Gulf war syndrome
Gulf war syndromeGulf 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...
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