Study says Gulf War ills not unique

VFW Magazine, April, 2002 by Tim Dyhouse

Unexplained ailments, such as those reported by Gulf War veterans, have surfaced at the end of nearly all modern wars, according to a Pentagon-funded study conducted by British researchers.

The report, published in the February issue of the British Medical Journal, studied the histories of 1,856 British veterans of the Boer War, both world wars, the Korean War and the Gulf War.

Researcher Edgar Jones, University of London, said, "The thing we're showing is that all major wars seem to produce post-combat syndromes. I'd like to see Gulf War syndrome placed within a general context of post-combat syndrome."

Shaun Risling, of Britain's National Gulf Veterans and Families Association, said that comparing "our illness with that of the Boer War is just farcical."

Researchers hinted that some ailments veterans report might be more psychological than real. Using medical notes in veterans pension records dating back to 1872, they said symptoms that veterans reported changed over time and, depending on different factors (such as combat experiences, doctors' diagnoses and cultural shifts) might influence them to notice different problems.

"Combat stress" was an early explanation for the cause of ailments in the Gulf War, which included a 100-hour ground campaign.