I consider this to be a pretty big deal.
Since the first gulf war in 1991, many veterans have suffered from what is infamously referred to as "Gulf War Syndrome," but the condition has never been officially recognized by the Pentagon or adequately treated. Now, after 11 years of study, researchers at the University of Texas may finally have an explanation.
For the last twenty years, veterans of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 have been complaining of a range of ailments, including pain, fatigue, and problems with memory and concentration. And for just as long, the causes have remained uncertain and there has been a tendency by the military to attribute the complaints to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Now a long-term study at the University of Texas in Dallas has used a new technique to measure blood flow in the brains of sufferers and has detected "marked abnormalities" in brain function that can probably be attributed to low levels of exposure to sarin nerve gas. This abnormal blood flow has persisted or even worsened over the eleven years of the study.
"The findings mark a significant advancement in our understanding of the syndrome, which was for years written off by the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs as a form of combat stress rather than an objectively diagnosable injury," reports the Dallas Observer.
The study also recognizes the fact that the drugs used to protect soldiers against Sarin gas also cannot be ruled out yet as a culprit.
I'm sure quite a few people reading this know someone who has suffered from this.