The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has released its newest report, Volume 8 of an ongoing study: “Gulf War and Health.” This time it looked at the progress of existing illnesses and new ones as well.

It was the unexplained illnesses -- chronic fatigue, rashes, forgetfulness, muscle and joint pain and headache, to name a few -- that first prompted the Department of Veterans Affairs to ask for the study in 1998. Not only were there the oil-well fires, but there were chemical exposures to sarin, depleted uranium and more, including the vaccinations for botulinum toxoid and anthrax that might have caused the symptoms in service personnel.

These reports, reviews of peer literature, are well worth looking at.

If you want to review the newest report, go online to www.iom.edu/Reports.aspx and put “Update of Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War” in the search box.

If you need to catch up or you’re looking for a memory jogger while you fill out VA paperwork, here are the individual studies in this series:

Vol. 1: Depleted Uranium, Pyridostigmine Bromide, Sarin and Vaccines (2000)

Vol. 2: Insecticides and Solvents (2003)

Updated Review of Sarin (2004)

Vol. 3: Fuels, Combustion Products and Propellants (2005)

Vol. 4: Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War

Vol. 5: Infectious Diseases (2007)

Vol. 6: Physiologic, Psychologic and Psychosocial Effects of Deployment Related Stress (2008)

Updated Review of Depleted Uranium (2008)

Vol. 7: Long- Term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury (2008)

I like the Goethe quote they put on the title page of each volume: “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” I wonder if there’s a message in that.