# Nervous System Anomaly Seen In GWS



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

This article was also posted to the Co-Cure mailing list:


> quote:Find this story here: http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml...Newsï¿½ion=news Nervous System Anomaly Seen in Gulf War Syndrome------------------------------------------------NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Veterans with Gulf War syndrome appear tohave subtle damage to the involuntary part of the nervous system, likelycaused by low-level exposure to the chemical warfare agent sarin, accordingto a new study.The findings tie together past research in both animals and humans onthe syndrome, and neatly explain its symptoms, Dr. Robert Haley of theUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas told ReutersHealth. "This study is sort of the missing link," he said.The parasympathetic nervous system works in balance with the sympatheticnervous system to control many body functions, from heart rate and bloodpressure to digestion. While the sympathetic nervous system kicks induring emergencies, activating the "fight or flight" response, theparasympathetic nervous system is active during rest, digestion andother restorative activities.During sleep, activity of the parasympathetic nervous system increases.But in Gulf War vets with the syndrome it does not activate properly,Haley and his colleagues report in the American Journal of Medicine.Haley's team followed 19 healthy vets and 22 with Gulf War syndrome overa 24-hour period, measuring several indicators of nervous systemfunction. While the healthy vets showed a normal increase inparasympathetic activity during sleep, resulting in a decline in heartrate, the ill vets did not. Sick vets' nighttime heart rates were, onaverage, eight beats per minute faster than those without the syndrome.Symptoms of Gulf War syndrome include chronic diarrhea, night sweats,unrefreshing sleep, fatigue and sexual dysfunction, all of which couldbe caused by inadequate parasympathetic nervous system activation, Haleyexplained.People with diabetes who have this type of nerve damage develop asimilar constellation of symptoms, he added.Studies in animals by Haley and his colleagues have shown that low-levelsarin exposure injures the parasympathetic nervous system. Many vetswere exposed to the nerve gas at low levels during the first Gulf War,the Department of Defense has confirmed, generally by Allied destructionof chemical weapons depots and ammo dumps.Studies of the vets themselves have found that those with lower levelsof paraoxonase, an enzyme that detoxifies sarin and similar nervepoisons, are much more likely to have Gulf War syndrome than those withhigh levels of the protective enzyme. And imaging studies of the brainsof sick vets have shown areas of nerve damage within the basal ganglia,which control parasympathetic nervous system activity."The study clearly indicates consistent abnormal nighttime cardiacregulation in veterans who are ill," Dr. Philippe van de Borne of ErasmeHospital in Brussels, Belgium, writes in an accompanying editorial.Haley and his colleagues are now working on a study to confirm thefindings in a random sampling of Gulf War veterans.SOURCE: American Journal of Medicine, October 1, 2004.--------© 2004 Reuters


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## Ian (Apr 18, 1999)

mrsmason,Very interesting - thanks for posting. The malfunction of the autonomic nervous system is something that has been implicated in CFS/Fibro/IBS for some time, & debated many times on this BB.This study starts to suggest the genetic weak link for Gulf War Syndrome - hopefully something similar might start to emerge for the non war induced set of symptoms.Ian


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## Susan Purry (Nov 6, 2001)

> quote:This study starts to suggest the genetic weak link for Gulf War Syndrome - hopefully something similar might start to emerge for the non war induced set of symptoms.


I think the low-weight RNaseL molecule might be the genetic weak link for ME patients.


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## Ian (Apr 18, 1999)

That sounds even more interesting, Susan. What is it?Ian


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## Susan Purry (Nov 6, 2001)

Ian, take a look at these: http://home.netcom.com/~schweit2/temple.html http://www.co-cure.org/infocon1.htm http://www.cfids-cab.org/cfs-inform/Rnase/rnase.html


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## Ian (Apr 18, 1999)

Susan,Thanks v. much. Ian


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