157-1161
Number of pages5
JournalMilitary Medicine
Volume176
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011
Externally publishedYes

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