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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Institute of Medicine
Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

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Congressional Briefing
Wednesday, June 2, 2004 -- 2:00 p.m.
2247 Rayburn House Office Bldg.

on

The Health of Gulf War Veterans and Deployed Forces:
The Completed and Ongoing Work of the Institute of Medicine

The Gulf War was considered a brief and successful military operation with few injuries and deaths of U.S. troops. The war began in August 1990, and the last U.S. ground troops returned home by June 1991. Although most Gulf War veterans resumed their normal activities, many soon began reporting a variety of unexplained health problems that they attributed to their participation in the Gulf War, including chronic

fatigue, muscle and joint pain, loss of concentration, forgetfulness, headache, and rash.

At the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and Congress in PL105-277 and PL105-368, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has focused on the health of Gulf War veterans, producing a number of reports, as well as ongoing studies. A web page outlining the work of the IOM on this topic and including links to each completed report can be accessed here. The reports can also be found, in their entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press by simply typing keywords from each title into the Discovery search engine.

This briefing was for members of Congress and congressional staff only.