Revealing the mysterious cause of 'Gulf War Syndrome'

Scientists at Texas Southwestern University (USA) announced the mystery of what causes "Gulf War Syndrome", ending decades of controversy about this disease.

"Gulf War Syndrome" or "Gulf War Illness" (GWI) is a chronic, multi-symptomatic illness that affects hundreds of thousands of American veterans who fought in the bloody Gulf War in 1990. .

Symptoms can vary, including fatigue, muscle aches, "brain fog," memory problems, cognitive problems, insomnia, rash, and diarrhea.

However, for decades, the underlying cause of the syndrome has been fiercely debated by scientists everywhere, with different explanations. 

The Gulf War took place in August 1990

Causes ranged from emissions from oil well fires to exposure to depleted uranium or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), biological and chemical weapons. Some have even suggested it could be related to a vaccine given to soldiers.

For the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, scientists at the University of Texas (UT.) Southwestern studied 508 veterans with "Gulf War Syndrome" and 508 veterans without the disease. They eventually found that people exposed to the nerve agent sarin were significantly more likely to develop the disease.

To further prove their hypothesis, the scientists studied the PON1 gene (protein encoding gene), which plays an important role in disrupting neurotransmitters in the body. They found veterans with less effective variants of the PON1 gene were more likely to get the disease. The weaker the variant, the more common the syndrome.

Study leader Dr Robert Haley, professor of internal medicine and director of the department of epidemiology at UT Southwestern, told IFLScience: "There is no other risk factor other than causal evidence for sarin gas. Impact on Gulf War Syndrome".

Sarin gas is a man-made chemical that is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. Due to its potency as a nerve agent, it is used as a chemical weapon.

A notorious case in 1995 in Japan, when Aum Shinrikyo's Doomsday cult released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway system. This action left 13 people dead, more than 6,000 injured and the sequelae persisted to this day. Six members of the Doomsday cult were sentenced to death by the court.

These latest studies will help inform further research into the plight of Gulf War veterans. Many of them still suffer from the disease to this day without help.

Dr. Haley explains: "There are still more than 100,000 Gulf War veterans left without help because of this disease. Our hope is that these findings will spur the search for better treatments. ".

The Persian Gulf War began in August 1990 after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded oil-rich neighboring Kuwait to pay off the country's debts from the Iran-Iraq war.

The move was met with international condemnation, eventually leading to the US, UK and other countries launching a military conflict against Iraq.