Mystery brain disease doesn’t exist, medical study says

A new study says a mystery brain disease in New Brunswick doesn’t exist.

A so-called mystery disease that hundreds of New Brunswickers say they suffer from doesn’t exist according to a new medical study released Wednesday.

Published in the journal JAMA Neurology, the study reviewed the cases of 25 patients that were evaluated at two hospitals in New Brunswick and Ontario.

Dr. Anthony Lang, co-author of the study, said in 100 per cent of the cases evaluated, they were able to make a diagnosis of an established neurological problem.

“A hundred per cent we were able to make a diagnosis. Therefore, we do not feel that there is a neurological syndrome of unknown cause. They’re all defined,” said Lang.

That doesn’t sit well with Sarah Nesbitt, a patient and environmental advocate who says her symptoms were caused by an environmental toxin.

Nesbitt believes the study has inaccuracies and didn’t feel reviewing the cases of 25 people was enough.

“There’s actually 500 patients. They said in the study that there was no pesticides and herbicides. We have our physical test results. So, a major concern is it’s confusing the public. This isn’t the investigation that New Brunswick is doing,” said Nesbitt.

Nesbitt said she hopes the province doesn’t use the study in their own investigation into the illness.

“We don’t want interference with this investigation,” said Nesbitt.

Stacie Quigley Cormier’s 23-year-old daughter suffers from neurological issues and is chronically ill.

The patient advocate thinks the study is highly problematic.

“I think it’s inaccurate. I think it’s false. And I think it’s very, very harmful to the patients and also to their care,” said Quigley Cormier.

Dr. Alier Marrero, a Moncton-based neurologist who was the first to diagnose patients with a mystery illness, strongly disagrees with the study’s conclusions.

“I am appalled that a parallel investigation with a small number of patients, has apparently been conducted for a long time, without our knowledge or our patients and families’ knowledge,” said Marrero in a statement. “I am in profound disagreement with the study conclusions and have many questions regarding the methods and the content, including cases never evaluated by us or that might have not been part of this cluster.”

Marrero said he’s evaluated more than 500 patients and provided a significant amount of environmental exposure evidence with many of them.

But Lang doesn’t see it that way.

“It’s highly unlikely or if not impossible, that a single environmental factor then could have created this syndrome that has been touted to be due to environmental toxins,” said Lang.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said the province will continue to try and determine what is going on.

“We need to work with the patients and the population of New Brunswick to answer the question about what is making New Brunswickers sick, and I think that the study didn’t answer that question,” said Holt.

As for Nesbitt, one of Marrero’s patients, she said she’s on the road to recovery and wishes the best for other patients.

“To be able to give people a way to heal, a direction to be in and hopefully some sort of recovery or justice for the patients,” said Nesbitt.

With files from the Canadian Press and CTV’s Sarah Plowman.

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