Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether proportional cancer incidence is greater among Gulf War veterans compared with non-Gulf War veterans.

Methods: Files obtained from the Defense Manpower Data Center included data for 621,902 veterans who were deployed to the Persian Gulf during the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War (August 2, 1990, to March 1, 1991) and 746,248 non-Gulf War veteran controls. Identification of veterans who received a cancer diagnosis between 1991 and 2006 was accomplished through record linkage of the Defense Manpower Data Center dataset with files from 28 state cancer registries and the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry. By the use of logistic regression, proportional incidence ratios adjusted for demographic and military characteristics were calculated by comparing the proportion of a specific cancer among all cancers in the Gulf War veterans to the proportion of that specific cancer among all cancers in the non-Gulf War veterans.

Results: Only lung cancer showed a statistically significant relative excess among Gulf War veterans compared with non-Gulf War veterans (adjusted proportional incidence ratios, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.29). When adjusted for race, age, and sex, the overall proportion of cancers among Gulf War and non-Gulf War veterans was similar (odds ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.96-1.02).

Conclusions: With the exception of lung cancer, there is little evidence of excess risk of cancer associated with Gulf War deployment. A follow-up study is warranted to confirm this finding and to evaluate the role of greater smoking rates among deployed personnel.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2009.11.012DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

gulf war
28
war veterans
24
non-gulf war
20
war
12
cancer
11
veterans
9
risk cancer
8
gulf
8
state cancer
8
cancer registry
8

Similar Publications

Head trauma from blast exposure is a growing health concern, particularly among active military personnel, and is considered the signature injury of the Gulf War. However, it remains elusive whether fundamental differences exist between blast-related Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and TBI due to other mechanisms. Considering the importance of lipid metabolism associated with neuronal membrane integrity and its compromise during TBI, we sought to find changes in lipidomic profiling during blast or blunt (Stereotaxically Controlled Contusison-SCC)-mediated TBI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multi-symptom illness that affects up to one-third of the 700,000 American military personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf region in 1990 and 1991. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine feasibility and the relative efficacy of two 12-week in-person group treatments (Tai Chi and Wellness) to address GWI symptoms of chronic pain, fatigue, and changes in mood and cognitive functioning.

Method: Male and female veterans were randomly assigned to Tai Chi (n = 27) or Wellness (n = 26) group interventions and assessed at four time points: baseline, post-treatment, 3-, and 9-month follow-up.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gulf war illness is a chronic multisymptom disorder that affects as many as many as 25-35% of the military personnel who were sent to the Persian Gulf war in 1991. The illness has many debilitating symptoms, including cognitive problems, gastrointestinal symptoms, and musculoskeletal pain. Those so afflicted have been sick for more than 30 years and, therefore, it has become imperative to understand the etiology and then produce treatments to ease the symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The current state-of-the-art climate models when combined together suggest that the anthropogenic weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has already begun since the mid-1980s. However, continuous direct observational records during the past two decades have shown remarkable resilience of the AMOC. To shed light on this apparent contradiction, here we attempt to attribute the interdecadal variation of the historical AMOC to the anthropogenic and natural signals, by analyzing multiple climate and surface-forced ocean model simulations together with direct observational data.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!