CAS3
06-21-03, 09:40 AM
New Gulf War Research Presented to Advisory Committee
WASHINGTON (June 18, 2003) -- Research studies that challenge the
conventional wisdom regarding potential links between military service
during the Gulf War and the numerous, yet often undiagnosed, illnesses
reported by many veterans were presented recently to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) Research Advisory Committee for Gulf War Veterans
Illnesses.
"I am very pleased with the progress of the committee and ongoing
research into the illnesses that continue to afflict the brave men and women
who served so well during the Gulf conflict," said Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Anthony J. Principi. "They haven't given up on their search for
answers and neither will we."
Presentations June 16 by the principal investigators of four
completed studies looked at the nervous system, cognitive function, use of
pyridostigmine bromide (a drug protecting people from nerve agents) and
exposure to pesticides and nerve gas.
Antonio Sastre, Ph.D., of Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City,
Mo., presented, for the first time, results of his Defense
Department-sponsored study of autonomic nervous system function in Gulf
War-era veterans. The autonomic nervous system controls many of the body's
functions (like breathing) automatically, without any conscious effort.
Using a battery of tests to capture the complexities of the autonomic
nervous system, Sastre's findings indicate that ill veterans demonstrate
autonomic system dysfunction on a broad range of tests.
Results of a just-published VA-funded study by Roberta F. White,
Ph.D., of Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston VA Healthcare
System Medical Center indicated that Gulf War-deployed veterans performed
"significantly worse," on tests of attention, visuospatial skills, visual
memory and mood. Additionally, Gulf War- deployed veterans who used
pyridostigmine bromide performed worse than their deployed comrades who did
not use the drug.
John Vogel, Ph.D., of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California,
discussed the use of accelerator mass spectrometry to detect very low levels
of pesticides and their effect on the brain's increased absorption of a
second toxic exposure. The research, conducted with animals, was sponsored
by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Likewise, undetected low-level exposure to sarin nerve gas can cause
delayed development of brain alterations that may be associated with memory
loss and cognitive dysfunction in animals. This study, by Rogene Henderson,
Ph.D., of Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, advances
scientific understanding of the long-term effects of exposure to chemical
weapons.
"This new research has important implications, not only for ill
veterans, but for the development of medical defenses to protect future
American troops and civilians from chemical attack," said committee chairman
James Binns.
The advisory committee was established by Secretary Principi to
review research and give advice on those areas showing the greatest promise
for finding the cause, or causes, of Gulf War illnesses and treating Gulf
War veterans.
WASHINGTON (June 18, 2003) -- Research studies that challenge the
conventional wisdom regarding potential links between military service
during the Gulf War and the numerous, yet often undiagnosed, illnesses
reported by many veterans were presented recently to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) Research Advisory Committee for Gulf War Veterans
Illnesses.
"I am very pleased with the progress of the committee and ongoing
research into the illnesses that continue to afflict the brave men and women
who served so well during the Gulf conflict," said Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Anthony J. Principi. "They haven't given up on their search for
answers and neither will we."
Presentations June 16 by the principal investigators of four
completed studies looked at the nervous system, cognitive function, use of
pyridostigmine bromide (a drug protecting people from nerve agents) and
exposure to pesticides and nerve gas.
Antonio Sastre, Ph.D., of Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City,
Mo., presented, for the first time, results of his Defense
Department-sponsored study of autonomic nervous system function in Gulf
War-era veterans. The autonomic nervous system controls many of the body's
functions (like breathing) automatically, without any conscious effort.
Using a battery of tests to capture the complexities of the autonomic
nervous system, Sastre's findings indicate that ill veterans demonstrate
autonomic system dysfunction on a broad range of tests.
Results of a just-published VA-funded study by Roberta F. White,
Ph.D., of Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston VA Healthcare
System Medical Center indicated that Gulf War-deployed veterans performed
"significantly worse," on tests of attention, visuospatial skills, visual
memory and mood. Additionally, Gulf War- deployed veterans who used
pyridostigmine bromide performed worse than their deployed comrades who did
not use the drug.
John Vogel, Ph.D., of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California,
discussed the use of accelerator mass spectrometry to detect very low levels
of pesticides and their effect on the brain's increased absorption of a
second toxic exposure. The research, conducted with animals, was sponsored
by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Likewise, undetected low-level exposure to sarin nerve gas can cause
delayed development of brain alterations that may be associated with memory
loss and cognitive dysfunction in animals. This study, by Rogene Henderson,
Ph.D., of Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, advances
scientific understanding of the long-term effects of exposure to chemical
weapons.
"This new research has important implications, not only for ill
veterans, but for the development of medical defenses to protect future
American troops and civilians from chemical attack," said committee chairman
James Binns.
The advisory committee was established by Secretary Principi to
review research and give advice on those areas showing the greatest promise
for finding the cause, or causes, of Gulf War illnesses and treating Gulf
War veterans.