Report to Congress: Gulf War syndrome is real

Contradicting nearly two decades of government denials, a congressionally mandated scientific panel has concluded that Gulf War syndrome is real and still afflicts nearly a quarter of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict.

The report cited two chemical exposures consistently associated with the disorder: the drug pyridostigmine bromide, given to troops to protect against nerve gas, and pesticides that were widely used -- and often overused -- to protect against sand flies and other pests.

"The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that Gulf War illness is real, that it is a result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time," according to the report presented today to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake.

The report vindicates hundreds of thousands of U.S. and allied veterans who have been reporting a variety of neurological problems -- even as the government maintained that their symptoms were largely due to stress or other unknown causes.

"Recognition of the full extent of the illnesses suffered by these veterans of the conflict and the obligation owed them is long overdue," said Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord David Craig, chief of the British defense staff during the war. "They are victims of the war as much as anyone struck by a bullet or shell."

The panel, made up of scientists and veterans, called on Congress to appropriate $60 million per year to conduct research into finding a cure for the disorder.

"The tragedy here is that there are currently no treatments," said the panel's chair, James H. Binns, a former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense and a Vietnam veteran.

The reports of a Gulf War syndrome have percolated ever since the end of the war. Many veterans reported memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue and widespread pain. Some also reported chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms and skin rashes.

The new report is the product of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, which was chartered by Congress in 1998 because many members felt that veterans were not receiving adequate care. Its 15 members, about two-thirds scientists and the rest veterans, were not appointed until January 2002.

Critics charged that the VA was reluctant to spend the research and treatment funds that such a committee might recommend.