A battle over Canada’s mystery brain disease

Environmental Causes vs “Everywhere” Chemicals

• One camp suspects environmental toxins, especially glyphosate, given:
  • Heavy use in New Brunswick forestry (large % of harvested forest land sprayed).
  • Cluster location near softwood plantations; some patients showed markedly elevated glyphosate levels in blood tests.
  • Additional concern about blue‑green algae neurotoxins (BMAA, domoic acid), heavy metals, and seafood/water contamination.
• Counterarguments:
  • Glyphosate is ubiquitous across North America; if it were causal, similar clusters should appear everywhere.
  • Pharmacokinetics (rapid excretion, skin absorption limits) make chronic high blood levels “bizarre” without extreme recent exposure.
• Some think glyphosate is a red herring and cyanobacterial toxins or heavy metals in local fish/shellfish are more plausible.

Corporate and Political Influence

• Multiple comments emphasize the dominant role of a single industrial conglomerate in NB (forestry, oil, transport, media).
• Allegations:
  • Tight ties with both major parties, high employment share, and media ownership make it politically “untouchable”.
  • Environmental researchers (e.g., on glyphosate or CJD) have allegedly been sidelined or blocked.
  • The province’s shutdown of deeper environmental testing is viewed by some as politically motivated protection of industry.
• Several criticize the BBC article for omitting this power structure.

Diagnosis: New Disease, FND, or Mass Psychogenic?

• One strong view: most cases are Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and the “mystery illness” label harms recovery.
  • Pattern described where a single charismatic, “thorough” doctor becomes a magnet for hard cases and over‑diagnoses one favored explanation.
• Others reject FND as a mere “trashcan” or gaslighting label, noting:
  • Symptoms like rapid dementia, weight loss, motor issues in young patients seem too severe for simple stress/anxiety narratives.
  • A federal prion‑surveillance expert (per leaked emails) believes environmental exposures may be accelerating diverse neurodegenerative syndromes that don’t fit existing diagnostic “silos”.
• Comparisons are drawn to Morgellons, Havana syndrome, chronic Lyme, ME/CFS:
  • Debate over mass hysteria/social contagion vs under‑recognized organic disease.
  • Some insist this cluster looks like classic mass psychogenic illness; others note autopsied deaths and objective findings argue against pure hysteria.

Prions, Clusters, and Unclear Epidemiology

• Prion disease (CJD variants) is discussed as a candidate:
  • Symptoms and regional concern fit, but in‑life testing is limited and definitive diagnosis usually requires autopsy.
  • Autopsies in a subset reportedly showed varied, known conditions rather than a single new prion disease.
• Questions remain about basic epidemiology:
  • Is 500+ suspected cases actually above expected background for that population?
  • Without clear denominators and controls, claims of a “cluster” remain ambiguous.

Public Health Handling, Patient Care, and MAID

• Many see dual failure:
  • A doctor possibly out of his depth, building a “mystery disease” narrative and accumulating huge caseloads with little effective treatment and long delays.
  • Authorities abruptly shutting down the investigation once alternative diagnoses were found, without rigorous environmental work or independent reassessments.
• This combination is viewed as eroding trust and abandoning patients who clearly are ill, regardless of cause.
• Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) surfaces as an ethical flashpoint:
  • At least one young patient with contested diagnosis pursuing MAID deeply worries several commenters, who see this as evidence of systemic failure rather than appropriate end‑of‑life care.