Gulf War Veteran Study Links Brain Damage to Nerve Gas Exposure

Gulf War Syndrome -- the constellation of physical and mental ailments afflicting more than 150,000 Gulf War veterans, but largely dismissed by the medical community -- may be caused by low-level exposure to the nerve gas sarin, report government researchers.

The report, 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 — less white matter and slightly larger brain cavities — corresponded to the extent of exposure, the study found.

In March 1991, a few days after the end of the gulf war, American soldiers exploded two large caches of ammunition and missiles in
Khamisiyah, Iraq. Some of the missiles contained the dangerous nerve gases sarin and cyclosarin. Based on wind patterns and the size of the plume, the Department of Defense has estimated that more than 100,000
American troops may have been exposed to at least small amounts of the gases.

When the roughly 700,000 deployed troops returned home, about one in seven 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, more than the number of troops exposed to the gases.

The study is the latest in the military's sarin about-face:

For more than five years after the explosions at Khamisiyah, the
Pentagon denied that any American military personnel had been exposed to nerve gas. Confronted by new evidence in 1996 and 1997, it acknowledged that up to 100,000 troops might have been in the path of the plume and exposed to low-level doses that produced no immediate effect. In 2002, it released a report saying the exposures had been too low to have caused a long-term adverse effect on health.

It should be noted that the study, which involved 26 veterans, is still preliminary, though a companion study reinforces its findings:

... 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 a deterioration in fine motor skills, performing such tests at a level similar to people 20 years older.

A couple quick points: even if the results are preliminary, the government should be providing the finest possible medical care for these soldiers. They should also try to figure out how many Iraquis were exposed. And, finally, soldiers who blamed their symptoms on sarin exposure have for years been dismissed as conspiracy theorists and fringe groups. Does anyone still want to say that?

And we've yet to figure out the physiological effects of soldiers' exposure to depleted uranium and burning jet fuel.

Gas May Have Harmed Troops, Scientists Say [New York Times]