Seems obviously BMAA but clearly the government don’t want to say so because it will destroy the lobster industry.<p>We should all be terrified of BMAA and it’s here because of climate change.<p><a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190124110834.htm" rel="nofollow">https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190124110834.h...</a><p>Climate change is making the oceans and fresh water toxic and very deadly. We’ve seriously fucked the earth.<p>Have you ever heard weasel words more reminiscent of a cover up:<p>“ But experts nonetheless warn that testing itself is also more difficult than the public realizes.<p>While some medical tests can provide quick and definite results other types of investigation require far more work.<p>“What people are talking about really amounts to a full research investigation, because then we know what we’re looking for precisely,” said the federal scientist who was familiar with both the cluster and the testing process. “Right now we don’t have a way to interpret simple data that you might get when testing a person’s brain tissue for a particular toxin. For example, how much are ‘elevated’ levels of a neurotoxin compared to the rest of the public? And when does that become a cause for concern?”<p>The scientist said teams are ready to begin the research, but “New Brunswick has specifically told us not to go forward with that work”.”
This was previously discussed on HN: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28979532" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28979532</a><p>The linked article is about how NB went out of their way to shut out federal investigators. If it’s environmental, it’s possible the NB government is trying to cover it up.<p>This is also briefly touched on in this article:<p>> The scientist said teams are ready to begin the research, but “New Brunswick has specifically told us not to go forward with that work”.
It looks like the province of New Brunswick is pursuing the "Don't Look Up" strategy in dealing with this.<p>The federal government should step in and force the province's hand on investigating this.
Previous reporting on the issue; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/30/mystery-brain-disorder-baffles-canadian-medicine" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/30/mystery-brain-...</a><p>'Forever Chemicals' are known to get concentrated in shellfish - I wonder if that is an issue?<p>I'd love to see the comparative numbers of similar cases in other environments - this seems very high but I have no idea what the baseline for this sort of thing is.<p>As someone that grew up with the spector of 'mad cow disease' (bse/cjd) in the UK, it is horrible to think about the affects in these people and their families. The fact that care givers are also falling ill is very interesting and concerning.
>The 3 referring physicians in New Brunswick engaged the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System (CJDSS) to actively investigate the possibility of human prion disease, but to date, all test results have been negative for known forms of human prion disease.<p><a href="https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/ocmoh/cdc/neuro_cluster.html" rel="nofollow">https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/ocmoh/cdc/neu...</a><p>So it does not seem to be prions, despite the similarities.
I'm surprised that Chronic Wasting Disease (a prion disease similar to CJD or BSE but found in wild and farmed deer, moose etc) isn't mentioned. A quick search however brings up this article linking prion disease, sewage sludge pollution and these cases.<p><a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/ask-questions-but-don-t-panic-about-mysterious-n-b-brain-syndrome-experts-1.5355355" rel="nofollow">https://www.cp24.com/news/ask-questions-but-don-t-panic-abou...</a>
>> But in January, the province of New Brunswick is widely expected to announce that the cluster of cases, first made public last year after a memo was leaked to the media, is the result of misdiagnoses, which have mistakenly grouped unrelated illnesses together.<p>If they want to say that, I think they are obligated to also provide the correct diagnosis.<p>I hate when people say "we know it's not X" without proof and without a specific alternative.
We must be very, very careful before assuming that the government and health authorities are lying here.
The guardian usually goes for "the worst case scenario" and it is easy to see all kinds of causal relationships in a series of anecdotes when our fear response is triggered.
Canadian healthcare is scary, and it's made worse by these politicians that always go to the US for care.<p>The joke is that it's gotten so progressive that no one gets better, we all have to equally suffer. You can see clearly how this situation was mishandled.
This neurological disorder is not baffling to me. It is expected because of mental health issues that come from poverty, homelessness, water pollution, food pollution, air pollution, climate change, toxins in manufacturing plants, toxic chemicals that oil companies release into our Earth's environment, unrecycled trash causing methane, dehumanizing censorship, cut-throat politicians, and so forth damaging Earth's environment including people's well-being. Impulsive consumers are consuming carcinogenic junk food, alcohol, products for smoking, etc. So, this neurological disorder does not surprise me one bit. It is the corporate oligarchs who pretend this is baffling to hide their profit-driven agenda to control our world at the expense of our well-being and Earth's environment.