In a large-scale survey made public Tuesday, the Pentagon said it found no evidence of Persian Gulf war syndrome and said 36 percent of the patients suffered from psychological or ill-defined ailments.
The study of 18,929 veterans — largest of its kind undertaken by the Pentagon — found “no clinical evidence for a previously unknown, serious illness or `syndrome’ among Persian Gulf veterans.”
Pentagon medical teams reported finding many ailments — such as chronic fatigue, skin rashes and memory loss — but did not find a common underlying cause.
Last week, a British scientist reported that British veterans of the war suffering from the syndrome may have damage to their nervous systems.
Neurologist Goran Jamal said he had found evidence of dysfunctions in the nervous systems of 14 vets randomly selected from a list of those with unexplained illnesses, according to a report published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
