SPH Prof Testifies on Causes of Gulf War Syndrome
SPH Prof Roberta White testified before a U.S. Senate committee on the link between sarin gas and Gulf War syndrome.
"
Roberta White, a School of Public Health professor and chair of environmental health, recently testified before a U.S. Senate committee about her research linking environmental exposure to sarin gas to symptoms of Gulf War syndrome. White studied the magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of the brains of 26 Gulf War veterans. She found a dose-dependent relationship between sarin-gas exposure and the brain’s white matter, or connective tissue. Of the 26 veterans, the 13 who were exposed to the gas had 5 percent less white matter.
“We found differences in symptom incidence and in brain function between Gulf War–exposed veterans and other Gulf War–era veterans who were not exposed,” says White, who testified on September 24 at an oversight hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Symptoms of Gulf War syndrome include feeling fatigued and having difficulty multitasking, thinking efficiently, and performing tasks quickly.
In 1991, American troops destroyed a munitions complex in Khamisiyah, Iraq, where deadly nerve agents were stored. The U.S. Department of Defense, whose investigation of the incident included re-creating the weather on the day of the explosion, estimates that more than 100,000 troops could have been exposed to sarin gas.
Researchers continue to debate whether Gulf War syndrome symptoms are psychological or physiological. White plans to look at data on 60 more people who served in the Gulf and try to confirm the results of her study.
To read a full transcript of White’s testimony, click here.
"