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<< Gulf War Syndrome Veterans Have Damage in Specific Portion of Nervous
System


Description

UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have uncovered damage in

a specific, primitive portion of the nervous systems of veterans suffering

from Gulf War syndrome.


Keywords

GULF WAR SYNDROME ROBERT HALEY PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM GALLBLADDER

DISEASE UNREFRESHING SLEEP DEPRESSION JOINT PAIN CHRONIC DIARRHEA SEXUAL

DYSFUNCTION EPIDEMIOLOGY


Newswise — UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have

uncovered damage in a specific, primitive portion of the nervous systems of
veterans

suffering from Gulf War syndrome.UT Southwestern researchers report that
damage

to the parasympathetic nervous system may account for nearly half of the

typical symptoms – including gallbladder disease, unrefreshing sleep,
depression,

joint pain, chronic diarrhea and sexual dysfunction – that afflict those with

Gulf War syndrome. Their findings will be published in the October issue of

the American Journal of Medicine and are currently available online.“The high

rate of gallbladder disease in these men, reported in a previous study, is

particularly disturbing because typically women over 40 get this. It’s
singularly

rare in young men,” said Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at UT

Southwestern and lead author of the new study.The parasympathetic system
regulates

primitive, automatic bodily functions such as digestion and sleep, while the

sympathetic nervous system controls the “fight or flight” instinct.“They’re
sort

of the mirror image of each other – the yin and the yang of the nervous

system – that control functions we are not usually aware of. This is another
part

of the explanation as to why Gulf War syndrome is so elusive and mysterious,”

said Dr. Haley.Previously, isolating pure parasympathetic brain function was

difficult. In the new study Dr. Haley and his colleagues used a technique
that

monitors changes in approximately 100,000 heartbeats over 24 hours and
measures

changes in high-frequency heart rate variability – a function solely

regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system.After plotting the subtle
changes in

heart function using a mathematical technique called spectral analysis,

researchers found that parasympathetic brain function, which usually peaks
during

sleep, barely changed in veterans with Gulf War syndrome even though they

appeared to be sleeping. In a group of well veterans tested for comparison,
the brain

functions increased normally.“The parasympathetic nervous system takes care

of restorative functions of the body. During sleep it’s orchestrating that

process, which is why we feel refreshed when we wake up,” Dr. Haley said.
“Its

failure to increase at night in ill Gulf War veterans may explain their

unrefreshing sleep.”The tests were conducted on 40 members of a Naval Reserve

construction battalion, also known as Seabees. Both ill and healthy veterans
from the

same battalion were tested for comparison. In addition, pure sympathetic

nervous system functions were tested. In these tests, there were no
appreciable

differences between the two groups of veterans.Dr. Haley first described Gulf
War

syndrome in a series of papers published in January 1997 in the Journal of

the American Medical Association (JAMA). In previous studies, Dr. Haley and
his

colleagues presented evidence attributing the veterans’ illness to low-level

exposure to sarin gas – a potent nerve toxin – which drifted over thousands
of

soldiers when U.S. forces detonated Iraqi chemical stores during and after

the Gulf War. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office

confirmed that exposure to low-level sarin in the 1991 Gulf War was more
frequent and

widespread than previously acknowledged.Subsequent research from Dr. Haley’s

group showed that veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome also were born
with

lower levels of a protective blood enzyme called paraoxonase, which usually

fights off the toxins found in sarin. Veterans who were in the same area and

did not get sick had higher levels of this enzyme.Dr. Haley and his
colleagues

have closely followed the same group of tests subjects since 1995. A new
grant

from the U.S. Department of Defense will allow Dr. Haley’s team to undertake
a

study in a much larger sample of Gulf War veterans. Other UT Southwestern

researchers involved in the latest study include Drs. Wanpen Vongpatanasin,

assistant professor of internal medicine; Gil Wolfe, associate professor of

neurology; and Ronald Victor, chief of hypertension. Former UT Southwestern
faculty

members Drs. Wilson Bryan, Roseanne Armitage, Robert Hoffmann, Frederick
Petty,

and W. Wesley Marshall also contributed to this study, as did researchers

from Phase 5 Sciences and Laboratory Industry Services, both in California.
The

research was supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel
Command,

the U.S. Public Health Service and the Perot Foundation.A picture to go with

this release can be downloaded at:

http://www3.utsouthwestern.edu/home_pages/news/haley.jpgThe cutline reads:

New findings by Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at UT Southwestern

Medical Center at Dallas, reveal damage to the parasympathetic nervous
systems

of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Dr. Haley led the study published in the
Oct.

1 edition of the American Journal of Medicine.© 2004 Newswise.  All Rights

Reserved.


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Click here: NPR : Report Adds to Confusion over Gulf War Syndrome

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4111445


Report Adds to Confusion over Gulf War Syndrome


Listen


All Things Considered, October 15, 2004 · A report ordered by the Veterans

Affairs Department concludes an alarming number of U.S. soldiers suffered

neurological damage from chemicals encountered in the 1991 Gulf War. But some

experts say there's still not enough evidence to conclude that nerve gases,

pesticides and other chemicals caused long-term illnesses in veterans. NPR's
David

Kestenbaum reports


Click here: NPR : VA Panel to Link Neurotoxins, Gulf War Illnesses

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4110985


Click here: NPR : Pentagon Seeks to Improve Postwar Health Checks

All Things Considered, May 3, 2003 · The Pentagon orders blood samples for

all troops returing from Iraq in a bid to improve post-combat health

evaluations. Military officials were criticized after the 1991 Gulf War for
collection

too little data. Hear NPR's Lynn Neary and Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Health Affairs Dr. William Winkenwerder.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1251305



Click here: NPR : A Battle Plan Against Gulf War Illness

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1169006


Click here: NPR : Preventing the 'Gulf War Syndrome' Syndrome

All Things Considered, January 29, 2002 · Thousand of veterans who fought in

the Gulf War have developed symptoms ranging from fatigue and joint pain to

memory disturbances. Trying to pin down what may have caused these problems
has

proved difficult. Environmental and medical data was either not collected at

the time or subsequently lost. NPR's Richard Harris reports that the military

is trying to ensure that won't happen again.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1137192 >>