Excerpted from The Seattle Times --
"Gulf War syndrome is back in the news with better questions being raised about the unexplained illnesses suffered by veterans of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm... Of 697,000 men and women who served in the Iraqi war, more than 100,000 have registered with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Pentagon saying they have health concerns related to the war. The VA says more than 20 percent of these people have undiagnosed symptoms that commonly include fatigue, muscle and joint pains, headaches, memory loss, skin rash, diarrhea and sleep disturbances. Studies have looked at interactions between low-level chemical nerve agents, anti-nerve-gas pills (Pyridostigmine bromide, or PB) and chemicals in insect repellants and pet flea collars used by some soldiers to fight insects. ...The latest Pentagon-commissioned study by the Rand Corp. found the anti-nerve-gas tablets 'cannot be excluded as a contributor to illness.' ...PB was classified as an investigational drug with a rare civilian application before the Pentagon said it could work against nerve-gas toxins. The latest study challenges the unscientific extrapolation that produced that conclusion..." [StormWarning! covered PB and the GWS in issue #29/1994. GWS articles also in #32 and 35 -- Ed.]