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Following the first Gulf War, 17% of persons in the VA Persian
Gulf Health Registry had a chief complaint of muscle and/or joint
pain.
As the charts demonstrate below however, the numbers from the VA
Persian Gulf Health Registry on the occurence of muscle and/or joint
pain is similar to the occurrence of these problems in the general
population. Approximately 10% of the general population suffers
from chronic widespread pain, and about 20% have pain in one or
more regions of the body.
However, studies show that Gulf War veterans had more occurences
of joint pain lasting 6 or more months compared to nondeployed military
personnel (33% vs. 11%), and they also reported more of long-lasting
muscle pain (20% vs. 8%).
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General Population
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Persian Gulf Veterans
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Pain can either be experienced in many areas of the body, or be
more focused to certain areas, such as the low back, neck, or specific
muscles or joints.
Examples of these types of pain are:
| Focused |
All Over |
- Low Back Pain
- Neck Pain
- Stomach pain
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- Fibromyalgia
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
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The experience of pain consists of several related parts:
- Pain signal (neurons)
- Emotions, or mood
- Thoughts about pain (examples: past experiences with pain, cultural
beliefs, what having pain means to you)
There are two types of pain:
- acute (short-lasting)
- chronic (long-lasting; 6 months or more)
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Acute Pain
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Chronic Pain
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What is the cause?
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Usually known and due to disease or injury
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Not known — may be due to central nervous
system changes
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How frequent?
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Common
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Less common
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How long does it last?
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Usually a short time
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Sometimes never goes away
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Is pain a sign of damage?
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Usually
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Usually not
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What is the impact?
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Can have a big imapct on activity, but usually
does not last long
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Can severely limit activity, and cause other
problems like difficulty sleeping, family problems, changes
in mood, and inability to work
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Is it treatable?
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Yes
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Yes, but sometimes it needs to be managed
rather than cured.
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References
- Data from the VA Persian Gulf Health Registry on 52,216 participants.
- Fukuda K, Nisenbaum R, Stewart G, Thompson WW, Robin L, Washko
RM, et al. Chronic multisymptom Illness affecting Air Force veterans
of the gulf war. JAMA 1998; 280: 981-88.
- Chronic Pain In America: Roadblocks to Relief. A study conducted
for The American Pain Society, American Academy of Pain Medicine,
and Janssen Pharmaceutica by Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc., January,
1999. Results can found at:
http:\\www.ampainsoc.org\whatsnew\toc_road.htm.
- Melzack R, Wall PD. The challenge of pain. New York: Basic
Books, 1982.
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