Chemical exposure leads to illnesses among U.S. Gulf War veterans

LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A new study has found that about 250,000 veterans of the Persian Gulf War have fallen ill because of exposure to a combination of nerve agents, pesticides and a drug designed to counter nerve gas.

Among the illnesses reported by Persian Gulf War veterans are chronic fatigue and severe muscle pain, according to the study conducted by researchers at the School of Medicine of the University of California in San Diego.

"Enough studies have been conducted," Dr. Beatrice Golomb, an associate professor at the school, said in the study published in the Mar. issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Golomb said she was confident of a link between "chemical exposure and those aliments."

Scott Langhoff, a regional leader for the nonprofit Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he is glad Golomb and others are trying to isolate a cause of suffering for some many vets, whose common link is their service in the Persian Gulf War.

"If we can figure out that these conditions are related to experiences during our service, we might be a step closer to curing them or at least obtaining free treatment and compensation for the disability they cause," Langhoff told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs officials have not commented on Golomb's findings.