Researchers have found no significant increases in mental and physical health problems in soldiers deployed against Iraq in 2003 as compared with troops after 1919 Gulf war.
A research conducted by the King’s Collage London, analysed health reports of the armed forces personal who took part in the Gulf war in 2003 with those who took part in the 1991 war, to see if there was a new ‘Iraq war Syndrome’.
The study findings that are published in The Lancet report that they have found no evidence for a new "Iraq War Syndrome" in British male armed forces personnel deployed to the 2003 conflict, as compared with those who took part in the 1991 conflict, who had experienced an increase in symptoms of ill health that was commonly termed as the Iraq war syndrome.In the research programme, more than 8,000 armed force personal were asked to complete a health questionnaire. The researchers found that there were a very few increased amount of common symptoms after the 03’ Iraq war, which was nothing in compare to what was experienced after the 91’ Gulf war. The complaint of fatigue that was greatly increased in the earlier war was noticed to be almost negligible by the current troops.
Dr Simon Wessely, the lead researcher explained that increases in common symptoms and problems in the troops after the 03’ Iraq war were very few and that there were no patterns that might have suggested that a new syndrome was present. Stating that it is possible that some military personnel are returning home with mental health problems some of which might be serious that would need immediate treatment, he said that these were not something specific to Iraq rather problems which might arise from services of the personal anywhere.
