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The Gulf War and illness by association
Author(s) -
Ferguson Eamonn,
Cassaday Helen J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1348/000712699161530
Subject(s) - gulf war , psychology , stressor , association (psychology) , associative property , fight or flight response , psychiatry , persistence (discontinuity) , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , history , chemistry , biochemistry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , gene , pure mathematics , engineering , economic history
The symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) closely correspond to the physiological and behavioural sequelae of an interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) mediated sickness response. We propose that this response can account for the variability in its symptomatology. Furthermore, the persistence of GWS can be accounted for by an associative process, whereby the smells tastes of war become linked with the physiological reaction to environmental stressors encountered in the Gulf and or the ‘cocktail’ of drugs given to the soldiers. As required, the IL‐1 response is conditionable.