Gulf War syndrome firmly linked to chemical exposure 2 hours, 54 minutes ago

[flashl]

CHICAGO (AFP) - Nearly two decades after veterans of the 1991 Gulf War came home complaining of odd illnesses, enough evidence has been gathered to determine that many of them were sickened by chemical exposure, a study has concluded.

And some of the damage was likely caused by pills prescribed to protect against the use of nerve gas and pesticides used to control sand flies, according to the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While the military has subsequently stopped using the pills, the pesticides continue to be used in agriculture and for pest control in homes and offices in the United States and around the globe.

"Enough studies have been conducted, and results shared, to be able to say with considerable confidence that there is a link between chemical exposure and chronic, multi-symptom health problems," said study author Beatrice Golomb of the University of California San Diego's school of medicine.

Yahoo

[Stargazer99]

1. What makes you think the powerful and well heeled give a damn

about the common man? Think!

[KT2000]

2. Cheers to Beatrice Golomb

She put truth and concern for others over career advancement. If only there were more like her.

[Hekate]

3. 3rd Rec. This is progress. Does the report mention Depleted Uranium? nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. K and R

[Th1onein]

5. I wonder if anyone has that study, or can access it?

A friend of mine's wife was diagnosed with, variously, Supranuclear Palsy (an aggressive form of Parkinson's), Stiff Person Syndrome, Multi-Systems Atrophy, until she finally died, with no definitive diagnosis. About six months after she died, one of her treating physicians, from the University of Texas Medical Branch, who at least was honest and admitted that he had no diagnosis for her condition, called my friend and asked him to give him more information about his wife's condition (they had moved) because he had yet another patient who was displaying the same symptoms. There is an epidemic of people coming up with new neurological conditions in this country. I've done a little research on this and I think it has something to do with organophosphate pesticides. Something is deadly wrong here.

[bananas]

7. Here's the abstract

You can access the article online for a price.

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0711986105v1

Published online on March 10, 2008
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0711986105

MEDICAL SCIENCES
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and Gulf War illnesses

Beatrice Alexandra Golomb*

Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093-0995

Communicated by Stephen F. Heinemann, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA, January 15, 2008 (received for review December 5, 2006)

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests excess illness in Persian Gulf War veterans (GWV) can be explained in part by exposure of GWV to organophosphate and carbamate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEis), including pyridostigmine bromide (PB), pesticides, and nerve agents. Evidence germane to the relation of AChEis to illness in GWV was assessed. Many epidemiological studies reported a link between AChEi exposure and chronic symptoms in GWV. The link is buttressed by a dose–response relation of PB pill number to chronic symptoms in GWV and by a relation between avidity of AChEi clearance and illness, based on genotypes, concentrations, and activity levels of enzymes that detoxify AChEis. Triangulating evidence derives from studies linking occupational exposure to AChEis to chronic health symptoms that mirror those of ill GWV. Illness is again linked to lower activity of AChEi detoxifying enzymes and genotypes conferring less-avid AChEi detoxification. AChEi exposure satisfies Hill's presumptive criteria for causality, suggesting this exposure may be causally linked to excess health problems in GWV.


Gulf War veteran | pyridostigmine | pesticide | sarin | organophosphate

Footnotes

Author contributions: B.A.G. designed research, performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper.

The author declares no conflict of interest.

*E-mail: bgolomb{at}ucsd.edu

© 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA

[Kurovski]

6. K&R. (nt)