National Post (National Edition)
Scientists find anomalies in brains of Cuba diplomats
‘HAVANA SYNDROME’
Scientists have discovered unique anomalies in the brains of U.S. diplomats affected by so-called Havana Syndrome — evidence that supports claims by American and Canadian diplomats that something happened to them in Cuba.
Canadian and U.S. government workers posted in Havana and their families have suffered from severe concussion-like symptoms, despite the lack of traumatic head injury, now known as Havana Syndrome. Some former Canadian diplomats are suing the federal government for $28 million, claiming it failed to protect them and to initially take their symptoms seriously.
The issue has been controversial, with some observers claiming the symptoms are psychosomatic or the result of mass hysteria. Its possible cause and motive remains a mystery, although there are suggestions the injuries could have been caused by directed-energy weapons, such as microwaves.
In a paper published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers revealed that advanced neuro imaging had uncovered significant differences in the brains of 40 U.S. government personnel who experienced “directional phenomena” while serving in Havana, compared to a control group.
One of the authors, Dr. Douglas Smith, who directs the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, called the findings vindication for the patients who have been studied and treated there.
Many of those patients have felt “under assault” as a result of skeptical reporting about their symptoms and suggestions they are making them up.
“People outside keep making claims that this is psychological. This might give them some peace and some vindication that there is something real there and it is not just in their heads,” said Smith.
“Everyone who examined these patients feels this was real from a neurological point of view, that this was a true neurological disorder.”
Researchers found, among other things, that the patients, who suffered from concussion-like symptoms, had significantly smaller brain white matter than the control group. White matter is the tissue that contains nerve fibres that connect parts of the brain and signal nerves to talk to each other. Researchers found some changes similar to the brains of concussion patients, which did not surprise them, said Smith.
But they found something else, which Smith said is unique — changes to the signals that help nerves to communicate.
In concussion patients, there might be swelling in the long fibres contained in white matter, but researchers found the opposite in the Havana patients they studied. Although further study would have to confirm it, the findings raise the possibility that the brains of Havana patients might have a lower percentage of water in their brain’s white matter, which is significant.
“These type of changes are truly unique and don’t fit any known disorder that we have come across,” said Smith.
The patients examined and treated in Pennsylvania had a range of symptoms including eye tracking difficulty, headaches, problems with balance, hearing and cognition difficulties. The symptoms have resolved in most patients but some have continued, said Smith. Doctors and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are also treating U.S. government workers who were posted to China and experienced similar symptoms to those from Havana.
Some Canadian diplomats and their families initially travelled to the University of Pennsylvania at their own expense hoping to be examined, but said in a statement of claim that officials there were told by the Canadian government not to treat them.
Canadian diplomats and their families have since been treated and examined by brain researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Smith said researchers in Pennsylvania have been in touch with their counterparts in Halifax about their research and the patients.
Many of those affected have described hearing sounds around the time they experienced symptoms. One of the Canadian diplomats who was in Havana with his family in 2017 described waking up to a “grinding, screeching, metallic noise” that filled their bedroom. He said he was paralyzed with nausea. Meanwhile, his son came into the room covered in blood from a severe nosebleed.
The diplomat and his family suffered from headaches, cognitive problems and nosebleeds. After they returned to Ottawa, he said his wife once called him in tears because she couldn’t find her way home.
The Canadian government has reduced its embassy staff in Havana by half after 15 staff members and their families suffered health symptoms consistent with Havana Syndrome.
Global Affairs Canada spokesman John Babcock said all 15 employees and their families who have been affected are receiving medical attention, as required.
Babcock said the government continues to investigate the potential causes of the health symptom and is in close contact with the U.S. on the issue.
In February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government takes the issue seriously.
“There is no question that the health impacts on diplomats in Cuba have been visible and real,” he said.
At the University of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Smith said much more research needs to be done to better understand the health implications.
“We are really only at the beginning of understanding what this is.”
DON’T FIT ANY KNOWN DISORDER THAT WE HAVE COME ACROSS.