Gulf war syndrome

Gulf War Syndrome

The Gulf War Syndrome was identified after the Gulf War in 1991. Thousands of troops from the US, British, and Canadian developed symptoms after the war. This Syndrome has been researched since the end of the Gulf War and still not all the answers have been found. Not only have thousands of troops suffered from this syndrome, but also their families have developed some symptoms related to this syndrome. It is important to inform our nation of this new disease because there is still no cure, and GWS can be our next conflict relating to AIDS and Cancer. This research is dedicated to people who are uneducated about Gulf War Syndrome.

After reading many articles about Gulf War Syndrome there is still no definite definition. Many scientists have different definitions of the syndrome. For example, Gunjan Sinja states that scientist Garth Nicolson, chairman of tumor biology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, defines the syndrome as Mycoplasma fermentans. Sinha also stated that Mycoplasma fermentan was 'the most poorly studied bug on the list (Sinha 70).? Nicolson has found that the M. fermentans is nested inside the cells of almost half of all cases. Sinha defines Mycoplasmas as 'the smallest self-replicating life form that latch onto white bloodcells, which are part of the body's disease defenses, with a hooklike tip; then they transmit chemical signal that force blood cells to behave abnormally (Sinha 70).? Mycoplasmas can be difficult to detect, for they burrow deep inside cells. If there was a definition for Gulf War syndrome it would be a disease found after the Gulf War which is related to Mycloplasma fermantane. The only possible definition for the moment can only be defined by its symptoms (Sinha 70-71).

To identify symptoms which may define the syndrome, Robert W. Haley, M.D., from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and colleagues have conducted a series of investigations that broke the Gulf War Syndrome into three different types. To support their investigation, twenty five percent of 249 veterans who served in the Desert Conflict reported clusters of symptoms that were broken down by a mathematical computer technique. According to the JAMA the three identified syndromes are:

Syndrome-1 or ?Impaired Cognition? Syndrome - characterized by distractibility, difficulty remembering, depression, insomnia, fatigue, slurring of speech, confused thought process, and migraine - like headaches (? Gulf War Illnesses Broken Down Into Three Primary Syndromes? 2).

Syndrome-2 or ?Confusion-ataxia? Syndrome - characterized by problems with thinking and reasoning processes such as reading, writing, and spelling: getting confused; getting disoriented when trying to locate a car in a parking lot; having problems with balance; having a physician's diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or liver disease; and sexual impotence (? Gulf War Illnesses Broken Down Into Three Primary Syndromes? 2).

Syndrome-3 or ?Artho-myo-neuropathy? Syndrome - characterized by generalized joint and muscle pains, increased difficulty lifting heavy objects, fatigue, and tingling or numbness of the hands, arms, feet, and legs (? Gulf War Illnesses Broken Down Into Three Primary Syndromes? 1-2).

The Gulf War Syndrome has over 20 symptoms that have been reported by the veterans of the Gulf War. According to Stephen Straus in the journal The Lancet, over 50,000 troops returned as changed men. Reports showed of vascular instability, hyperventilation, bacilliuria, and other physiological and laboratory anomalies in the Gulf War veterans. When the problem began to exist, the US alone funded $ 115,000,000 for targeted research on the unknown syndrome. Four thousand gulf war veterans and men who also served in Bosnia were mailed questionnaires about deployment, exposures, symptoms, and illnesses. The main finding was that the Gulf War veterans were more likely to have the symptoms of chronic fatigue, irritability, headache, and other symptoms (Straus 162).

The Gulf War posed a high risk of a long illness, but did not lead to higher rates of divorce or unemployment (Straus 163). A report by Unwin and colleagues showed that the increased risk of chronic illnesses after the War was extended to all branches of the military and to both active duty and even retired men. According to a factor analysis by Fukuda and colleagues, the symptoms discovered in physical examinations and laboratory investigations revealed that there was no unique disease. ?Perhaps it was the very lack of mutilation and death in that war that permitted the true physical and emotional costs of battle to be revealed? (Straus 163).

In relation to Straus, Frances Murphy, in the journal British Medical Journal, cites percentages of men who developed certain symptoms as well as many facts that researchers have discovered about the Gulf War Syndrome. According to Straus, the most commonly reported symptoms are fatigue, headaches, joint pains, rashes, shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and forgetfulness. Murphy stated that troops were exposed to a wide variety of hazards, such as oil well fires, petroleum products and fumes, pesticides and other physical and psychological hazards. Could this have developed the Gulf War Syndrome (Murphy 1 of 1)?

In addition to the symptoms, a medical assessment program was conducted among 1000 British Gulf War Veterans. ?The participants reported multiple common medical symptoms, including affective problems (50%), fatigue (42%), joint and muscle aches (40%), cognitive problems (26%), headaches (26%), respiratory complaints (24%), gastrointestinal problems (22%), sleep disturbances (21%), and skin problems (19%)? (Murphy 1 of 1). Like Straus, Murphy also stated that Gulf War veterans were more likely to report an entire array of symptoms than troops whom served in Bosnia or not been deployed. The only difference is that Straus reported on American troops while Murphy reported British troops. From this one would believe that only Gulf War Veterans get the disease, but according to Fukuda et al, the non-deployed veterans also met the illness criteria (Murphy 1-2).

An article by Jim Coy simply states the facts, symptoms, and possible causes of Gulf War Syndrome or the Persian Gulf War Illness. Coy also explains how the DOD is involved in the research. The symptoms that he stated are the same symptoms quoted in the other two articles except skin problems, hair loss, memory loss, upper or lower respiratory symptoms, sleep disturbances and abnormal weight loss and menstrual disorders. The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans responded slowly and were even unresponsive to the veterans who were affected (Coy 50).

The cause of the Gulf War Illness is also undefined. The possibilities of causes that Coy states are biological warfare agents, chemical warfare agents, depleted uranium, indigenous infectious diseases, and pesticides, smoke from oil well fires, stress, and vaccines. ?Most of these causes are being actively investigated in more than 121 research projects? (Coy 51). The most accepted possibility for Gulf War Syndrome is related to a combination of multiple factors (Coy 51).

In ?Gulf War Syndrome Cover-UP,? Charles Overbeck states the facts and opinions that relate to the cover up of the Gulf War Syndrome. Charles Overbeck lists examples of the government's cover up and also includes people who are trying to uncover the secret by simply applying facts and theories about the Gulf War Syndrome's cause. He also states the mistakes the Department of Defense made and the warnings they refused during the War, which may have prevented the Gulf War Syndrome. Overbeck stated that during the Gulf War, Americans were astonished by the military's superiority that was used in the Gulf War by the United States. Even though the United States military had a winning casualty ratio of a thousand to one, Charles Overbeck stated that in the aftermath thousands of surviving veterans have died or are dying from illnesses related to Gulf War Syndrome (Overbeck 1).

According to Charles Overbeck the exact causes of Mycoplasma Incognita (Gulf War Syndrome) has also not been found, and military and government denials about GWS are halting the research. Two cellular biologists, Drs. Garth and Nancy Nicolson, who used to work at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, have uncovered their research about GWS in a loud manner. They became involved with the problem when their daughter served in the 101st Airborne. Both biologists stated that Mycoplasma Incognita is a germ warfare agent, and that whoever created it inserted 40% of the HIV envelope gene into the Mycoplasma. They also found that the illness picks people with weak immune symptoms. Overbeck also stated that the military was forced to take injections of experimental drugs, which were supposed to protect them from chemical warfare. The sad thing is that these troops were never told about the side effects, and as a matter of fact, the Food and Drug Administration adopted the Interim Rule, which permits military to use experimental drugs on troops without their consent. According to Overbeck, the rule is still in effect (Overbeck 1-2).

According to Peter Kawaja, of the International Gulf War Illness Coalition, the MD Anderson Cancer Center gave an order to destroy blood samples taken from veterans of the Gulf War veterans just after the Nicholsons were fired. According to Kawaja, the testing was only done in the Anderson Center and the lack of money and the overwhelming pressure from the government deminished the effort of more research. Overbeck states that the government finally released documents stating that the Gulf War Veterans were exposed to chemical and biological agents during the Gulf War, which were claims that the government has denied since day one. He also stated that activists say the U.S. companies sold chemical and biological agents to Iraq. As far as the warnings, James Tuite said that Czech chemical units alerted the United States military about some nerve agents and mustard gas, but the troops were still told to ignore the warning and all the other warnings from the alarms activated by chemical weapons ( Overbeck 1-2).

One of the possible chemical explosions was a nerve agent called soman. According to the article ?OP NERVE AGENTS: A BIOGRAPHY,? soman is the most difficult to reverse and treat among the nerve agents known to be commonly deployed. The article also stated that the field injector used by the USA (PAM-CI, atropine), which is a nerve agent protector, is severely limited when it comes to soman. The article also stated that a similar nerve agent, GF, could have posed similar problems. GF was found in Iraqi chemical stockpiles, and has been reported during Saddam Hussein's war against Iran and the Kurds. What is scary is that not much is known about its side effects, and this lack of knowledge may present a threat in future conflicts with Iraq. ?It is obvious to say that the military might have not been prepared for chemical exposure? (?OP Nerve Agents : A Biography? 44).

To furthermore support these causes, Kurt Kleiner finds that the syndrome might have been caused by a combined effect of pills that was suppose to protect our troops from nerve gas and an insect repellent. To back up his finding he also stated that two separate studies were conducted on chickens and rats, and the results were that the chemicals caused nerve damage. The article also defined the three pills that the troops might have taken:

Pyridostigmine bromide-a drug that protects against the effects of nerve gas.

DEET-an insect spray applied to the skin.

Permethrin-an insecticide applied to clothes and blankets.

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