ParfumGigi@aol.com

Study could revive debate on Gulf War troops' health problems

Ian Urbina, New York Times

Thursday, May 17, 2007

(05-17) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Scientists working with the Department of Defense have found evidence that a low-level exposure to sarin nerve gas -- the kind experienced by more than 100,000 U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf War in 1991 -- could have caused lasting brain deficits in former service members.

Though the results are preliminary, the study is notable for being financed by the federal government and for being the first to make use of a detailed analysis of sarin exposure performed by the Pentagon.

The report, due to be published in the June issue of the journal NeuroToxicology, found apparent changes in the brain's connective tissue -- its so-called white matter -- in soldiers exposed to the gas. The extent of the brain changes corresponded to the extent of exposure, the study found.

Previous studies had suggested that exposure affected the brain in some neural regions, but the evidence was not convincing to many scientists. The new report is likely to revive the long-debated question of why so many troops returned from that war with unexplained physical problems. Many in the scientific community have questioned whether the so-called Gulf War illnesses have a physiological basis, and far more research will have to be done before it is clear that those illnesses can be traced to exposure to sarin.

In March 1991, a few days after the end of the Gulf War, U.S. soldiers exploded two large caches of ammunition and missiles in Khamisiya, Iraq. Some of the missiles contained the dangerous nerve gases sarin and cyclosarin. The Department of Defense has estimated that more than 100,000 U.S. troops may have been exposed to the gases.

When the roughly 700,000 deployed troops returned home, about 1 in 7 began experiencing a mysterious set of ailments, often called Gulf War illnesses, with problems including persistent fatigue, chronic headaches, joint pain and nausea. Those symptoms persist today for more than 150,000 of them, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Advocates for veterans have argued for more than a decade and a half that a link exists between many of these symptoms and the exposure that occurred in Khamisiya.

The study, financed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the first to use Pentagon data on potential exposure levels and magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of military personnel. It found signs of brain changes that could be due to exposure.

The study was led by Roberta White, chair of the department of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health. White and other researchers studied 26 Gulf War veterans, half of whom were exposed to the gases, according to a Department of Defense modeling of the likely chemical makeup and location of the plume. The researchers found that troops with greater potential exposure had less white matter.

In a companion study, the researchers also tested 140 troops believed to have experienced differing degrees of exposure to the chemical agents to check their fine motor coordination and found a direct relation between performance level and the level of potential exposure. Individuals who were potentially more exposed to the gases had deterioration in fine motor skills.