Respiratory Studies re 1-Treatment and 1-Diagnostic Biomarker Gulf War Illness

Two positive studies but not a real surprise to the Gulf War Veterans who are ill.

Sleep Breath. 2010 Aug 19. [Epub ahead of print]

The effect of nasal continuous positive airway pressure on the symptoms of Gulf War illness.
Amin MM, Gold MS, Broderick JE, Gold AR.

Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care/Sleep Medicine, (111D), DVA Medical Center, Northport, NY, 11768, USA, mohammad.amin2@va.gov.

Abstract
PURPOSE: We performed a pilot study to determine whether nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) alleviates the symptoms of veterans with Gulf War illness (GWI) and sleep disordered breathing (SDB).

METHODS: Eighteen male veterans with GWI and SDB recruited by advertisement, participated in a randomized, single-masked, sham-controlled treatment trial. Participants received 3 weeks of treatment during sleep with either therapeutic nasal CPAP or sham nasal CPAP. Using validated questionnaires, pain, fatigue, cognitive function, sleep disturbance, and general health were assessed by self-report before and after treatment. One of the participants assigned to therapeutic CPAP was excluded from the trial before starting treatment, leaving 17 participants.

RESULTS: Compared to the nine sham nasal CPAP recipients, the eight participants receiving therapeutic nasal CPAP experienced improvements in pain (34%; p = 0.0008), fatigue (38%; p = 0.0002), cognitive function (33%; p = 0.004), sleep quality (41%; p = 0.0003), physical health (34%; p = 0.0003), and mental health (16%; p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings in this pilot study suggest that nasal CPAP may greatly improve symptoms in veterans with GWI and SDB.

Sleep Breath. 2010 Aug 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Inspiratory airflow dynamics during sleep in veterans with Gulf War illness: a controlled study.
Amin MM, Belisova Z, Hossain S, Gold MS, Broderick JE, Gold AR.

Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care/Sleep Medicine, DVA Medical Center, Northport, NY, 11768, USA, mohammad.amin2@va.gov.

Abstract
PURPOSE: To determine whether veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI) are distinguished by sleep-disordered breathing, we compared inspiratory airflow dynamics during sleep between veterans with GWI and asymptomatic veterans of the first Gulf War.

METHODS: We recruited 18 male veterans with GWI and 11 asymptomatic male veterans of the first Gulf War by advertisement. The two samples were matched for age and body mass index. Each participant underwent a first full-night polysomnogram (PSG) while sleeping supine using standard clinical monitoring of sleep and breathing. A second PSG was performed measuring airflow with a pneumotachograph in series with a nasal mask and respiratory effort with a supraglottic pressure (Psg) catheter to assess the presence of inspiratory airflow limitation during supine N2 sleep. We determined the prevalence of flow-limited breaths by sampling continuous N2 sleep and plotting inspiratory flow against Psg for each breath in the sample. We expressed the prevalence of flow-limited breaths as their percentage in the sample.

RESULTS: Compared to controls, veterans with GWI had an increased frequency of arousals related to apneas, hypopneas, and mild inspiratory airflow limitation. During supine N2 sleep, veterans with GWI had 96 +/- 5% (mean +/- SD) of their breaths flow-limited while controls had 36 +/- 25% of their breaths flow limited (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS: Veterans with GWI experience sleep-disordered breathing that may distinguish them from asymptomatic veterans of the first Gulf War.

PMID: 20703820 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]