Biorepository Gulf War Veterans' Illness

BOSTON —

Veterans of the first Gulf War are being asked to help solve the mystery of what continues to make so many veterans of that conflict sick.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched the Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Biorepository (GWVIB) to support research on the causes, progression and treatment of disorders affecting veterans of that war from 1990-1991.

About 697,000 men and women served in the first Gulf War, and since then nearly 250,000 have experienced chronic, medically unexplained illnesses, known collectively as Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, according to a statement released by the VA on Friday. Symptoms include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, as well as disordered respiratory, digestive, and cognitive function. The cause of these illnesses is unknown, and effective treatments remain elusive.

Biorepositories, also called bio-banks, collect and store human fluid and tissue samples. Veterans who enroll in the study agree to donate their brain and other body tissue after their death. Their health status will be followed during their lifetimes through mailed surveys, telephone calls and electronic health records, the VA said.

"Hundreds of thousands of ill Veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War depend on cutting-edge biomedical research to better understand and treat these illnesses, and providing crucial tissue and health information to researchers will be a vital resource for this research," the project’s principal investigator, Dr. Neil Kowall, said in the statement.

All veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War era living in the U.S., regardless of whether they served in the Gulf region or are experiencing symptoms are eligible to participate. Additional information about on the study can be found by calling toll-free 855-561-7827.

Posted Jan 11, 2013

Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x2105868760/Vets-of-1st-Gulf-War-asked-to-help-solve-mystery-illness#ixzz2HmdQeJVi

 Today we have VA primary care doctors who have no idea of the side effects of gulf war exposures.  Many veterans who need proper evaluation should take part in WRIISC to find medical staff who have knowledge of the signs and sympthoms that environmental materials had a  negative efeect on on the human body. Veterans must demand a second opion from these facilities.

The Follow-up Study of a National Cohort of Gulf War and Gulf Era Veterans is the third in a series of surveys that examines the health of Veterans who were deployed to the 1990-1991 Gulf War and Veterans who served elsewhere during the same period. The current survey examines trends in health status over time. The results of this study will help VA to better understand the health consequences of military deployment and to guide delivery of health care.
http://www.gulflink.org

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/gulf-war-follow-up.asp
 

Brains of vets with PTSD can change as they age

What is your Desert Storm Era vet and you have some of the undiagnosed illness. What if you have the brain fog along with symthoms of PTSD and years later the veteran has sympthoms of early dementia. They only place get an evalution inot this situation currently is VAMC San Francisco said Jagmedic

SAN FRANCISCO — Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have dementia, cardiac problems and structural changes in the brain as they get older than veterans without PTSD, according to new research.

The findings, which for the most part resulted from research at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, raise concerns about the overall health of aging veterans, but hold promise for the potential of helping to treat these diseases.

"Our concern is that veterans who honorably serve our country ... are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and over the next 10 to 20 years we will see a lot of Alzheimer's in the veteran population," said Dr. Michael Weiner, director of the institution's Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The impact of combat on the aging brain was the focus of Thursday's fourth annual "Brain at War" conference in San Francisco.

Much of the research presented during the daylong conference was conducted at the city's VA hospital and funded through San Francisco's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, the nation's leading neuroscience research institute.

Of the 2 million Americans who've served in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least 400,000 -- or as much as 20 percent -- have developed or are at risk of developing PTSD, a psychological condition caused by exposure to severe trauma.

Some 23 million veterans will face more common illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's, as a function of aging. A growing body of work shows traumatic stress may exacerbate these diseases, the researchers found.

For example, veterans with PTSD are two to three times more likely to develop heart disease than those who do not have the disorder.

"No effective ways to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease yet exist, but researchers are studying soldiers' brains to learn more about how combat-related stress affects the brain's biology and increases the chance of developing Alzheimer's.

They have found that a section of the hippocampus -- the part of the brain devoted to short-term memory and learning new things -- is significantly smaller in veterans with PTSD. Researchers are trying to determine if this smaller section can grow with treatment.

"It's possible new stem cells, new brain cells are made, or it's possible the existing neurons or cells get plumper or have more synapses and connection," said

Weiner, also a professor of medicine, radiology, psychiatry and neurology." ... Our ability to probe the brain and understand these mechanisms is really limited."

"Humans are amazing in the sense they adapt to anything," he said.

Research at San Francisco's VA center has led to new information about:

- PTSD and heart disease. Veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have been diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health issues have two to three times the rate of heart disease risk factors compared with veterans without those diagnoses.

- PTSD and the hippocampus. Research using magnetic resonate imaging, or MRI, at the VA hospital have shown the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores memory, is significantly smaller in the brains of veterans with PTSD.

- PTSD and dementia. Older veterans with PTSD are almost twice as likely as veterans without such trauma to develop dementia.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/jun/24/brains-vets-ptsd-can-change-they-age/

Remember this Memorial Day

The U.S 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in a 2-1 ruling that the delays are so “egregious” that they “violate a veterans constitutional rights.”

...There is little doubt that the approximately 6500 suicides a year must be addressed with urgency and budget allocations. Yet I do not see that it is the sole job of the VA to ameliorate a seeming intractable problem that is owned by the entire war making machine.

The data is showing that an average of 18 returning Armed Service members commit suicide each day. Most folks cannot even allow this to seep into their own activities of daily living, let alone a national psyche.

Environmental and battlfield exposures are what some of us suffer now 20 some odd years out. It is physical ailments,(undiagnosed chronic sympthoms) which have been denied by VA doctors and adjuticators which have broke the sprit of
some Desert Storm Era veterans. We are warriors and will continue to fight for diagnosis other than PTSD that we deserve said Jagmedic.


http://tucsoncitizen.com/veteranveritas/2011/05/22/are-expectations-for-va-mental-health-care-achievable/

Should VA remember Stats of Desert Storm Vets

Comrades yes,
it has been over 20 years since the first Desert Storm Vet applied to the
department of Veterans affairs for health care, benefits and research.
It hurts that it appears VA will allow the Stats our GWVIS to
be removed from Internet Access and buried out of public sight.
Speak up do not allow this to happen said Jagmedic
# # # # #
Rather than host the former GWVIS reports or own up to any
flaws in its reporting VA has apparently decided to remove the
whole thing from the VA website.
http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/gwvis/index.asp
( This is now a dead link )

I am flabbergasted that VA would simply dump historical records
and I guess pretend they don't exist. There was no reason to
remove the old GWVIS webpage. Not that VA was honest about
the full content from beginning to end, and only hosted 2005 to
2008 where the reports suddenly skewed downwards. All we have
left is the pdf link to the new report:http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/GW_Pre911_report.pdf

This is disturbing in that this sort of just makes this look like from
2010 on all of this rather than talk about what happened from
2002 to 2009. Again, like what happened in February 2008 to
August 2008. Like that never happened.

VA should put ALL of the former GWVIS reports up on the VA
or VBA website for historical purposes. I get the distinct feeling
this was the brainchild of the Gulf War Illness Task Force who
doesnt feel the need to talk to the veteran community in public.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely
Kirt P. Love
Director, DSBR



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


http://www.vba.va.gov/reports/

Reports are in Word, Excel, or PDF format. You may download free viewer and reader software to view the reports.

Monday Morning Workload Reports (MMWR) are a compilation of workload indicators reported by Veterans Benefits Administration field facilities.

Gulf War Veterans Information System Reports (GWVIS) identify the Gulf War Veterans service member population and how they use compensation and pension benefits.

Note: The GWVIS Report link has been deactivated due to the completion of the "Gulf War Era Veterans Report: Pre 9/11."

That report can be accessed here.

Annual Benefits Reports (ABR) are a summary of the benefits used by veterans and their dependents by fiscal year.

Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) contains performance targets and results achieved during each fiscal year.

Does VA support brain injury ?

Military Training and deployment can be physical than sports. What happens when vet is discharged after this injury?

A lot of folks are talking about it being an epidemic, that concussions are no joking matter, and lots of people are getting on the helmet bandwagon (especially since Natasha Richardson died from a brain injury while skiing). Prevention is great. But concussion is all but unavoidable in sports — especially student athletics. It happens. All the time. Yet nobody seems to have come up with a reliable way of addressing it when it does happen. Aside from bed rest and taking it easy, suggests for howto deal with concussions/brain injury are few and far between.

We know concussions happen. We know head injuries are common. We know they can have serious long-term consequences. You can try to prevent them, but you can’t be successful 100% of the time. And if you do have a head injury, you have to be sidelined from your life/sport, with no guarantee that the “treatment” will actually work.

I was starting to get seriously depressed.

Then, suddenly, I was looking around the other day and I found that the University at Buffalo has been working with regulated exercise to treat — even heal — the after-effects of concussion. Post-concussive syndrome is, according to the definitions of Willer and Leddy (at UB), “persistent symptoms of concussion past the period when the individual should have recovered (3 weeks)”. According to them, post-concussive syndrome “qualifies as mTBI.”

This is interesting. I have heard a lot of people say that concussion is an mTBI, and the two are interchangeable. I am not a doctor, and I don’t have medical training, so I can’t throw my hat in the ring on that debate. But it is interesting to me, that people distinguish between the two.

At the UB web page on concussion research, there are some interesting papers, and they do talk about the difference between concussion and mild TBI.

Here’s what they have to say in the paper Retest Reliability in Adolescents of a Computerized Neuropsychological Battery used to Assess Recovery from Concussion (bold is mine)

A recent review … of concussion and post concussion syndrome provided a model for distinguishing concussion from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post concussion syndrome (PCS). The model uses the most commonly accepted definition of mTBI and the one proposed by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control: loss of consciousness for no more than 30 minutes or amnesia as a result of a mechanical force to the head, and a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 13 to 15 …. The model also uses the most commonly accepted definition of concussion as established by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN): a trauma induced alteration of mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness …. Although not explicitly stated in the AAN definition, concussion is generally viewed as a transient state from which the individual will recover fully in a relatively short period of time …. In contrast, mTBI is viewed as a permanent alteration of brain function even though the individual with mTBI may appear asymptomatic. Post concussion syndrome was defined in the Willer and Leddy … model as persistent symptoms of concussion past the period when the individual should have recovered (3 weeks) and therefore qualifies as mTBI. Neuropsychological testing is often used to describe the impairment associated with mTBI and PCS and have done so with relative success ….

So, basically,

mTBI = a loss of consciousness for no more than 30 minutes or amnesia as a result of a mechanical force to the head, and a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 13 to 15
Concussion = a trauma induced alteration of mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness; it’s a transient state from which the individual will recover fully in a relatively short period of time
Post concussion syndrome (PCS) = persistent symptoms of concussion past the period when the individual should have recovered (3 weeks) PCS, due to its enduring nature, qualifies as mTBI
(Note: I think someone needs to fill in the gap about how PCS satisfies the criteria for mTBI, if they require that there be some loss of consciousness or amnesia involved. How lasting effects qualifies based on these criteria puzzles me. But for the purposes of this discussion, I’ll let this slide.)

I find this really compelling information, and it helps me make more sense of the whole “concussion thing”. I know I’ve sustained a bunch of concussions in the course of my life, and I also know that I have been diagnosed with “Late effect of intracranial injury.” But I could never really distinguish between the mTBI vs. concussion. I actually thought — and had been told — that they’re the same thing.

But that never made much sense to me, because when I look around at me, and I read that “An estimated ten percent of all athletes participating in contact sports suffer a concussion each season” And that’s just athletes. Plenty of people fall down, too, or are in car accidents. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Apparently, hundreds of thousands of people sustain concussions each year, yet the general population doesn’t appear to be completely crippled by TBI (though some people I know would debate that ) How is it possible, that so many people are sustaining concussions, especially in their youth and/or in sports, yet we’re not all running around impaired?

Making the distinction between a concussion that is transient, and a concussion that turns into an mTBI makes all the sense in the world to me. It makes it possible distinguish between someone who’s experiencing short-term issues, and someone who needs to deal with a broader-spectrum and deeper set of challenges. And in doing so, it de-stigmatizes concussion (at least in my mind), by steering clear of the “concussion = brain injury = brain damage” concept, which could be quite debilitating to a youth who has hit their head while playing a sport they love.

There are tons of potential ramifications and implications from being able to state that concussion is not necessarily an enduring brain injury. I may write more about this later, but it requires more thought.

The other very hopeful piece of this is that, by saying concussion is not always followed by brain injury, you’re opening a window to addressing concussions promptly so they do not turn into mild traumatic brain injuries. This, to me, is key. It not only makes sense of the two different kinds of injuries, but it also establishes that it may in fact be possible to treat the concussion to prevent it from becoming a more serious, long-term injury — the “gift” that keeps on giving. And by understanding concussion and brain injury this way, you also up the ante and really infuse the topic of prompt treatment with urgency. If acting promptly to address concussion makes it possible to avoid a lasting brain injury, then it’s in everyone’s best interest to become familiar with and properly trained in the recognition and treatment of concussion.

In this case, if mTBI is only present if concussion symptoms persist, and there’s no guarantee that concussion will result in a lasting brain injury, then prompt recognition and action may save the day.

Now, I’m still noodling over the idea that subconcussive impacts can seriously affect the brain over the long term, which Malcom Gladwell talked about in his article “Offensive Play“. But I am still hopeful. Because while subconcussive impacts may affect the brain, it could be that the damage takes place when no action is taken to address the injuries when they happen. Again, I’m not a doctor or a qualified medical professional, but it seems to me that if actively treating concussion helps with the really obvious issues — as the University at Buffalo has shown it does (albeit on a fairly limited scale) — then it might just help repair lesser damage done.

It might. I only wish I had the medical and scientific background and credentials to be able to speak as an expert on this. But apparently expertise is no guarantee of being able to help out, when it comes to TBI. The vast majority of experts haven’t had the wherewithall to state definitively what can actually be done about brain injuries, let alone recommend specific action that works, and there are thousands upon thousands, if not millions, of people suffering, day in and day out (along with their loved ones and co-workers) with the after-effects of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury.

So, somebody’s got to take the lead in finding a solution… Or at the very least think about finding one. The folks in Buffalo are up to wonderful work, and I can only hope that more folks have the gumption to take their lead and do something about this wretched hidden epidemic of ours.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=113072042059485

Presumptive Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Persian Gulf War Service

[Federal Register: November 17, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 221)]
[Proposed Rules] [Page 70162-70165]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17no10-28] ======================================================================= DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 3
RIN 2900-AN83
Presumptive Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Persian Gulf War Service: Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DATES: Comments must be received by VA on or before December 17, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through http://
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to Director, Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 273-9026. (This is not a toll free number.) Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response to ``RIN 2900-AN83--Presumptive Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Persian Gulf War Service: Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs).''
Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an appointment. (This is not a toll free number.) In addition, during the comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System at http://www.Regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerald Johnson, Regulations Staff (211D), Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461- 9727 (This is not a toll-free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has determined that the available scientific and medical evidence presented in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) April 2010 report, titled Gulf War and Health, Volume 8: Update on the Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War is sufficient to warrant a presumption of service connection for FGIDs in individuals deployed to the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. Pursuant to that determination, this document proposes to clarify that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations (38 CFR Part 3), specifically 38 CFR 3.317, would include FGIDs as medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses subject to presumptive service connection. FGIDs include, but are not limited to, such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia.
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Reports FGIDs, Including, But Not Limited to, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Functional Dyspepsia

The NAS issued its report titled Gulf War and Health, Volume 8: Update on Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War, on April 9, 2010. The NAS was asked to review, evaluate, and summarize the literature to determine if any of the health outcomes noted in its 2006 report, titled Gulf War and Health, Volume 4: Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War, appear at higher incidence or prevalence levels in Gulf War-
deployed veterans. The NAS sought to characterize and weigh the strengths and limitations of the available evidence. The NAS Update committee reviewed over 1000 relevant studies and focused on over 400 relevant references, including the studies reviewed in the Volume 4 report.

The NAS determined that there is sufficient evidence of an association between deployment to the Gulf War and FGIDs, including, but not limited to, IBS and functional dyspepsia. The committee also noted that there is inadequate evidence of an association between deployment to the Gulf War and structural gastrointestinal (GI) disease.

FGIDs, such as IBS or functional dyspepsia, are syndromes characterized by recurrent or prolonged GI symptoms that occur together. They are distinguished from structural or ``organic'' GI disorders in that they generally are not associated with detectable anatomical abnormalities. The severity of FGIDs ranges from occasional mild episodes to more persistent and disabling symptoms. According to the NAS report, there have been numerous reports of GI disturbances in Gulf War veterans and the symptoms have continued to be persistent in the years since that war. All studies examined by NAS favored a greater prevalence of various GI symptoms and primary functional GI disorders, including IBS and dyspepsia. In NAS's opinion, there also was compelling emerging evidence of exposure during deployment to enteric pathogens leading to the development of post-infectious IBS.

The overall pattern of symptoms found in the primary and secondary studies NAS reviewed confirms an association between deployment to the Gulf War and functional GI symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. The NAS recommended that further studies be conducted to determine the role of prior acute gastroenteritis among deployed servicemembers in the development of FGIDs.
Detailed information on the committee's findings may be found at: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Gulf-War-and-Health-Volume-8-Health-
Effects-of-Serving-in-the-Gulf-War.aspx. The report findings are organized by category and can be found under the heading, ``Table of Contents.''

Statutory Provisions
Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 1118, VA must establish a presumption of service connection for each illness shown by sound scientific and medical evidence to have a positive association with exposure to a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine known or presumed to be associated with service in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. Because the recent NAS report was primarily a review of the prevalence of illnesses among Gulf War veterans, it generally did not state conclusions as to whether the illnesses are associated with the types of exposures referenced in Sec. 1118.

The NAS noted that there was significant emerging evidence that FGIDs may be associated with exposure to enteric pathogens during Gulf War deployments and recommended further study of that issue. However, NAS did not state a conclusion concerning the strength of the evidence of an association between FGIDs and exposure to enteric pathogens. VA has determined that resolution of that question is not necessary for purposes of this rule, because FGIDs are within the scope of the existing presumption of service connection for medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses.

Section 1117 of title 38, United States Code, provides a presumption of service connection for ``qualifying chronic disability'' in veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. The statute defines the term ``qualifying chronic disability'' to include ``[a] medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness (such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome) that is defined by a cluster of signs or symptoms.'' 38 U.S.C. 1117(a)(2)(B).

The plain language of the statute makes clear that it applies to all medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses including, but not limited to, the three conditions parenthetically listed as examples. VA recently amended its regulation at 38 CFR 3.317 to clarify that the presumption is not limited to the three listed examples. See 75 FR 61995.

FGIDs are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses within the meaning of the statute and regulation. These disorders are defined by clusters of signs and symptoms affecting GI functions. Further, FGIDs are ``medically unexplained'' because they are, by definition, disorders that cannot be attributed to observable structural or organic changes and the causes of the disorders are generally not known. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is a form of FGID, is expressly identified in the current statute and regulation as a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness. Because other FGIDs, such as functional dyspepsia and functional vomiting, also are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses, the current statute and regulation, as recently amended, provide a presumption of service connection for FGIDs in veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. In view of the findings in the recent NAS report identifying FGIDs as prevalent and persistent illnesses among Gulf War Veterans, VA has determined that its regulations should be revised to expressly identify FGIDs as a type of medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness within the scope of the existing presumption.

Regulatory Amendments
We propose to amend 38 CFR 3.317 to incorporate the more specific language regarding FGIDs. We propose to: Revise Sec. 3.317(a)(2)(i)(B)(3) by removing ``Irritable Bowel Syndrome'' and replacing it with ``Functional gastrointestinal disorders, including, but not limited to, irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia (excluding structural gastrointestinal diseases)''; and add a Note with the definition of functional gastrointestinal disorders. The intended effect of this change is to clarify that FGIDs are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses and are thus within the scope of the presumption of service connection for such illnesses.
Other Illnesses

Mild Brain Damage 2010 VA Study Gulf War

RESULTS: GW veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure had reduced total GM and hippocampal volumes compared to their unexposed peers (p< or =0.01). Although there were no group differences in measures of cognitive function or total WM volume, there were significant, positive correlations between total WM volume and measures of executive function and visuospatial abilities in veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that low-level exposure to GB/GF can have deleterious effects on brain structure and brain function more than decade later.


Neurotoxicology. 2010 Sep;31(5):493-501. Epub 2010 May 24.

Effects of low-level exposure to sarin and cyclosarin during the 1991 Gulf War on brain function and brain structure in US veterans.
Chao LL, Rothlind JC, Cardenas VA, Meyerhoff DJ, Weiner MW.

Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street, 114 M, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA. linda.chao@ucsf.edu

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Potentially more than 100,000 US troops may have been exposed to the organophosphate chemical warfare agents sarin (GB) and cyclosarin (GF) when a munitions dump at Khamisiyah, Iraq was destroyed during the Gulf War (GW) in 1991. Although little is known about the long-term neurobehavioral or neurophysiological effects of low-dose exposure to GB/GF in humans, recent studies of GW veterans from the Devens Cohort suggest decrements in certain cognitive domains and atrophy in brain white matter occur individuals with higher estimated levels of presumed GB/GF exposure. The goal of the current study is to determine the generalizability of these findings in another cohort of GW veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure.

METHODS: Neurobehavioral and imaging data collected in a study on Gulf War Illness between 2002 and 2007 were used in this study. We focused on the data of 40 GW-deployed veterans categorized as having been exposed to GB/GF at Khamisiyah, Iraq and 40 matched controls. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain were analyzed using automated and semi-automated image processing techniques that produced volumetric measurements of gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and hippocampus.

Gulf War Illness Research Needs

Recruit the Scientist Researchers and Doctors to help Gulf War Veterans who are ill!
by Denise Nichols Your note has been created.
Gulf war veterans ill with GWI need attention! We will go out and recruit scientist and researchers and notify them of VARAC GWI and the DOD CDMRP GWI research funds available! We will ask them, beg them, to become part of the team to help our gulf war veterans with gulf war illness।


We have gone too long-20 years and need the best of the best recruited to help the veterans Now. I want all gulf war veterans that are ill to help with this effort! Enough with playing computer games etc etc lets drive this force to find us real answers and help! We will recruit the researchers! We will recruit the doctors that know and are helping from the civilian side of the house.

We are tired of VA doctors looking at us like we are aliens and sending us to psych. consults, psych drugs are not the answer. This is not stress! We want our lives back! It is time for VA to listen to us we want answers and medical care, we want our lives back! WE are tired and sick and need help now! Let us go get the best of the best recruited to help us! Are you in?

Below is another candidate for us to recruit!
The neurocognitive brain damage we have is like an early althemizer's disease! We have neuro immune degenerative type diseases....Gulf War Veterans deserve no less!
You may not be able to travel veterans but you can find email or snail mail or phone numbers on these researchers. We can develop a template letter and then add our own short plead for help! Lets all make this happen!

WHO - UCSF Nobel laureate Stanley B. Prusiner, MD,
WHY -UCSF professor of neurology and director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, has been named to receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for science and technology.

ACTION Demand that VA-ORD and VA-GWI- Research Advisory Committee communication and listen comments of this scientist on the be half of disable gulf war veterans.
ACTION CAMPAIGN REACH OUT AND CONTACT A RESEARCHER AND
GET THEM TO LOOK GW Illness
Venus Hammack