Study Launched to Get Better Grasp of Gulf War Illness

April 18, 2023 by Dan McCue
Study Launched to Get Better Grasp of Gulf War Illness
(Photo from, Operation Iraqi Freedom by Sgt. 1st Class Luke Graziani, U.S. Army Central)

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs and National Institutes of Health have launched a joint study to gain a better understanding of the chronic symptoms of Gulf War Illness.

The disease is known to affect about one-third of the nearly 700,000 men and women who served in the Persian Gulf during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Among its chronic symptoms are fatigue, headache, memory and cognitive difficulties, joint and muscle pain, poor sleep, and problems with gastrointestinal and respiratory function.

“This is an important collaboration that we hope will lead to many answers to those suffering from Gulf War Illness,” said Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which is part of the NIH. 

“Taking advantage of the resources available only at NIH, this comprehensive study will take a new look at this illness and uncover biological mechanisms that may pave the way to treatments,” Koroshetz said.

Ahead of the study, VA researchers will screen 1990-91 era Gulf War veterans through the Miami VA Medical Center and the California and Washington, D.C., sites of VA’s War Related Illness and Injury Study Center. 

Researchers from NIH will then seek to identify how the illness presents itself — in ways that can be measured or observed — in each participant. The research will focus on the immune and autonomic nervous systems, as well as the body’s energy-production pathways.

Eligible veterans will be invited to the NIH Clinical Center for up to two weeks for comprehensive testing. Among other tests, the research protocol includes administering a peak exercise challenge to trigger symptom flares. 

The procedure has been used to explore the mechanisms of other chronic illnesses, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

VA researchers will also maintain a data repository of participants, oversee veterans’ overall experience in the study, and help to communicate individual participants’ study findings to their VA care providers as appropriate.

“Effective treatments for Gulf War Illness have remained elusive, forcing health care providers to mostly focus on easing patient symptoms,” said Rachel Ramoni, D.M.D., Sc.D., the VA’s chief research and development officer. 

“With the help of the veterans who volunteer for the study, researchers will lay the groundwork for care that will meaningfully improve the lives of the hundreds of thousands of veterans living with Gulf War Illness,” Ramoni said.

The study is expected to last five years. Initial enrollment began in July 2022 and focused on Gulf War veterans who were enrolled in other studies.

Enrollment is now open to those from the larger Gulf War veteran community, with the first participant arriving at the NIH Clinical Center last Sunday. 

Interested veterans can learn more about the study here.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue

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  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Gulf War illness
  • National Institutes of Health
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