The study's participants all had fatigue that limited their usual activities, pain in two or more body regions, and symptoms involving their thinking and learning abilities.
All had served in the Gulf War between August 1990 and August 1991, and all had started experiencing symptoms after deployment to the Persian Gulf. They could not have a clearly defined disease that accounted for their symptoms, or physical abilities similar to the general population.
Gulf War veterans' illnesses is a term used to describe illnesses affecting veterans who served throughout the Persian Gulf region during the war with Iraq in 1990 and 1991. According to the American Legion, thousands of Gulf War veterans suffer from chronic symptoms of fatigue, joint and muscle pain, headaches, memory loss, respiratory symptoms, and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Taken together, these are now described as Gulf War veterans' illnesses, not Gulf War Syndrome. The National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Medicine, and other panels have all concluded that the illnesses observed in Gulf War veterans do not constitute a unique disease.
The participants were randomized to four groups: those who were included in weekly CBT group sessions, those who began low-impact exercise three to four times a week with the help of an exercise therapist once a week, those who followed both the CBT and exercise regimens, and those who stayed on usual treatment.
More than 80 percent of the participants had all three chief symptoms -- fatigue, pain and neurocognitive problems -- commonly attributed to Gulf War syndrome, and many had depression, an anxiety disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder. Those with severe psychiatric illnesses could not take part.
The participants were assessed before the study began, and again at 3, 6 and
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Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
26-Oct-2002