Vets From First Gulf War Show Brain Differences

TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Veterans of the first Gulf War who developed numerous health complaints have areas of the brain that are measurably smaller than those of healthier vets, a new study found.

The results of the U.S. government-funded study are preliminary but provide some of the first hard evidence that veterans from the 1990-1991 conflict are suffering from a real neurological illness, researchers say.

"Right now, for Gulf War veterans, there is a discounting of there being any physical basis for what might be wrong with them. But I think that what is really important about this brain imaging research is that it suggests that we really need to take their symptoms seriously, that there is a clear neurological basis for their complaints," said study lead researcher Roberta White of Boston University School of Public Health.

Another expert with a long history of research into so-called Gulf War syndrome was more cautious.

"These findings are intriguing, but they do not prove that veterans of the first Gulf War were harmed by wartime chemical exposure," said Dr. Daniel Clauw, professor of medicine and director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

The study was expected to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, in Boston.

U.S. and British veterans of the first Gulf War have long complained of a wide array of physical and mental symptoms, which many blame on exposure to biowarfare agents such as toxic pesticides and sarin gas.

"Back when the vets first started returning from the war, they were complaining of symptoms that affected the central nervous symptom, or suggested effects on the central nervous system," White said. Those symptoms included mood swings, personality changes, disordered sleep, joint pain, headaches, skin conditions, chronic fatigue and other effects.

But, it has been tough for experts to pinpoint any "objective evidence" -- for example, anatomical anomalies -- supporting the existence of an identifiable neurological condition, White said.

But recent advances in brain imaging are helping that effort.

In its study, which is ongoing, White's team took detailed MRI images of the brains of 36 veterans of the first Iraq conflict. Half of the veterans have complained of five or more symptoms -- out of a list of 20 -- attributed to Gulf War syndrome, while the other half have listed less than five symptoms.

The brain scans revealed key differences between the two groups.