Some Gulf War veterans have different brains
Study adds to evidence of a physical basis for 'Gulf War syndrome'.
Regions of the brain important for thinking and memory may have shrunk in some veterans of the first Gulf War, according to a new study. The decline is at its worst in veterans who report more symptoms of what is commonly called 'Gulf War syndrome', the mysterious condition that has afflicted as many as one in seven veterans from the 1990-1991 war.
Comments
Not only would I look at the level of exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors during the Gulf War, but at overall exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors stateside following the Gulf War (I think it can reasonably be inferred that individuals living in areas where buildings are routinely sprayed for insects and environmental insecticide use is high would have greater exposure), and also examine symptomatic and asymptomatic veterans for variant forms of genes/promoters for acetylcholinesterase and butylcholinesterase.
It might be interesting to look at a whole range of genes implicated in brain biology in both symptomatic and asymptomatic veterans: in addition to the cholinesterases listed above, I'd want to examine various genes coding for 5-HT synthesis and 5-HT receptors and their promoters, genes involved in overall catecholamine synthesis and their receptors.
Gulf War Syndrome might well have a strong genetic component--or it might not. Still, it's easy enough to use a little brush to collect some buccal cells, do some PCR and sequencing.
Posted by: Lisa Miller | May 1, 2007 11:55 PM
I must have missed some details. Were there pre-war data on the sizes for the two regions of these veterans as control to establish "shrinking", or these individual with smaller sizes in these regions are more prone to suffer the symptoms under Gulf-war stess?
Posted by: Zhaoyang Zhao | May 2, 2007 05:49 PM
Considering that between 320 and 390 TONS of depleted uranium were dropped on Iraq during the Gulf War, I don't think we need to look much further for causes of poor health in veterans.
Here is more info.
Posted by: Joanne Whitehead | May 3, 2007 11:07 AM
Hello fellow soilders and fallen veterans. I was once a very fit and hard driving soilder with the 101st Avn Bde. Last July my6 family and I went to 6flags in Atlantafor the 4th of July weekend. Had a good time riding various rides and so forth. Went back to the hotel that night and departed the next morning. Got back to Birmingham Ala. round 4pm or so and started to get things in line for monday to go to work and all. Had a head ache so bad that I almost passed out and went blind for a moment. I didn't say anything to my wife but I did pray that if I just got thru the nite that I would go straight to the doctor the next morning. So come monday morning I call in the job and proceeded to UAB emergency room. Within an hour after a cat scan they found a tumor in my brain about the size of a golf ball. It was deep between the 2 lobes. People I cried when I left UAB because I had never known anyone who may have gone thru this and wondering how I was going to get thru it also. I was told to not to go back to work and I would be contacted to set up surgery in a day or so. On thursday IO got a call from the neurosurgeons at VA hospital whivh is just across the street from UAB. Now I'm going into shock because VA was the last people in the world I'd want to let do brain surgery on me. A lil homework and I was ok bevause VA in Birmingham uses many of the surgeons from UAB, which I might add has a fine profession of surgeons. So we set it u7p. Had brain surgery and all else after has been nothing but hell. Lost all memory, education, I don't dream anymore. Did all kinds of crazy stuff the 1st month out. The info Im getting is that there are many more vets from the theater of operations with the same issues. I'm more than willing to help anyone see their way thru if you need someone to talk with. Just hit my e-mail misspimp1g@aol.com
Posted by: Jimmy Greer | September 10, 2007 11:50 PM
Pages on the discarded and forgotten Croatian war veterans. Here you can read all about the attitudes of the President of Croatia, the government and parliament of Croatia towards the Croatian war veterans and of betrayal and corruption.
Posted by: Šimo | November 10, 2007 10:17 AM