The Buzz: Gulf War Illness

When hundreds of thousands of soldiers returned from the Gulf War in 1991, epidemiologists like Revere from Effect Measure insisted that the neurological and other symptoms afflicting a large number of the veterans was not due to stress—as many U.S. government departments alleged—but rather widespread exposure to toxic chemicals. Now, a federally mandated panel of independent scientists has issued a report confirming the epidemiologists' claims—not only is Gulf War Illness real, it afflicts approximately 25 percent of Gulf War veterans.