Gulf War syndrome's chemical-origin theory upheld

A review of medical studies on Gulf War syndrome supports the theory that the disorder was caused by a group of related chemicals found in pesticides used around military facilities and anti-nerve-gas pills given to soldiers, US researchers said on Mar. 10. They said an analysis of a host of studies offers compelling evidence that the fatigue, muscle or joint pain, memory and sleep problems, rashes and breathing troubles experienced by these veterans are due to chemicals known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and organophosphates, which includes nerve gas. "Convergent evidence now strongly links a class of chemicals -- acetylcholinesterase inhibitors -- to illness in Gulf War veterans," said Dr. Beatrice Golomb of the University of California, San Diego. A similar chemical was also found in nerve gas that was inadvertently released when US soldiers destroyed a munitions depot just after the 1991 war, according to the study. The group of chemicals has long been discussed as a possible cause of Gulf War syndrome. The review "thoroughly, conclusively shows that this class of chemicals actually are a cause of illness in Gulf War veterans," said Golomb. She said some of the chemicals linked to these illnesses continue to be used in agriculture, and in homes and offices for pest control in the United States and throughout the world. Golomb's prior research found that pills known as carbamate pyridostigmine bromide were given to service members to protect against exposure to nerve agents -- a practice that has since been discontinued. For the latest study, Golomb combed through several studies linking Gulf War veterans' symptoms with all of the chemicals. She found that returning Gulf War veterans who had been exposed to chemicals suffered multi-symptom complaints at a higher rate than those who were not deployed, or who were deployed elsewhere. "Evidence, taken together, provides a case for causal connection of carbamate, organophosphates and acetylcholinesterase inhibitor exposure to illness in Gulf War Veterans," Golomb wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She also found a link between the amount of exposure to the chemicals and how common symptoms were in these veterans. Golomb believes genetic variants make some people more susceptible to such chemicals, and when exposed, these people had a higher risk of illness. "A lot of attention has gone to psychological factors in illness in Gulf War veterans," Golomb said. But she said the ground conflict in the Gulf War lasted only four days, unlike the current conflict. "Psychological stressors are inadequate to account for the excess illness seen," she said. She said this knowledge should help protect troops from such problems arising in the future. Her team is also looking at ways to mitigate symptoms in Gulf War veterans. About 200,000 veterans are believed to suffer from Gulf War syndrome, according to the study. In toxic doses, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors cause unbridled signaling between cells, potentially leading to muscle paralysis, seizures and excess secretion in the airways. Previous studies have estimated that at least 250,000 soldiers were exposed to some form of the chemical. Golomb's study looked at more than 70 studies on Gulf War syndrome and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. "The importance of this paper is that it brings together research from different realms, which are all parallel and point in the same direction," said Lea Steele, an epidemiologist who has served as scientific advisor to the Department of Veterans Affairs. She was not involved in the analysis. "This provides triangulating evidence from inside and outside the Gulf War arena supporting the causal connection'' of the chemicals to the soldiers' syndrome, Golomb said. "This new scientific evidence shows that veterans were correct and that the military and the VA intentionally lied to veterans for many years,'' said Paul Sullivan, a former Army cavalry scout who fought in the Gulf War and suffers from migraine headaches and respiratory problems. Sullivan and others fought for years for government recognition of the syndrome. Sullivan filed the freedom of information requests that he said led the Department of Defense to admit that 100,000 soldiers might have been exposed to chemical agents, including sarin, when the military destroyed the Khamisiyah munitions dump in Iraq in March 1991. "From 1991 to 1995, they adamantly denied that any chemical weapons were present on the battlefield, including Khamisiyah,'' said Sullivan. "Then the department slowly began releasing information'' that as many as 100,000 soldiers may have been in range of the chemical release.