Assessing the potential health impact of the 1991 Gulf War on Saudi Arabian National Guard Soldiers

Gackstetter, Gary D.; Hooper, Tomoko I.; Qahtani, Mohammed S. Al; Smith, Tyler C.; Memish, Ziad A.; Schlangen, Karen M.; Cruess, David F.; Barrett, Drue H.; Ryan, Margaret A. K.; Gray, Gregory C.

doi:10.1093/ije/dyi008

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…(b) Hospitalizations after the war Because electronic data were available, a number of large, comprehensive US Gulf War veteran post-war hospitalization analyses have been performed (table 5; Gray et al 1996Gray et al , 1999bGray et al , 2000Dlugosz et al 1999;Smith et al 2000Smith et al , 2002aSmith et al , 2003Smith et al , 2004aGackstetter et al 2005). The first controlled study was a comparison of DoD hospitalizations between 547 076 Gulf War veterans and 618 335 non-deployed era veterans during the period August 1991 through September 1993 (Gray et al 1996).…”

Section: (A) War Zone Hospitalizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Healthcare utilization and mortality among veterans of the Gulf War

Gray

Kang

2006

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The authors conducted an extensive search for published works concerning healthcare utilization and mortality among Gulf War veterans of the Coalition forces who served during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Reports concerning the health experience of US, UK, Canadian, Saudi and Australian veterans were reviewed. This report summarizes 15 years of observations and research in four categories: Gulf War veteran healthcare registry studies, hospitalization studies, outpatient studies and mortality studies. A total of 149728 (19.8%) of 756373 US, UK, Canadian and Australian Gulf War veterans received health registry evaluations revealing a vast number of symptoms and clinical conditions but no suggestion that a new unique illness was associated with service during the Gulf War. Additionally, no Gulf War exposure was uniquely implicated as a cause for post-war morbidity. Numerous large, controlled studies of US Gulf War veterans' hospitalizations, often involving more than a million veterans, have been conducted. They revealed an increased post-war risk for mental health diagnoses, multi-symptom conditions and musculoskeletal disorders. Again, these data failed to demonstrate that Gulf War veterans suffered from a unique Gulf War-related illness. The sparsely available ambulatory care reports documented that respiratory and gastrointestinal complaints were quite common during deployment. Using perhaps the most reliable data, controlled mortality studies have revealed that Gulf War veterans were at increased risk of injuries, especially those due to vehicular accidents. In general, healthcare utilization data are now exhausted. These findings have now been incorporated into preventive measures in support of current military forces. With a few diagnostic exceptions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mental disorders and cancer, it now seems time to cease examining Gulf War veteran morbidity and to direct future research efforts to preventing illness among current and future military personnel.

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Section: (A) War Zone Hospitalizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Registry participants were 1.43 times more likely to have a postwar hospitalization. Gackstetter et al 2005 examined the Saudi hospitalization experience of 15 612 Saudi National Guard soldiers during the period 1 January 1999-31 December 1999. 8342 of the soldiers were exposed to combat at Al Khafji during the ground war.…”

Section: (A) War Zone Hospitalizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthcare utilization and mortality among veterans of the Gulf War

Gray

Kang

2006

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…The total number of individuals hospitalized at least once over the 10-year period of observation was 43 346 (16.4% of the 264 409 active duty Gulf War veterans assembled for follow-up at the start of FY 1995). This proportion is somewhat less than the 19.4% of active duty Gulf War veterans previously reported hospitalized at least once between August 1, 1991, and July 31, 1999 [ 21 , 26 ]. Fitness for duty standards clearly result in some premature separations from military service due to serious medical conditions, both physical and mental.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

The long-term hospitalization experience following military service in the 1991 Gulf War among veterans remaining on active duty, 1994–2004

et al. 2008

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Background: Despite more than a decade of extensive, international efforts to characterize and understand the increased symptom and illness-reporting among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, concern over possible long-term health effects related to this deployment continue. The purpose of this study was to describe the long-term hospitalization experience of the subset of U.S. Gulf War veterans still on active duty between 1994 and 2004.

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“…During the period January 19–24, 1991, dedicated detection equipment confirmed the presence of sarin and sulfur mustard [13]. Troops were also exposed to multiple pesticides, used to prevent sand fly fever [14], and many took an experimental anti-soman nerve agent medication, pyridostigmine bromide [15]. There were extended oil well fires following Iraq’s surrender, with potential dioxin exposure [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Detoxification Intervention for Gulf War Illness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Kerr

Morse

Graves

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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Approximately 30% of the 700,000 US veterans of the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War developed multiple persistent symptoms called Gulf War illness. While the etiology is uncertain, several toxic exposures including pesticides and chemical warfare agents have shown associations. There is no effective medical treatment. An intervention to enhance detoxification developed by Hubbard has improved quality of life and/or reduced body burdens in other cohorts. We evaluated its feasibility and efficacy in ill Gulf War (GW) veterans in a randomized, waitlist-controlled, pilot study at a community-based rehabilitation facility in the United States. Eligible participants (n = 32) were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 22) or a four-week waitlist control (n = 10). The daily 4–6 week intervention consisted of exercise, sauna-induced sweating, crystalline nicotinic acid and other supplements. Primary outcomes included recruitment, retention and safety; and efficacy was measured via Veteran’s Short Form-36 (SF-36) quality of life, McGill pain, multidimensional fatigue inventory questionnaires and neuropsychological batteries. Scoring of outcomes was blinded. All 32 completed the trial and 21 completed 3-month follow-up. Mean SF-36 physical component summary score after the intervention was 6.9 (95% CI; −0.3, 14.2) points higher compared to waitlist control and 11 of 16 quality of life, pain and fatigue measures improved, with no serious adverse events. Most improvements were retained after 3 months. The Hubbard regimen was feasible, safe and might offer relief for symptoms of GW illness.

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Assessing the potential health impact of the 1991 Gulf War on Saudi Arabian National Guard Soldiers

Cited by 12 publications

References 42 publications

Healthcare utilization and mortality among veterans of the Gulf War

Healthcare utilization and mortality among veterans of the Gulf War

The long-term hospitalization experience following military service in the 1991 Gulf War among veterans remaining on active duty, 1994–2004

A Detoxification Intervention for Gulf War Illness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

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