Gulf war syndrome – a syndrome or not?

Abstract

After the Gulf war, new diagnostic entity was claimed: the Gulf War Syndrome (GWS). A wide spectrum of exposures is widely discussed in order to explain the reported symptoms. Investigating tentative culprits we did not find clearly conclusive data about the existence of the GWS. The origin of described symptoms can be associated to the use of pesticides and the PB pill. However, the data about the use of both are influenced by a lack of precise records. Although other agents such as nerve agent exposure could not be definitively ruled out, its link to symptoms seems to be improbable.

• Acetylcholinesterase
• gulf war syndrome
• nerve agent
• pesticide
• poisoning
• pyridostigmine bromide

Declaration of interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest. This work has been supported by in the framework of the project Opportunity for young researchers, reg. no. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0016, supported by Operational Programme Education for Competitiveness and co-financed by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic, by Post-doctoral project (No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0012), by Long Term Development plan – 1011 and by MH CZ–DRO (University Hospital Hradec Kralove, No. 00179906).