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FRIDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthScoutNews) -- The weapons designed to destroy the enemy have changed over time, as have the causes that sparked the conflicts. However, a new study of English veterans of old and new wars finds one constant -- many of the men sent to the front lines suffered traumatic physical or psychological wounds that never fully healed. "This is one of the eternal costs of war that men suffer. War is a risky and dangerous business," says psychologist and lead author Edgar Jones. His work appears in tomorrow's issue of the British Medical Journal. Text Continues Below
Jones and his colleagues reviewed the war pension files of 1,865 English soldiers who had served in conflicts stretching from the Victorian era, through the two World Wars, up to the Persian Gulf War. They found the veterans reported health problems after each war that reflected the differing combat conditions and prevailing health knowledge of the time. The researchers call the problems post-combat syndromes. During the Boer War, for instance, which took place in South Africa from 1899 to 1902, soldiers suffered from dysentery and enteric fever, because of unsanitary water combined with the harsh living conditions in combat. At that time, enteric fever was thought to damage the heart, and, before the era of modern medicine, heart problems were a very serious health hazard. "If you had a heart attack, you were likely to die," Jones says. So, the medical focus was on "disordered action of the heart," called "DAH" at the time, Jones says. During the Gulf War, with the dangers of toxins, oil fumes and chemical and biological warfare, "the concerns were much more with neurological symptoms and the effect of poisons on the body," Jones adds. Despite the variations due to combat conditions, the level of suffering was remarkably consistent. Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >>
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