Mystery brain disease patients in New Brunswick say they welcome investigation

Context: Moncton is built on a swamp. It has _a lot_ of mosquitoes during summer and 3 to 5 ft of snow during winter. It had (has?) the lowest home prices in all of Canada because of this. NB also has the lowest income per family (or next to lowest, Nunavut might be lower).<p>MS is more common in northern climates as well, but afaik it&#x27;s not higher than average in NB.<p>Source: I have spent quite a bit of time in Moncton.

Moving out seems to help - wild.<p>&gt; The couple moved to a new town — Canaan Station, N.B. — and Nesbitt made lifestyle and dietary changes. Nesbitt has also started playing video games to improve hand-eye coordination. “There are some things that are still regressing or still degenerating, but many of the symptoms have started to relieve themselves,” she said.<p>&gt; She still has seizures and tremors, but they’re not as bad or frequent. She’s also able to stand for longer than a “couple of minutes,” and the nerve tingling on one side of her body is not as frequent.

Been following this on and off and it&#x27;s pretty strange generally: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;New_Brunswick_neurological_syndrome_of_unknown_cause" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;New_Brunswick_neurological_syn...</a> &amp;&amp; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2024&#x2F;08&#x2F;14&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;canada-brain-disease-dementia.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2024&#x2F;08&#x2F;14&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;canada-brain-dis...</a>

I won’t presume to suggest a cause, but it’s worth acknowledging how terrifying it is that any of a number of compounds in a relatively small dose could cause wild effects on the human mind or body.

The US Army tested Agent Orange in an area near Gagetown, about 80 miles from Moncton, in 1967. Maybe some drums of Agent Orange got left in the woods somewhere in the area and are leaking into the water table today?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.canada.ca&#x2F;en&#x2F;department-national-defence&#x2F;corporate&#x2F;reports-publications&#x2F;agent-orange.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.canada.ca&#x2F;en&#x2F;department-national-defence&#x2F;corpora...</a>

It’s both frustrating and disheartening that the investigation into this disease has been ongoing since 2000. Sometimes, I can’t help but feel that we, Canadians, lack a sense of urgency. These individuals have endured years of suffering. I hope we get some breakthroughs now, for their sake.

What i do not understand in this case, is why politics are involved in this ?<p>Why do the fact than a local government changed from Conservative to Liberal, did have an impact on the story ?<p>Either a case must be opened or closed, must be decided by doctors &amp; researchers alone, not because of politics.

What sort of industrial chemical manufacturing plants are in the area?

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosone&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal.pone.0312837" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosone&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal...</a>

Is there any actual evidence that this is a novel brain disease? Or is it an assortment of FND, dementia, Alzheimers and Parkinson&#x27;s at the same levels seen elsewhere? From my understanding, it seems to be the latter, and has been blown up out of all proportion because people are worried that it might be something else. However, they have done a lot of research on these cases and not found anything abnormal.<p>We can certainly see the worry, even in all the comments here speculating about various causes.

Vaguely-similar symptoms: Hollinwell Incident <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;uk-england-nottinghamshire-61551003" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;uk-england-nottinghamshire-61551003</a><p>The key, I think, would be to gather blood, tissue, air, soil, water, and food samples to rule out simpler environmental causes.

This has been studied, and multiple times concluded that there is no mystery brain disease. This is all based upon one doctor&#x27;s very shoddy investigation based almost entirely on supposition, and for the media to <i>keep treating it credulously</i> is absurd clickbaiting.

The link between BMAA and neurodegenerative diseases is well established. New Brunswick has huge BMAA problems. The fishing and aquaculture industry is alleged to suppress the BMAA theory, because less people would buy and eat New Brunswick lobster and fish.

my current favourite theory is glyphosate promotes blue-green algae growth, which creates a neurotoxin

This has got to be either a prion (from animal and&#x2F;or soil) or a natural chemical neurotoxin (from seafood or other food).<p>This has been going on for a long while, so I associate it with an ongoing coverup of the facts that are too dangerous to disclose.

The government should provide data on this.<p>There is very little information in the story.

I am still stunned how eager they were to ignore this problem.

Seems like an unidentified virus could be the cause?

sounds like a contaminant

prions

Some areas have a strong familial tree. Even with new blood over 100+ years, some genes may be dominant.<p>I wonder if it&#x27;s that, plus the environmental factor. A mutated gene, dominant, always passed on, making the population susceptible.