Those who fought in the first Gulf war may not be the only military personnel with an increased risk of developing neurological disease. Veterans of other conflicts may also have a greater risk of developing amytrophic lateral sclerosis or (ALS), a fatal type of motor neuron disease.

There is mounting evidence for several distinct Gulf war syndromes (New Scientist, 29 March 2003). And there have been two controversial studies suggesting a doubled risk of ALS in those who were deployed in the Gulf (New Scientist, 11 December 2001). The studies were criticised because of the low overall number of cases.

But now Marc Weisskopf, at the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts, and his colleagues have analysed the records of more than 400,000 men. They found that those who served in either the first or second world wars, the Korean war or the Vietnam war are also at increased risk of developing ALS.

Overall veterans had a 60 per cent increased risk compared with men who had not served in the military. Furthermore, those who served for periods spanning more than one conflict had nearly a doubled risk. The risk was the same whichever military service the veterans had been in - army, navy, air force or national guard.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4943-als-risk-not-limited-to-gulf-war-veterans.html

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Into the heart, an air that kills, from yon far country blows.
What are those blue remembered hills, what sphires what farms are those.
That is the land of lost content,I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went and cannot come again