Joellenbeck Lois M, Hernandez Lyla M
Medical Follow-Up Agency, Institute of Medicine, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20418, USA.
Mil Med. 2002 Mar;167(3):186-90.
The Institute of Medicine has frequently been the source of expert advice to the government and others on questions related to health and medicine. Such has been the case as Congress, federal agencies, and veterans attempt to resolve conflicts and develop policies to address the health concerns of Persian Gulf War veterans. Twelve reports issued by Institute of Medicine committees address what is known about exposures and illnesses in Gulf War veterans and what additional information is needed, how clinical programs for Gulf War veterans could be improved, and what strategies could help prevent or better address similar health problems in the future. The Institute of Medicine reports recommend guidelines and interventions to treat sufferers of medically unexplained symptoms, longitudinal studies to measure changes in health status, and improved risk communication. They emphasize the need for the maintenance of retrievable electronic records of baseline health status, of exposures, and of health events that occur during a service member's career.
医学研究所经常就与健康和医学相关的问题向政府及其他方面提供专家建议。国会、联邦机构和退伍军人在试图解决冲突并制定政策以应对海湾战争退伍军人的健康问题时，情况便是如此。医学研究所委员会发布的12份报告探讨了海湾战争退伍军人的接触情况和疾病状况已知信息以及还需要哪些额外信息，如何改进针对海湾战争退伍军人的临床项目，以及哪些策略有助于预防或更好地应对未来类似的健康问题。医学研究所的报告建议了治疗医学上无法解释症状患者的指导方针和干预措施、衡量健康状况变化的纵向研究，以及改善风险沟通。它们强调需要维护可检索的电子记录，记录服务人员职业生涯中的基线健康状况、接触情况和发生的健康事件。
