WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brain scans of U.S. veterans who returned from the Gulf War complaining of illness show evidence of significant brain-cell loss, researchers reported on Thursday. Sick veterans had 20 percent fewer cells in the brain stem, 12 percent fewer in the right basal ganglia and 5 percent fewer in the left basal ganglia, a team at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas reported. They said the amount of loss was comparable to that seen in patients with brain diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis, dementia and other degenerative neurological disorders, although the brain areas affected are different. Dr. Robert Haley and colleagues did magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MR) scans on 22 members of a Naval Reserve construction battalion, commonly known as Seabees, and compared their findings to scans on 18 healthy veterans from the same battalion. They repeated the experiment on six Gulf War Army veterans living in Dallas who doctors said had Gulf War Syndrome. MR. spectroscopy uses radio waves to measure chemical activity in the brain. ``Finding the same level of brain cell abnormality in the veterans from a different branch of service and a different part of the country increases the likelihood that the findings are widespread among the nation's veterans,'' Haley said in a statement. Writing in the journal Radiology, the researchers said they could link the brain damage to symptoms found in ill veterans such as joint pain, fatigue, dizziness and mental confusion. ``A common question is whether these levels of brain-cell loss found in these veterans are clinically important,'' Hale said. ``You need to ask yourself if you would be willing to give up 5 percent to 25 percent of the brain cells in vital parts of your brain that serve as the relay station for all automatic and subconscious functions of your brain,'' he added. ``When you sustain such brain-cell losses, you get a host of subtle malfunctions of all systems of the body.'' Previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the veterans found no visible structural changes to their brains. MR. spectroscopy looks at function as well as structure. Haley and his colleagues, who get Defense Department funding, defined three Gulf War syndromes in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1997. They said syndrome 1, commonly found in veterans who wore pesticide-containing flea collars, is marked by impaired cognition. Syndrome 2, called confusion-ataxia is the most severe and debilitating syndrome. They found it among veterans who said they were exposed to low-level nerve gas and experienced side effects from anti-nerve gas pyridostigmine (PB), tablets. Syndrome 3, characterized by central pain, is found in veterans who wore insect repellent with high concentrations of DEET and who experienced side effects from the PB tablets. For Thursday's study Haley's team used veterans with the so-called syndrome 2. 01:38 05-25-00 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
