Gulf war syndrome may be post-conflict dysfunction

EDITOR—We have read the results of the questionnaire based study by Chalder et al from the Gulf war research unit at King's College.1 They found that 17% of the 2961 Gulf war veterans believe themselves to be suffering from Gulf war syndrome, although the group has found no evidence to support such a syndrome.2 The veterans' belief was reinforced if they knew someone with similar symptoms. We believe that this represents post-conflict dysfunction expressed according to health beliefs prevailing at the …