Gulf War Illness Linked to Cholinergic Abnormalities

[Marco]

An interesting Medscape report of confirmation of autonomic dysfunction in Gulf War Illness

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/775087

The study represents "a real game-changer" in terms of how experts should view Gulf War illness, which is characterized by such varied symptoms as cognitive impairment, chronic headaches, joint pain, unexplained fatigue, chronic diarrhea, and respiratory problems, according to the study's lead author Robert W. Haley

It suddenly takes this out of the realm of a psychological illness and into the realm of a brain illness," said Dr. Haley. "Now we need to turn our attention to looking at treatments that neurologists and internists and other doctors can provide for conditions that involve abnormalities in the cholinergic parts of the nervous system.

The research was published here :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23407784


Why of interest to us?

Two recent studies have objectively confirmed similar peripheral neuropathies in fibromyalgia :

Many Fibromyalgia Patients Have Small-Fiber Polyneuropathy
Anne Louise Oaklander, MD, PhD,
Reported in Medscape and the press

hughes-syndrome.healthunlocked.com/.../Many-Fibromyalgia-Patien...

Small fibers in fibromyalgia syndrome
Nurcan Üçeyler, Daniel Zeller, Ann-Kathrin Kahn, Susanne Kewenig, Sarah Kittel-Schneider, Annina Schmid, Jordi Casanova-Molla, Karlheinz Reiners, Claudia Sommer

http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/sonstiges/meldungen/detail/artikel/fibromyalg/

Similarly, two recent studies have confirmed a similar (to GWI) pattern of autonomic dysregulation in ME/CFS :

Symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in chronic fatigue
syndrome
J.L. NEWTON, O. OKONKWO, K. SUTCLIFFE, A. SETH, J. SHIN and D.E.J. JONES

http://128.121.104.17/MESA/Newton.pdf

Reduced Cardiac Vagal Modulation Impacts on Cognitive Performance in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Alison Beaumont, Alexander R. Burton, Jim Lemon, Barbara K. Bennett, Andrew Lloyd, Uté Vollmer-Conna

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0049518


Time to test ME/CFS patients objectively for peripheral neuropathy as well?

 

[Enid]

Thanks Marco - brilliant. Thirteen years with ME and right from the beginning Hooper et al pointing out "the brain, not the mind" to the psyche claptrap brigade. How good it is (sadly) to see the real pathologies being found.....identified that is.

 

[kday]

It suddenly takes this out of the realm of a psychological illness and into the realm of a brain illness

LOL. Whatever that means to them.