The mysterious shared symptoms of thousands of Gulf War veterans may be explained by altered brain structures, according to a new study published in the online journal Public Library of Science.

Nearly 700,000 soldiers served in Operation Desert Storm, the codename for the Persian Gulf War. Of those who served, approximately 210,000 soldiers, or 30 percent, developed similar symptoms of an unknown disease that is referred to as Gulf War illness or Gulf War syndrome.  The symptoms include cognitive impairments, illness or discomfort after exertion, widespread pain, and fatigue that can be debilitating, as well as exacerbation of these symptoms after mental or physical effort.

This research found brain damage associated with those symptoms.  The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to examine the brains of the study participants. Using veterans of the Gulf War and a control group of nonveterans and healthy veterans, the researchers found that those with the syndrome had damage in the part of the brain associated with heart rate and pain.  Moreover, there were two distinct patterns of damage associated with the symptoms, which could indicate two pathways to the same condition or there could be two different conditions with similar manifestation.

Treatment of veterans with Gulf War illness has been criticized over the years.  During a Congressional hearing in March of this year, testimony from Dr. Steven Coughlin described his participation in research related to the syndrome.  He identified barriers to his participation and manipulation of studies, suggesting that there should be more information sharing in order to identify and address this syndrome.

In fact, there are some limited resources available on GulfLINK, a site from the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses.  On this site, there are some case narratives, information papers from the Department of Defense, reports on environmental exposure, and outside research from RAND.  However, this site does not reach the extent of sharing suggested by Dr. Coughlin, where medical practitioners and scientists from all over may be able to see medical information to hopefully discern a cause.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has established the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center.  This center identifies exposures related to deployment, highlights common diseases associated with a certain region of combat, and provides resources for veterans that are suffering.  With respect to Gulf War illness, the center is considering exposures that may be the source of the condition, and has not ruled out psychological trauma from combat stress as a possible cause.  They are advocating veterans enter the Gulf War Registry to help the VA understand the illness.