Many soldiers returning from the Gulf War in 1990 reported a whole constellation of

non-specific medical symptoms that's come to be known as Gulf War illness.

It turns out to be a controversial diagnosis, as some say it's real and some say not so fast.

Today we're going to separate the fact from the fiction, surrounding this mysterious condition.

That's coming right up on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com

Examining Gulf War illness.

The Gulf War, which ran from the end of 1990 through the beginning of 1991,

saw the largest coalition of international military forces, 35 in all, since World War II.

The largest single deployment was by the United States, which sent some 670,000 personnel to the Middle East.

The war exposed many to conditions no major forces had yet faced in the real world,

such as oil fires on a biblical scale, depleted uranium ammunition, pesticides,

prophylactic treatment against nerve agents, and others.

When the troops returned home, some began reporting unexplained physical ailments,

including fatigue, muscle and joint pain, cognitive and sleep problems, skin ailments, and gastrointestinal issues.

Eventually, as many as a third of all returning veterans reported it to some degree.

It's come to be known as Gulf War illness, and today it is a leading cause of disability among US veterans.

The only problem is that some researchers aren't sure that it exists at all,

and most of the rest still have more questions than answers.

Initially known as Gulf War Syndrome, today Gulf War illness, or GWI,

is a major focus of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which pays out hundreds of millions of dollars each year in benefits

to veterans who are at least 10% disabled due to symptoms associated with GWI.

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