Gulf War Syndrome The Pentagon Still Can't Figure it Out! Gulf War Illness Remains a Mystery
by Pauline Jelinek Source: The Associated Press © 2001 January 14, 2001 WASHINGTON - The Pentagon says it still can't figure out why many Persian Gulf War veterans are sick. Some who went to war as strapping young soldiers are inexplicably confined to wheelchairs. Others have had chronic vomiting and diarrhea. Still others can recall what happened yesterday, but nothing from their childhood. "Something really serious happened there ... to make vets sick like this," said Patrick G. Eddington of the National Gulf War Resource Center advocacy group. - Scientists have not been able to agree there is any such thing as "Gulf War Syndrome," the name given a collection of brain disorders, nervous system breakdowns, joint pain, fatigue and other maladies reported by thousands of veterans. After spending $300 million on scores of studies, the U.S. Department of Defense says it has found no scientific evidence that conclusively points to any cause. Some veterans have suggested@ they are sick from breathing in smoke and contaminants when Iraqis set oil well fires. Some say it might have been tablets they took to protect themselves from nerve gas, or depleted uranium used in new armor-piercing U.S. weaponry, or nerve gas released when they exploded and destroyed Iraqi chemical weapons stockpiles. | |
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