Study finds Gulf vets prone to certain illnesses

ST. LOUIS -- Veterans who were deployed to the Persian Gulf are more likely than peers not deployed to that area in 1991 to have conditions that sap their energy, or produce persistent, widespread pain, a new national study of 2,200 veterans has found.

The proportion of Gulf War veterans with chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia is relatively low, but statistically significant, said the study's lead author, Dr. Seth Eisen of St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Washington University School of Medicine.

For instance, they were 40 times more likely to have chronic fatigue syndrome than their counterparts who did not go to the Persian Gulf.

The three-year study at 16 VA medical centers, published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, corroborates what other researchers have reported.

The study of 1,100 veterans deployed to the Persian Gulf and 1,100 not sent to that region did not explore what, if any, environmental exposures could have played a role in their illnesses. Both syndromes occur in the general population, but they lack both explanation or treatment, Eisen said.

"Clinically, it suggests that people with these symptoms after deployment need to be taken seriously and treated," said Dr. Brad Doebbeling, professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, whose study of Iowa Gulf War veterans in the 1990s reached similar conclusions.

"We need to accept that they have these problems and figure out a way to make them feel better."

He said some respond well to certain medicines, exercise and other supportive treatment.

Eisen and Doebbeling stopped short of calling the disabling medical conditions Gulf War Syndrome, the popular name for symptoms associated with the war.

Doebbeling said the study, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, shows Gulf War veterans have higher rates of these multi-symptom illnesses.

The study pulled participants from a national registry of veterans, not those in VA hospitals. Each underwent comprehensive medical and psychiatric examinations.

Eisen said 1.6 percent of deployed Gulf War veterans had chronic fatigue compared to one-tenth percent of non-deployed veterans.

"When statistically adjusted, that's a risk of chronic fatigue 40 times higher in the deployed veterans," he said.

About 1.2 percent of non-deployed veterans had fibromyalgia, compared to 2 percent of deployed veterans.

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Annals of Internal Medicine: http://www.annals.org/