Gulf War syndrome does exist, says report

Gulf War syndrome has been demonstrated to exist by scientists in the US, according to The New York Times, quoting a report by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.

Gulf War syndrome has been demonstrated to exist by scientists in the US, according to The New York Times, quoting a report by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.

In the report, which was leaked to the paper, Professor Beatrice Golomb, the committee's chief scientist, said that exposure to particular substances during the 1990-91 war may have affected some soldiers' body chemistry. It added that the troops' health problems were definitely caused by contact with toxic chemicals rather than stress or psychiatric illness.

Professor Golombe told Radio 4's Today programme: "Gulf war veterans really are ill at an elevated degree, and several studies bring consistent findings that about 25 to 30 per cent of those who were deployed are ill."

Noel Baker, the secretary of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Benevolent Association in Britain, described the findings as "explosive".

Mr Baker said: "This is senior research. It's not by any private venture or by someone with an axe to grind."

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the leaked report.