Thomas, Hollie V, Stimpson, Nicola J, Weightman, Alison L et al. · Psychological medicine · 2006 · DOI
This review examined 23 studies comparing health problems in Gulf War veterans to people who were not deployed. Veterans who served in the Gulf War were nearly 4 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue syndrome and about 3.5 times more likely to report multiple chemical sensitivities or other multi-symptom illnesses. The review suggests that deployment to the Gulf War is connected with higher rates of these conditions.
This systematic review establishes that environmental or occupational exposures during military deployment can trigger multi-symptom illnesses including chronic fatigue syndrome. Understanding the Gulf War context provides insights into potential triggers and mechanisms that may be relevant to ME/CFS in other populations, and demonstrates that post-exposure multi-symptom conditions warrant serious investigation.
This review does not establish causation—only association between Gulf deployment and multi-symptom illness. It cannot identify the specific exposures or mechanisms responsible for these conditions, nor does it prove that Gulf War exposures would trigger identical outcomes in non-veteran populations. The studies reviewed were also not designed to assess post-exertional malaise (PEM), a core ME/CFS feature.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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