Gulf War report: More study needed to treat ill veterans

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal advisory committee studying illnesses in Persian Gulf War veterans has recommended more study to develop treatments for those illnesses and to determine if and how they may have been connected to service in the conflict against Iraq.

In a preliminary report released Tuesday, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses said that 25 percent to 30 percent of those who served in the Gulf War are ill and that their illnesses go "beyond that which is explained by stress or psychiatric diagnosis."

The committee, reporting to the Department of Veterans Affairs, did not specifically conclude that the illnesses plaguing Gulf veterans were caused by exposure to some toxic agent during the war, but it did note that at least one category of complaint appeared to be neurological in nature.

That category included a higher-than-expected rate of ALS (better known as Lou Gehrig's disease), problems with the autonomic nervous system, an increase in cold sensory threshold and low levels of the enzyme paraoxonase.

Low levels of paraoxonase, which is involved in breaking down organic phosphates, suggests a biochemical or genetic explanation, the report said.

The committee further concluded that "research on Gulf War illnesses has broad implications to the war on terrorism."

The report noted that Gulf veterans were exposed to a variety of risk factors, including low-level nerve agents, depleted uranium, oil fires, mustard gas, stress, medical countermeasures to biowarfare and nerve agents as well as infectious diseases.

Veterans of other wars have been exposed to many of the same risk factors, and some suffer from similar illnesses.

The report recommended increased funding and better coordination of research efforts.