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Organophosphate Poisoning Blog

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Brain Blood Flow Abnormalities Persist in Gulf War Vets

Posted 13 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Sept. 13 – Two decades after the Persian Gulf War, some veterans continue to have blood flow abnormalities in their brains that in some cases have even gotten worse, a new study finds. These problems are part of a debilitating disorder known as Gulf War illness. Though somewhat mysterious even today, Gulf War illness is believed to be caused by exposure to neurotoxins and nerve gas. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' scientific advisory committee estimates some 125,000 vets are afflicted by it. Symptoms can include memory and concentration difficulties, fatigue, neuropathic pain, balance problems and depression. Researchers had initially identified the abnormalities in blood flow in the brain's hippocampus – the region associated with spatial navigation and the formation of long-term memories – in 35 Gulf War vets in 1998. At the time, the scientists looked at blood ... Read more

Related support groups: Organophosphate Poisoning

Drifting Pesticides May Endanger People in Nearby Workplaces

Posted 3 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, June 3 – People who work near fields sprayed with pesticides face an increased risk for Parkinson's disease, a new study has found. Not just agricultural workers but teachers, firefighters, clerks and others whose workplaces are near fields in California's Central Valley are at greater risk for the degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, according to researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles. "This stuff drifts," the study's senior author, Dr. Beate Ritz, an epidemiology professor at the UCLA School of Public Health, said in a university news release. "It's borne by the wind and can wind up on plants and animals, float into open doorways or kitchen windows – up to several hundred meters from the fields." The study focused on three pesticides used on the fields: the fungicides maneb and ziram and the herbicide paraquat. The researchers estimated ... Read more

Related support groups: Organophosphate Poisoning

Gulf War Nerve Agent Tied to Late-Onset Heart Damage in Mice

Posted 13 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 13 – Low-dose exposure to the chemical warfare agent sarin may lead to long-term heart damage, a new study suggests. Sarin is known to affect the nervous system and can cause convulsions, breathing difficulties and death. In this study, researchers examined how sarin affected the hearts of mice. The chemical was injected into the animals at doses too low to produce visible symptoms and the mice were checked 10 weeks after exposure. "The two-month period was used to simulate the late-onset effect of sarin/nerve agents in Gulf War veterans. There are suggestions that Gulf War illness, in which symptoms are long-lasting, may be related to exposure to low-dose chemical warfare agents," Mariana Morris, of the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, said in a news release from the American Heart Association. Heart damage that was noted in the ... Read more

Related support groups: Organophosphate Poisoning

Poison Experts Turn Phone Line Into a Lifeline

Posted 19 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Sept. 17 – Trained as a registered nurse to work in emergency rooms and intensive care units, Hugh Rawls did just that until sidelined a decade ago by a back injury. Today, he's still working in emergency care, but from a different angle. For the past 10 years, he has helped man the phone lines at the Poison Control Center in Jacksonville, Fla. "In a lot of ways, there's some similarities in the critical thinking I used as a bedside nurse," said Rawls, 45. "Part of my job is not only to think about what's going on right now, but also to think three steps ahead to what could happen. I have to think ahead as to what could happen to this person and where we need to go treatment-wise." People call the center with a wide variety of problems, Rawls said. "This is very similar to working in an emergency room," he said. "You don't know what's going to come up next. One minute it's a ... Read more

Prenatal Pesticide Exposure May Raise Risk of Attention Issues in Kids

Posted 19 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Aug. 19 – Scientists have noted a possible increased risk for attention disorders in children who were exposed to organophosphate pesticides while in the womb. The effect was not significant at the age of 3 but clearly showed at age 5, according to the report from California researchers that appears in the Aug. 19 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. Bernard Weiss, a professor of environmental medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said the time delay of the effects didn't surprise him. Monkey studies have shown the same thing, with the actual behavioral problems not manifesting until the "brain had become mature enough to support that kind of complex behavior," he explained. In kids, "you wouldn't really see [hyperactivity] bloom until the child gets into school," he added. Although the findings are far from establishing a causal link, Weiss said he ... Read more

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Related Condition Support Groups

Gulf War Syndrome, Toxic Reactions Incl Drug and Substance Abuse

Related Drug Support Groups

atropine, tropicamide, DuoDote, ATNAA, atropine/pralidoxime, pralidoxime, Protopam Chloride