Gulf War Syndrome
Since shortly after the end
of the 1990-'91 Persian Gulf War, veterans have complained of medical symptoms
they say were caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during that conflict. And
they charge that the government has not taken their complaints seriously, or is
even covering up evidence of a Gulf War Syndrome. This past week, the Pentagon
admitted that as many as 20,000 U.S. troops were exposed to nerve gas during
the Gulf War, and the New York Times reported that Czech soldiers in the
Gulf detected toxins "wafting over unprotected American troops." Where does the
Gulf War Syndrome controversy stand?
The
revelation that some troops were, in fact, exposed to toxic gases does not
settle the case. The controversy rests on two remaining issues: finding a
plausible description of the illness and finding evidence that the low-level
toxic exposures could cause it.
After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the U.S. led
deployment of the coalition forces in the Persian Gulf, including 697,000
Americans, 45,000 British, and 4,500 Canadians. During this time, not only were
Allied casualties far lower than feared, but overall rates of illness were low
as well. Despite fears that Iraq would use chemical or biological
weapons , no such attack came and no soldier became ill or died in the Gulf
because of toxic-weapon exposure. (After entering an Iraqi bunker, one soldier
experienced unexplained blistering, which could have been caused by mustard
gas.)
After returning home,
however, American, Canadian, and British veterans began reporting a variety
of chronic symptoms that came to be called the Persian Gulf War syndrome.
Common complaints are fatigue, joint pain, headache, difficulty sleeping,
diarrhea, or nausea. The Department of Veterans Affairs registered and
examined 18,600 American Gulf veterans who were concerned that they might have
the syndrome. More than 67,000 filed disability claims for environmental
sickness, unexplained illness, and other ailments.
No one has
clearly defined what the syndrome really is. No characteristic symptoms or
laboratory abnormalities have been found. Veterans quoted in New York
Times articles, for example, each cited different complaints--from loss of
teeth to tumors to memory loss to joint pain--and yet all were said to have the
syndrome. The most frequent chief complaint (joint pain) was cited by only 11
percent of veterans in the VA registry. A majority of those registered did not
share any of the top dozen symptoms. Other studies of Gulf War vets show no
higher rates of hospitalization, birth defects, or death than among control
groups that did not serve. Thus far, five different independent panels have
evaluated the known evidence. None could find any new disease or define a
unique syndrome.
Gulf veterans and their supporters point to
evidence that troops encountered many different chemical agents which,
they believe, made thousands ill after coming home. Troops received multiple
immunizations , including uncommon vaccines against anthrax and botulinum
toxin. They took pyridostigmine pills as an antidote against nerve gas.
The military used over a dozen pesticides in the Gulf, including
organophosphates, which can cause nerve damage above certain levels. Oil
fires in Kuwait billowed smoke over troops throughout the area. A Scud
missile exploded over the 24th Naval Battalion, exposing its soldiers to
rocket propellant and, some claim, mustard gas --a weapon used to rapidly
induce blindness and severe skin burns.
Last
spring the Pentagon reversed its long-standing denial that troops had been
exposed to toxins while destroying Iraqi chemical weapons. Officials now admit
that, in March 1991, troops were exposed to low levels of the nerve gas
sarin when an Army battalion destroyed an Iraqi ammunitions depot. Initial
estimates of 400 soldiers exposed were increased to 20,000, based on a CIA
computer model of the gas cloud's drift. The number could be increased yet more
as further data are generated. Czech soldiers confirmed detection of sarin even
earlier, in January 1991, when Americans bombed Iraqi chemical plants. Sarin
quickly triggers paralysis; death by asphyxiation or cardiac rhythm
disturbances soon follows. It was used, for example, in last year's Tokyo
subway attacks. But exposure levels in the Gulf were not high enough to cause
such reactions.
Congress has already authorized disability payments
of up to $21,876 per year for veterans with chronic maladies that appeared
within two years after the war. The newest revelations about soldiers' exposure
will add to pressure for more generous compensation.
Inconsistencies remain
unresolved, however. First, expert panelists--including a Nobel laureate, a
medical school dean, and epidemiology and environmental health experts--did not
find it plausible that the chemicals could have failed to produce major ill
effects at the time of exposure, yet could still cause chronic illness later.
No known toxic illness has ever followed such a pattern. In medical circles,
the argument over Gulf War Syndrome is actually part of a larger debate over
the existence of other nebulous syndromes --including chronic fatigue and
various environmental illnesses.
A second problem is that a
Gulf War Syndrome with consistent symptoms has yet to be defined. Gulf
veterans suggest that the syndrome is a constellation of symptoms; which ones a
particular vet gets will vary with the individual. The syndrome may even be
several illnesses, they say, but the common thread is exposure to toxins in the
Gulf.
The independent panels,
however, say none of the proposed chemical agents are known to cause disease at
the low levels which troops faced. Moreover, they have not found any increase
in illness among Gulf veterans as a whole or among those exposed to the
proposed agents. For example, the engineers of the battalion exposed to sarin
showed no higher illness rates than others. Some vets believe, however, that
there is countervailing evidence which the government is covering
up .
