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American Academy of Neurology
Brains scans of symptomatic Gulf War veterans show differences
BOSTON -- Veterans of the first Gulf War who returned with multiple health symptom complaints show significant differences in brain structures from their fellow returnees without high numbers of health symptoms, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 59th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 28 – May 5, 2007.
The study involved 36 veterans of the first Gulf War (1990-1991). Half of the veterans had a high number (more than five) of symptoms, such as joint pain, fatigue, forgetfulness, headaches, skin rash, nausea, and difficulty concentrating. The other half of the veterans had a lower number (five or fewer) of symptoms.
Researchers found that two areas of the brain involved in thinking and memory were significantly smaller in the veterans with a high number of symptoms than in the veterans with fewer symptoms. The overall cortex was five percent smaller in those with more symptoms, and the rostral anterior cingulated gyrus was six percent smaller.
Those with more symptoms also did not perform as well on tests of learning and memory. On one test, those with more symptoms scored 15 percent lower than those with fewer symptoms; the score was 12 percent lower on another test. The researchers found that the smaller the brain volume was in those areas, the worse the veterans performed on the memory tests.
"We don’t know the cause of these differences in the veterans’ brain volumes, but the hypothesis is that they are related to exposure to hazardous substances during the first Gulf War," said study author Roberta White, PhD, of Boston University School of Public Health. "Many troops were exposed to hazardous substances such as pesticides, and other studies have shown that exposures to these substances affect the central nervous system."
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 7 A.M. ET, TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2007
Media Contact:
Robin Stinnett, (651) 695-2763, rstinnett@...
AAN Press Room HCC 203 (April 28 – May 4): (617) 954-3126
The study was supported by a Veterans Affairs Merit Grant.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of over 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke.
For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.
Editor’s Note: Dr. White will present this research during a scientific poster session at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, in Exhibit Hall A of the Hynes Convention Center.
She will be available for media questions during a briefing at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 30, 2007, in the on-site Press Interview Room, room HCC 204. All listed times are for Eastern Time (ET).
If you are a member of the media interested in listening to the press briefing via conference call, please call the AAN Press Room (April 28 – May 4) at (617) 954-3126.
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People suffering "Gulf War syndrome" have a 5% reduction in brain size, a small study suggests.
The anatomical differences between veterans of the first Gulf War in 1991 who report multiple health problems – such as fatigue, skin rash and nausea – and other healthier colleagues, were revealed during brain scans.
Those with symptoms of the controversially named Gulf War syndrome (GWS) have 5% less cortical brain matter than healthier counterparts. The researchers say that the finding provides hard biological evidence to support claims that some veterans of the war suffered real neurological damage, perhaps as a result of nerve gas or other toxins.
Roberta White of the Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts, US, and colleagues studied 18 Gulf War veterans who reported more than five health problems such as joint pain, fatigue, skin rash, headaches and nausea.
The researchers conducted brain scans on these subjects – using magnetic resonance imaging technology – as well as 18 control counterparts, who served in the same war but reported only a few of the symptoms.
Memory loss
The scans revealed that the overall brain cortex of the veterans with GWS was about 5% smaller on average than that of the healthier veterans. The cortex includes the outermost and top layer of the brain, including the grey matter, and controls complex functions such as language.
It also includes a specific part of the brain thought to be involved in memory processing and learning, known as the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus, was about 6% smaller in the ill veterans, on average.
Subjects were also asked to complete a cognitive test that involved memorising a list of 16 words and recalling those words 20 minutes later. Veterans with GWS performed about 15% worse in the test than the healthier control group.
"I think these findings are really important," says White, who presented the results at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Boston this week.
She says that when you combine these findings with others, such as the greater incidence of brain tumours and movement disorders such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) among those deployed in the war, "it's pretty clear that something has happened to central nervous system function and structure of Gulf War veterans and that we're just getting to the point where were finally seeing what these effects were."
Pointing the finger
White's team hopes to review information from the study participants and the government to estimate the level of exposure the subjects might have had to the nerve gas sarin and other toxins. A cocktail of toxins could perhaps have produced GWS, though some experts still debate whether this is a unique illness.
Epidemiologist Robert Haley at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, US, says that the brain differences highlighted by the new study do not explain what could have caused GWS.
"It doesn't point to one cause, but it is compatible with what we know about sarin exposure," says Haley, who was not involved in the study. He notes that researchers saw similar reductions in brain volume in Tokyo commuters exposed to sarin gas released in the subway system in 1995.
Haley, who spearheaded early efforts to understand GWS, notes that previous studies have found other biological differences in the brains of veterans of the 1991 war.
Damaged nerves
Specifically, a technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy found lower levels of a molecule called N-acetylaspartate (NAA), which indicates healthy nerve function, in the brains of symptomatic Gulf War veterans. All this, he says, adds further weight to the argument that GWS is a real illness.
White acknowledges that her new study does not prove that the reduced brain volume was caused by exposure to chemicals in the war. "This could be a pre-existing vulnerability or an exposure-outcome relationship," she says.
But Haley notes that the veterans did not show cognitive abnormalities before entering the war. "They weren't a bunch of people with faulty memory," he explains, since they had to pass certain standard military tests.
Brain shrink linked to Gulf War syndrome
- 12:00 01 May 2007
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- Roxanne Khamsi
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Web Links
People suffering "Gulf War syndrome" have a 5% reduction in brain size, a small study suggests.
The anatomical differences between veterans of the first Gulf War in 1991 who report multiple health problems – such as fatigue, skin rash and nausea – and other healthier colleagues, were revealed during brain scans.
Those with symptoms of the controversially named Gulf War syndrome (GWS) have 5% less cortical brain matter than healthier counterparts. The researchers say that the finding provides hard biological evidence to support claims that some veterans of the war suffered real neurological damage, perhaps as a result of nerve gas or other toxins.
Roberta White of the Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts, US, and colleagues studied 18 Gulf War veterans who reported more than five health problems such as joint pain, fatigue, skin rash, headaches and nausea.
The researchers conducted brain scans on these subjects – using magnetic resonance imaging technology – as well as 18 control counterparts, who served in the same war but reported only a few of the symptoms.
Memory loss
The scans revealed that the overall brain cortex of the veterans with GWS was about 5% smaller on average than that of the healthier veterans. The cortex includes the outermost and top layer of the brain, including the grey matter, and controls complex functions such as language.
It also includes a specific part of the brain thought to be involved in memory processing and learning, known as the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus, was about 6% smaller in the ill veterans, on average.
Subjects were also asked to complete a cognitive test that involved memorising a list of 16 words and recalling those words 20 minutes later. Veterans with GWS performed about 15% worse in the test than the healthier control group.
"I think these findings are really important," says White, who presented the results at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Boston this week.
She says that when you combine these findings with others, such as the greater incidence of brain tumours and movement disorders such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) among those deployed in the war, "it's pretty clear that something has happened to central nervous system function and structure of Gulf War veterans and that we're just getting to the point where were finally seeing what these effects were."
Pointing the finger
White's team hopes to review information from the study participants and the government to estimate the level of exposure the subjects might have had to the nerve gas sarin and other toxins. A cocktail of toxins could perhaps have produced GWS, though some experts still debate whether this is a unique illness.
Epidemiologist Robert Haley at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, US, says that the brain differences highlighted by the new study do not explain what could have caused GWS.
"It doesn't point to one cause, but it is compatible with what we know about sarin exposure," says Haley, who was not involved in the study. He notes that researchers saw similar reductions in brain volume in Tokyo commuters exposed to sarin gas released in the subway system in 1995.
Haley, who spearheaded early efforts to understand GWS, notes that previous studies have found other biological differences in the brains of veterans of the 1991 war.
Damaged nerves
Specifically, a technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy found lower levels of a molecule called N-acetylaspartate (NAA), which indicates healthy nerve function, in the brains of symptomatic Gulf War veterans. All this, he says, adds further weight to the argument that GWS is a real illness.
White acknowledges that her new study does not prove that the reduced brain volume was caused by exposure to chemicals in the war. "This could be a pre-existing vulnerability or an exposure-outcome relationship," she says.
But Haley notes that the veterans did not show cognitive abnormalities before entering the war. "They weren't a bunch of people with faulty memory," he explains, since they had to pass certain standard military tests.
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