A committee of scientists set up by the US Department of Veterans Affairs has (pdf format) that nearly a third of veterans of the Gulf war of 1990-1991 鈥� some 200,000 people 鈥� continue to suffer from a Gulf war syndrome caused by exposure to organophosphate nerve gas, nerve gas remedies and insecticides.
鈥淕ulf War illness is real,鈥� the report concludes. 鈥淔ew veterans have recovered.鈥� Their last report in 2004 also concluded that GWS is not psychological but caused by organophosphates.
Research since then, they report, has strengthened the association, and shows it may involve inflammatory chemicals called cytokines in the brain.
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Yet the committee charges that government research into Gulf war syndrome has plummeted since 2001, while suffering veterans are denied benefits.
The UK Gulf Veterans Association responded to the report by calling on British military authorities to: 鈥渟top wasting money on psychological research, as this landmark report clearly indicates the illness is physical鈥�. The military should also stop telling veterans鈥� private doctors the condition is psychological, the association says.
The military in various countries has consistently denied that there is a physical basis to GWS. The chairman of the US Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans鈥� Illnesses, James Binns, told the that the importance of the new report lies in what is done with it in the future. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a blueprint for the new administration,鈥� he said.
