Unexplained illness among Persian Gulf War veterans in an air National Guard unit: preliminary report - August 1990-March 1995
Article Abstract:
The Centers for Disease Control conducted an investigation into the unexplained illnesses reported by military personnel who served in the Persian Gulf. A group of 59 veterans from an Air National Guard unit who reported chronic symptoms were interviewed and examined. The most common symptoms reported were fatigue, diarrhea, joint pain and stiffness, and sinus congestion. Other frequently occurring symptoms included restless sleep, gastrointestinal distress, memory loss, headaches and muscular pains. The whole unit of reservist Gulf War veterans was then compared with three other reservist units that were not deployed to the Persian Gulf in a survey of a total of 3,927 soldiers. Reservists who served in the Persian Gulf showed a greater incidence of suffering from diarrhea, gastrointestinal problems, fatigue and memory loss than other comparable units. The illnesses may be associated with exposure to toxic and infectious agents.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1995
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Unexplained CD4+ T-lymphocyte depletion, persons without evident HIV infection
Article Abstract:
Five individuals had abnormally low blood levels of CD4 T-lymphocytes, or T-cells, without evidence of HIV infection or any other immunodeficiency disease. Decreased levels of T-cells are characteristic of HIV infection and the development of AIDS. The three men and two women who experienced unexplained depletion of T-cells were between 38 and 70 years old. The patients were hospitalized for different types of infections. They all recovered and have remained in good health with no evidence of HIV infection. It is not known whether T-cell depletion had the same cause in all of these patients. The depletion may have been caused by the different types of infections these patients were suffering from or by a new type of immunodeficiency disease. Twenty-one individuals have been reported since 1989 as having abnormally low levels of T-cells without evidence of HIV infection or any other immunodeficiency disease.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Unexplained severe illness possibly associated with consumption of Kombucha tea - Iowa, 1995
Article Abstract:
Physicians should consider Kombucha tea poisoning in anyone with unexplained metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis occurs when body fluids become too acidic. Two middle-aged women in Iowa were admitted to the same hospital in April, 1995 with unexplained metabolic acidosis. Both women suffered a cardiac arrest and were resuscitated, but one subsequently died. Both women had gotten their Kombucha mushroom from the same source. However, none of the other 115 people in the community who got their mushroom from that source experienced any ill effects. Samples of the mushroom and the tea were analyzed, but no harmful organisms were found. Kombucha tea is often steeped for 7 to 10 days at room temperature, which could lead to contamination. Kombucha tea may not affect healthy people adversely, but the risks to those with pre-existing diseases are unknown.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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