A government mandated scientific panel has concluded that Gulf War Syndrome is a real illness and still affects nearly one-quarter of the 700,000 American troops who served in the Gulf War theater of operations.

The new report is the product of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, which was chartered by Congress because many members felt that veterans were not receiving adequate care. The 15-member committee appointed in 2002 was made up of about two-thirds scientists and the rest veterans.

Several reports have been previously issued by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, blaming stress and other unknown causes for the soldiers' symptoms. "There is something about going to the gulf and serving in the gulf that has caused something bad and persistent and real, but we have not found any evidence for a specific cause," said Dr. Harold C. Sox, chairman of a 2000 institute study and editor of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

Veterans blame the institute's previous reports for the difficulties they have faced in getting treatment. "Everyone quotes the Institute of Medicine documents as meaning nothing's going on here," said Roberta F. White, Associate Dean of Research at the Boston University School of Health. "Some people feel that the IOM reports have been permission to ignore these guys."

The new report cites dozens of research studies that have identified "objective biological measures" that distinguish veterans with the illness from healthy controls.

This report went beyond similar reports by concluding that two chemical exposures were direct factors in causing the disorder know as Gulf War Syndrome: The drug Pyridostigmine Bromide (PB Tablets), given as protection to as many as half of the troops, was distributed in the event the Iraqi military used chemical warfare agents during a direct conflict and exposure to pesticides that were often overused, to protect against sand fly born diseases and other pests. According to the report, at least 64 pesticides containing 37 active ingredients were used during the Persian Gulf War. The pesticides were sprayed around living and dining areas, as well as directly on tents and uniforms of the soldiers."

The enormous body of research available, consistently indicates that Gulf War Syndrome is real, that the illness is a result of neuro-toxic exposures during deployment to the Gulf War theater of operations and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved over time," according to the report given to James Peake, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

The report heightened the hopes of thousands of veterans who have struggled to have their list of neurological symptoms and widespread, unexplainable pain, recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition to increased rates of memory loss, fatigue and pain, the panel also noted that Gulf War veterans have higher rates of brain cancer and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"I've had veterans go to the VA and be turned away, being told that this is something that does not exist," quoted the Vice President of the National Gulf War Resource Center.

However, some scientists are not convinced that the report has identified the 'smoking gun,' leading to the cause of Gulf War Syndrome. "Even though we know that the D.O.D. shipped pesticides, it does not mean that the soldiers who were exposed to the pesticides were the ones whom have ended up having symptoms," said Dr. Lynn Goldman, Professor of Environmental Health Services at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Goldman, who has worked on previous reports on the illness also said, "We feel there needs to be better records documenting where these soldiers were located, what they were exposed to and the soldier's health, prior to deployment."

Ironically, according to the panel, there was even less evidence supporting a link to the demolition of a cache of Iraqi chemical weapons near Khamisiyah. The demolition at Khamisiyah, on March 10, 1991, may have exposed upwards of 100,000 troops to the chemicals Sarin and Psychlosarin, which were stored at the facility.

 The panel also said it could not rule out a link between the illness and exposure to oil well fires and the multiple vaccinations that most troops received prior to deployment. However, the panel could find no evidence linking Gulf War Syndrome to depleted uranium shells, the anthrax vaccine or directly to other infectious diseases.

The panel called on Congress to appropriate $60 million per year to further research into finding a cure for the disorder. "The tragedy here is that there are currently no treatments," said the panel's chairman, James H. Binns. Binns also emphasized that the report was not written as an indictment of past actions. "The importance lies in what is done with it in the future. It is a blueprint for the new administration," he said.