Gulf-War Syndrome (GWS) refers to a collection of symptoms in soldiers who served in Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield. These symptoms include, but are not limited to, the following: skin rashes, severe fatigue, joint and muscle pains, headaches, sleep disturbances, shortness of breath, neurological cognitive defects, and/or diarrhea.

Potential causes include exposure to biological warfare agents, side effects of vaccines (containing the adjuvant squalene) or medications given to Gulf War veterans, exposure to low levels of chemical agents (sarin and cyclosarin), an unusual chronic infectious disease, or a combination of factors.

The DoD states that a large number of troops may have been exposed to petroleum and smoke from the sabotage of Kuwaiti oil wells by Iraqi troops.

According to the DoD some troops in the Gulf War were also exposed to low levels of chemical agents called nerve agents. Nerve agents can cause a runny nose, tearing, increased salivation, changes in vision, stomach cramps, muscle twitching, and difficulty breathing. At high levels of exposure they may cause convulsions and death.

Acute poisoning may cause delayed effects on the nervous system. Researchers who conducted a study supported by the DoD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) discovered that veterans who served in the Gulf War are twice as likely to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurological disease, than those who were not deployed to the Gulf. Air Force personnel were 2.7 times more likely to develop this disease than their non-deployed counterparts.

Gulf War veterans chronic disabilities

On December 27,2001, President Bush signed Public Law 107-103. Section 202 authorized the VA to pay compensation to chronically disabled Gulf War veterans.This section includes the following in an expanded definition of a qualifying chronic disability:

1. A medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness (i.e. chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome) defined by a group of symptoms and signs.

2. Any diagnosed illness that the Secretary determines in regulations warrants a presumption of service-connection.

Some Gulf War veterans are concerned that their children may be affected by Gulf War syndrome. A study published in the journal Birth Defects Research examined the prevalence of birth defects among infants of male and female Gulf War vets in six states. Greater rates of 5 birth defects out of 48 studied defects were reported including heart and kidney defects. According to this study, greater rates of a defect in which the urethra terminates in an abnormal position in the penis, were discovered in infants conceived by female veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have authority to provide treatment for children who may be affected by Gulf War Syndrome.

Victory for Gulf veterans

Ian Craig
12/10/2007

THE Ministry of Defence is to officially recognise Gulf War Syndrome following a 17-year campaign by ex-servicemen.

Defence Minister Lord Drayson made the admission in a 'grovelling apology' to Manchester peer Lord Morris, who has led the way in highlighting problems faced by veterans of the 1990-91 conflict.

Lord Drayson said: "The issue of Gulf War Syndrome will be fully recognised by the Ministry of Defence and I accept on behalf of the MoD that this issue has not been handled well from the beginning.

"The department was slow to recognise the emerging ill- health issues and to put measures in place to address them. We have apologised for this and I repeat that apology today."

Some peers believe that what Lord Craig suggested was a `belated apology' was influenced by Gordon Brown who took a different view to his predecessor Tony Blair about the `undiagnosed' illnesses suffered by veterans.

Lord Morris, former MP for Wythenshawe, called for official recognition of the syndrome in the Lords, saying it was disquieting that 17 years on from the conflict wrangling with veterans over pensions still drags on, with no visible sign of closure.

He said it was deeply shaming that one Gulf War veteran, Terence Walker, had his pension slashed from 100 per cent to 40 per cent and died shortly after `in financial ruin'.

Lord Drayson said the MoD had written to veterans to tell them they can use the label Gulf War Syndrome and are now working with experts to develop a rehabilitation programme.

Lord Morris said later: "Nobody has ever before now said sorry to those veterans left in broken health and those bereaved after the most toxic war in British history."

Following a landmark ex-serviceman’s pension tribunal appeal in October 2005 the MoD has accepted gulf war syndrome as a "useful umbrella term" for conditions which are linked to the 1990/91 gulf conflict however they do not accept it exists as a separate disease.

An MoD spokesman said: "We have long accepted some veterans of the 1990/91 gulf conflict are ill and some of their ill health is related to their services."