Gulf War and Health

For the United States, the 1991 Persian Gulf War was a brief and successful military operation with few injuries and deaths. However, soon after returning from duty, a large number of veterans began reporting health problems they believed were associated with their service in the Gulf. At the request of Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has been conducting an ongoing review of the evidence to determine veterans' long-term health problems and potential causes. The fourth volume in the series, released in 2006, summarizes the long-term health problems seen in Gulf War veterans. In 2010, the IOM released an update that focuses on existing health problems and identifies possible new ones, considering evidence collected since the initial summary.

Gulf War and Health: Volume 10, the final volume of the series, is an update of the scientific and medical literature on the health effects associated with deployment to the Gulf War that were identified in Volumes 4 and 8. This report reviews and evaluates the associations between illness and exposure to toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive measures and vaccines associated with Gulf War service, and provides recommendations for future research efforts on Gulf War veterans.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON GULF WAR AND HEALTH, VOLUME 10: UPDATE OF HEALTH EFFECTS OF SERVING IN THE GULF WAR
• Reviewers
• Preface
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Summary
  • CHARGE TO THE COMMITTEE
  • THE COMMITTEE'S APPROACH
  • MAJOR COHORT STUDIES
  • HEALTH OUTCOMES
  • ANIMAL STUDIES
  • FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • MOVING FORWARD
• 1. Introduction
  • THE GULF WAR SETTING
  • THE GULF WAR AFTERMATH
  • CHARGE TO THE COMMITTEE
  • COMMITTEE'S APPROACH TO ITS CHARGE
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
• 2. Considerations in Identifying and Evaluating the Literature
  • IDENTIFICATION OF THE LITERATURE
  • EVALUATION PROCESS
  • INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY
  • EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT
  • CATEGORIES OF ASSOCIATION
  • CONCLUSIONS
• 3. Human Cohort Studies and Their Derivatives
  • ORGANIZATION OF THIS CHAPTER
  • U.S. VETERAN COHORTS
  • UNITED KINGDOM VETERAN STUDIES
  • AUSTRALIAN VETERAN STUDIES
  • DANISH PEACEKEEPER STUDIES
  • CANADIAN VETERANS STUDIES
  • SUMMARY
• 4. Evaluation of Health Conditions
  • GULF WAR ILLNESS
  • CANCER
  • BLOOD AND CIRCULATORY SYSTEM CONDITIONS
  • ENDOCRINE AND METABOLIC CONDITIONS
  • MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONDITIONS
  • NEUROLOGIC CONDITIONS
  • RESPIRATORY SYSTEM CONDITIONS
  • GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM CONDITIONS
  • CHRONIC SKIN CONDITIONS
  • PAIN-RELATED CONDITIONS
  • GENITOURINARY SYSTEM CONDITIONS
  • ADVERSE REPRODUCTIVE AND PERINATAL OUTCOMES
  • CAUSES OF MORTALITY
  • HEALTH CONDITIONS RELATED TO DEPLETED URANIUM EXPOSURE
• 5. Animal Studies
  • ANIMAL MODELS OF GULF WAR ILLNESS
  • BLOOD–BRAIN BARRIER PERMEABILITY, BRAIN HISTOPATHOLOGY, AND BRAIN METABOLISM AND FUNCTION
  • BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS
  • ORGAN SYSTEM EFFECTS
  • CONCLUSIONS
• 6. Findings and Recommendations
  • SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
  • GULF WAR ILLNESS
  • NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS
  • LUNG AND BRAIN CANCER
  • OTHER HEALTH CONDITIONS
  • EXPOSURE ASSESSMENTS
  • SEX, RACE, AND ETHNICITY
  • MOVING FORWARD
• 7. References
• Appendix. Committee Biographies

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. Gulf War and health: Volume 10: Update of health effects of serving in the Gulf War, 2016. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21840.