U.S. study finds brain damage in Gulf War vets

                                       Updated 4:28 PM ET November 30, 1999

 CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers said Tuesday they have found brain damage
 in soldiers believed to be suffering from Gulf War Syndrome as a result of
 chemical exposure during the conflict.

 Magnetic resonance scans of 22 veterans found reduced levels of a brain
 chemical called NAA, suggesting a loss of neurons in the brain stem and basal
 ganglia, said the report from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
 Center in Dallas.

 The brain stem controls some reflexes while the basal ganglia affects
 movement, memory and emotion.

 Thousands of soldiers who served in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield
 in 1990 and 1991 during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait have complained about
 health problems including memory loss, sleep disorders, balance problems,
 depression, exhaustion, body pain, diarrhea and difficulties in concentrating.

 Robert Haley, an associate professor of internal medicine at the Texas school,
 said the new findings validate earlier research which found that some Gulf
 veterans who complained of the symptoms had a genetic predisposition for
 brain injury because they were born with low blood levels of the enzyme that
 breaks down the chemical nerve gas sarin.

 Each set of symptoms, he said, "has a slightly different pattern of brain
 impairment implicating different combinations of neurotoxic chemicals,
 including chemical nerve gas, side effects from the anti-nerve gas tablets ...
 insect repellents and pesticides in flea collars," he said.

 "One the basis of those results and the veterans' symptoms, we predicted
 magnetic resonance spectroscopy would show a loss of brain cells in these
 areas," Haley said. "This finding validates our earlier work."

 The report was released in Chicago at the annual meeting of the Radiological
 Society of North America.

 "Some of these patients are profoundly disabled -- there are stories of some real
 heroes who now barely are able to drive to the store," said James Fleckenstein, a
 radiology professor at the school.

 "Although the existence of Gulf War Syndrome is considered controversial, this
 is evidence supporting a physical mechanism for the problem. The findings
 suggest a substantial loss of brain cells in the areas that could explain the
 veterans' symptoms," he said.

 Veterans in the United States have blamed their sicknesses on exposure to
 organophosphate pesticides or the cocktail of drugs they were given to protect
 them from chemical and biological war.

 Some studies, however, have cast doubt on whether there really is a "syndrome."
 The study released Tuesday did not go into the source of the chemical exposure
 that caused the brain damage.