New Brunswick has no mystery neurological disease, scientific study concludes

A caller technological survey has recovered nary grounds of an undiagnosed enigma encephalon illness successful New Brunswick, says a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, known arsenic JAMA.

Instead, an autarkic reassessment of 25 of 222 patients diagnosed by Moncton neurologist Alier Marrero arsenic having a "neurological syndrome of chartless cause" concluded that each of the cases were attributable to well-known conditions.

These include common neurodegenerative diseases, specified as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, functional neurological disorder, traumatic encephalon injury, and metastatic cancer, says the report.

The researchers besides bash not judge exposure to thing successful the environment, such as the herbicide glyphosate oregon dense metals, made the patients ill.

"The wide scope of precise different, well-recognized diseases diagnosed is besides beardown grounds against a azygous biology toxin causing the patients' symptoms," wrote the 13 co-authors. Six neurologists who conducted second, autarkic objective evaluations astatine hospitals successful New Brunswick and Ontario are among them.

Second opinions needed, study says 

The researchers contend that what they recovered to be misdiagnoses were chiefly owed to "inaccurate objective assessments" and an "overreliance on or misinterpretation" of supplementary testing.

They said immoderate diligent diagnosed with a neurological syndrome of chartless origin should get a 2nd opinion, which galore of Marrero's patients person refused to do.

"Education, reassurance, and intelligence wellness enactment should besides beryllium prioritized for patients and families who person been profoundly impacted by claims that a perchance fatal enigma illness continues to impact them."

Marrero could not instantly beryllium reached for comment.

Government study owed this summer

The study comes aft the New Brunswick authorities launched the "data investigation phase" of its ain probe into undiagnosed neurological symptoms Marrero says are present affecting hundreds of radical successful 7 provinces and whether biology substances are a factor. 

A nationalist study with recommendations is expected this summer.

An epidemiological survey successful the autumn of 2021 found no circumstantial behaviours, foods oregon biology exposures that linked the patients unneurotic and could airs a risk.

In addition, an oversight committee made up of six neurologists successful February 2022 recovered "potential alternative diagnoses" for 41 of an archetypal clump of 48 patients, including Alzheimer's disease, Lewy assemblage dementia, post-concussion syndrome and cancer.

"No specified syndrome exists," Dr. Jennifer Russell, the then-chief aesculapian serviceman of health, said astatine the time.

The authors of the JAMA study are the latest to measurement successful connected the mystery unwellness controversy, which dates backmost to 2019, they say, when "speculation of a purported chartless neurological syndrome began to circulate successful New Brunswick."

In early 2021, the nationalist learned that Public Health was monitoring much than 40 New Brunswick patients with symptoms akin to those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a uncommon and fatal encephalon disease. Their symptoms ranged from achy musculus spasms and hallucinations to representation nonaccomplishment and behavioural changes.

The fig of patients suffering from unexplained neurological symptoms has since jumped to 507 across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, according to a missive Marrero wrote to national and provincial officials successful February, obtained by CBC News.

Fifty radical person died.

14 patients fixed 2nd objective evaluation

The JAMA study notes the fig of cases formally reported to Public Health New Brunswick is 222, referring to the enhanced surveillance forms completed by Marrero.

The authors focused connected 25 of those patients — 14 of them live (eight women and six men aged 20 to 55) and 11 who person died (five women and six men, aged 56 to 82).

The 14 surviving patients received a second, autarkic objective evaluation by 1 of four movement upset neurologists oregon 1 of two behavioural neurologists, arsenic good arsenic further investigating if needed, portion 2 neuropathologists reviewed the autopsy cases.

The researchers also gathered information from late 2023 to early 2025 from the patients' wellness records, including doc reports, notes from allied wellness attraction professionals, trial results, and demographic information.

'Meaningful discrepancies' found

Many of the 14 second, autarkic objective evaluations, recovered "meaningful discrepancies" betwixt the archetypal documented past and findings and the 2nd assessment's findings, the study says.

For example, 10 patients were primitively documented to person a rapidly progressive dementia or neurological disorder, but connected re-evaluation, "the grounds onset was recovered to beryllium overmuch earlier than primitively documented."

Three patients were besides reported to person ocular oregon tactile hallucinations, which were not confirmed connected the 2nd evaluation.

In addition, 11 of the 14 patients were primitively documented to person abnormal cognitive testing, but upon re-evaluation, 9 of 11 "either had nary subjective cognitive symptoms oregon had cognitive investigating that was not compatible with dementia."

Meanwhile, EEGs, the tests that measure electrical enactment successful the brain, were said to amusement abnormal slowing for each 21 patients who had them.

"Overinterpretation of EEG findings is not uncommon and often leads to misdiagnoses," according to the study reported successful JAMA, which cites a lack of standards oregon mandatory grooming arsenic reasons.

Certainty adjacent to 100%

Despite the tiny illustration size, the researchers said "practical cognition and objective reasoning" suggest the probability of nary caller disease is adjacent to 100 per cent.

The researchers blame a fig of factors for fuelling "unfounded" and "persistent nationalist concern" astir a perchance fatal enigma disease, despite the earlier provincial probe rejecting this possibility. 

These see misinformation that has "proliferated" successful some accepted and societal media, and decreased nationalist spot successful wellness institutions since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"In this way, misdiagnosis and misinformation go inextricably entwined and amplify diligent harm exponentially."

The researchers said lone 14 patients had accepted autarkic re-evaluation by different neurologist, portion 52 refused, choosing alternatively to stay with Marrero — "the [one] neurologist who primitively made and continues to beforehand the diagnosis of a enigma disease."

Because of the analyzable quality of immoderate neurological disorders, patients would person benefited from a second, autarkic evaluation, the JAMA nonfiction says.

"We tin lone speculate that the debased uptake for reevaluation stems from a assortment of factors," the researchers say.

At the diligent level, for instance, it could beryllium a deficiency of consciousness oregon concerns astir the clip and effort needed to get a 2nd diagnosis, they said. At the clinician level, it mightiness beryllium nonrecreational validation, and astatine the strategy level, it mightiness beryllium a substance of entree and deficiency of organization oversight. 

"Thoughtful investigation of these issues is captious for processing proactive and transparent nationalist wellness connection strategies to rebuild spot successful wellness attraction systems successful a post–COVID-19 era," the researchers wrote.