Army Links Afflictions Among Gulf Veterans to Stress

Stress, not disease, most likely caused mysterious ailments afflicting dozens of Persian Gulf War veterans from Indiana reserve units, Army physicians said in a study released Saturday.

Two of the reservists disputed the report, and the American Legion said it may be premature.

Disorders reported by 79 veterans from four Indiana reserve units included chronic fatigue, depression, hair loss, aching joints, rashes and sore and bleeding gums.

Researchers from the Walter Reed Army Institute in Washington and physicians with the 123rd Army Reserve Command, based at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, began physical examinations and blood tests in April of the complaining veterans.

“There is no evidence to suggest the outbreak of any disease,” said Lt. Col. Robert F. DeFraites, a Walter Reed researcher.

“Stress associated with the return to civilian life is a plausible explanation for many of the symptoms,” he said.

Lee Harris, a spokesman for the American Legion’s national headquarters in Indianapolis, said it may be premature to conclude that the symptoms are not related. He said underlying health problems could exist that doctors still have not identified.

The legion has urged Gulf War veterans to file claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs if they have health problems.

A number of Gulf War veterans from around the country have complained of similar disorders. The physicians said they do not know if anyone is keeping track of them.

Col. Norman H. Teer, commanding surgeon for the 123rd Reserve Command, said Saturday that the Indiana study was not necessarily applicable to other veterans.

Stress-management teams, which include a psychiatrist, will conduct follow-up studies on the Indiana veterans, Teer said.

Lori Rosalius and other ailing veterans who were informed of the test results earlier disputed the conclusion that stress is the probable cause.

Rosalius, 29, of Danville, Ill., suffered from hair loss and halitosis. She said those problems have cleared up but fatigue and joint pain persist.

“I honestly believe there’s some type of cover-up going on out there,” said Rosalius, an operations sergeant with the 209th Supply Army Reserve of Lafayette, Ind. “If they don’t know the answer, why blame it on stress? Why not just say, ‘We don’t know?’ ”

John Lawhorn, 44, chief warrant officer with the 425th Quartermaster Corps of Jeffersonville, Ind., which was posted in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, said he believes his excessive weight gain and daily headaches go deeper than the Army’s report indicates.

Lawhorn said he and others in his unit have linked their problems to exposure to petrochemicals. The 425th supplied diesel and jet fuel to combat units.

DeFraites of Walter Reed said researchers ruled out those fuels as a cause of the problems.