No single illness explains pattern of symptoms in Gulf war veterans

Since the end of the Gulf war, some UK veterans have become unwell, with a variety of symptoms. The Ministry of Defence set up a Gulf war medical assessment programme, and on p 290 Coker et al report the clinical findings on the first 1000 veterans in the programme. The most common symptoms were affective problems, fatigue, and joint and muscle pain. Musculoskeletal disorders and respiratory diseases were common diagnoses; post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in at least 12% of patients. This review does not indicate a new syndrome resulting from a single underlying cause. The authors identified coding and diagnostic shortcomings, and the ending of psychological screening and ready access to psychiatric assessment were major losses to the programme.