I think it would be worth it to investigate cyanobacteria toxins in water over there as they can cause similar symptoms. Next thing to check would be local sea food. I feel like glyphosate is a red herring here. Heavy metals could come from frequently eating local fish/shellfish.
A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
21–30 of 162 posts
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#22I watched a documentary about Morgellons, and the patients would often seem quite reasonable at first, but the more they spoke, and the more they described their symptoms, the crazier they sounded. One patient, whose brother, ironically, was a physician (and one skeptical of Morgellons as anything other than delusional parasitosis), seemed earnest, if intense, in describing how Morgellons had destroyed his quality of…
Besides that fact that in this particular case there probably really is 'something' (it would be rare for the brain to spontaneously exhibit CJD symptoms, though it does happen this would most likely not lead to a cluster of cases), you don't need to propose an infectious disease for people that say they have symptoms where there are none, when there is ample proof of people being able to influence each other into believing all kinds of crap to the point that it becomes part of their identity.
I once had a woman and her husband visiting to inquire about buying a house I owned in Northern Groningen, pretty much as far away from anything as you could possibly get in this crowded country. They arrived in a taxi that was blanked for the day (it turned out the man was a cab driver) and after looking the place over and liking it visibly the woman said 'oh, we really like it, but there is one more thing, I am allergic to electromagnetic radiation so let me verify that' (eye roll by the man at this point). She went to the car and came back with a box with a dial on it that she had bought online (a pretty basic field strength meter, set to the most sensitive part of the range) and started walking around muttering to herself and waving the box around like a modern day dowser.
After a while of this she came to me and said she was really sorry but she had to drop her interest because the house was absolutely infested with EM fields. In Amsterdam, where they lived, they had turned their whole apartment into a cage of Faraday with copper mesh nailed against every surface (it turned out they lived right opposite the KPN microwave tower next to the RAI so maybe she even had a point, that thing featured multiple RF links beaming 100's of Watts on tight beam links between other such towers, at some point in the past these carried our long distance phone calls before fiber came along).
I asked if I could see her box for a second and pointed it at the sun: the needle pegged instantly and she was most surprised, so I explained that what she is measuring is real, but so faint that the chances of any kind of interaction with her body are most likely delusional.
Here the conversation abruptly ended...
As for TFA: prions, the agents responsible for CJD are remarkably resilient and annoying and can make it through the foodchain across the digestive barrier and into the brain and even a single one of them can cause CJD.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd/
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#23[deleted]
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#24BMAA and domoic acid induce extremely similar symptoms and are certainly on the rise in the water there.
My theory is that this hypothesis is shut down by the fishing industry.
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it was glyphosates, this would be a much more widespread problem. Roundup/glyphosates are used extensively all across the US and we would be seeing similar statistics everywhere.
You are assuming a simple direct causation, instead it could be a reaction of glyphosate with something else in their bodies that they have inhaled from the air (or from their food), perhaps a heavy metal (given those are mentioned in TFA)
The Irving family also has a near monopoly on oil refining, trucking, and other high polluting industries in NB and Maine.
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#26I watched a documentary about Morgellons, and the patients would often seem quite reasonable at first, but the more they spoke, and the more they described their symptoms, the crazier they sounded. One patient, whose brother, ironically, was a physician (and one skeptical of Morgellons as anything other than delusional parasitosis), seemed earnest, if intense, in describing how Morgellons had destroyed his quality of…
Besides that fact that in this particular case there probably really is 'something' (it would be rare for the brain to spontaneously exhibit CJD symptoms, though it does happen this would most likely not lead to a cluster of cases), you don't need to propose an infectious disease for people that say they have symptoms where there are none, when there is ample proof of people being able to influence each other into be…
[deleted]
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it was glyphosates, this would be a much more widespread problem. Roundup/glyphosates are used extensively all across the US and we would be seeing similar statistics everywhere.
The region in NB where this issue is occurring is the hub for NB's and North America's forestry industry. Over 40% of all harvested forest land in NB is treated with glyphosate [0]. Commercial forestry at JD Irving's scale largely died out in much of the US excluding Maine (where it is also has inordinate political power [1][2]). [0] - https://www.conservationcouncil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/0... [1] - https://them…
Glyphosate, not "glyphosates". Roundup. It's used everywhere. It's an extremely widely used herbicide.
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#28A bit of a messy situation, since there is both documented precedent for undisclosed chemical use to cause severe population illness (e.g. numerous times in "cancer alley"), however there is also precedent for charismatic doctors to create a cult of personality that might create noise.
yeah I agree. this is really unfortunate because it seems that there is something systemic here at play which has become twisted up in a cult of personality and that's made a rigorous scientific investigation very difficult
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#29The answer is "nothing"
The only common factor between these patients is Dr. Marrero. It is notable that he is not the only physician who works in that clinic, but is the only one diagnosing this condition. The most likely cause is weak diagnostic skills for challenging patients.
Unfortunately, a majority of these patients likely have Functional Neurologic Disorder https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/conversion-di... , which is a horrible condition that accounts for a plurality of cases seen by most neurologists. This phantom diagnosis will probably make recovery almost impossible for those people. Acceptance of that diagnosis is the number 1 positive indicator for recovery.
Source: I live in the canadian maritimes, and know many neurologists.
Re: A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease
#30I watched a documentary about Morgellons, and the patients would often seem quite reasonable at first, but the more they spoke, and the more they described their symptoms, the crazier they sounded. One patient, whose brother, ironically, was a physician (and one skeptical of Morgellons as anything other than delusional parasitosis), seemed earnest, if intense, in describing how Morgellons had destroyed his quality of…
This disease is different because its main symptom is dementia.
Do you really think there being a mass hysteria component to this, especially in the age of TikTok, doesn't warrant serious consideration? Your alarm bells didn't go off when you saw the photos and read the profiles of some of these people, especially the 18yo who supposedly needs a wheelchair and a cane?
> Cormier has featured heavily in the media coverage of the cluster, becoming a kind of poster child for the mystery disease. She was first referred to Marrero at just 18. A high school student, dancer and competitive figure skater, she had begun to experience fatigue-like symptoms and muscle soreness and then passed out at school.
> Cormier was already taking anti-anxiety medication, and the hospital emergency room doctor told her the incident was anxiety-induced.
The other young person woman contemplating MAiD is especially tragic. Hopefully the doctors do not enable her.