The Havana syndrome saga is an epic failure of science

[El Presidente]

Truly astonishing saga indeed. 

 

 

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

 

How ‘Anomalous Health Incidents’ in Cuba Sidelined Science

The Havana syndrome saga is an epic failure of science, one with severe consequences both for patients and for international relations

• By Mitchell J. Valdés-Sosa on March 6, 2023

 

In 2016, U.S. diplomats began suffering from a bewildering collection of neurological symptoms, officially known as “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) and widely branded as “Havana syndrome.” First reported in Cuba but later spread to U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide, their most common explanation was that medical science now faced a new disease produced by “directed energy” weapons wielded by unidentified enemies. The story was eagerly embraced in news reports and by some U.S. government officials, but met with skepticism from many scientists, a standoff that went on for years.

On March 1, however, seven U.S. intelligence agencies released an updated AHI assessment, which essentially rejected the idea that these ailments resulted from attacks by foreign adversaries or were caused by directed energy weapons. The assessment also negated the notion that AHIs are the expression of a single identifiable syndrome, a criticism made by several researchers when the syndrome was first proclaimed. These conclusions came after medical review of more than 1,000 cases, extensive inquiries, surveillance, laboratory reports and the appraisal of diverse sources of information, according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. One can only imagine the resources mobilized to thoroughly assess these real—but baffling—health complaints.

The Havana syndrome saga is an epic failure of science, one with severe consequences both for patients and for international relations, which reveals how medical evidence warps under political pressure. It is troublesome that a scientifically unreliable narrative about the AHI survived for almost seven years. Beyond misinforming the public, its story distorted U.S. policy decisions and, most important, deepened patients’ suffering, which it cannot be said enough, is very real. Could you avoid anxiety and despair if authorities told you that your sickness was the result of an attack with a mysterious weapon that causes an unknown disease? What failures in the scientific process let this happen?

 

CONTINUED

[Cigar Surgeon]

I just want to point out some bias here that the author, Mitchell J. Valdés-Sosa, is with the Cuban Neuroscience Center. So this article should be taken with some level of skepticism.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/havana-syndrome-symptoms-11626882951

Quote

The most recent and thorough examination resulted in a report released in March 2023 by the Director of National Intelligence, which found no credible evidence that any foreign adversary was using anything that was causing the injuries reported. Instead, the government concluded that a combination of factors including pre-existing medical conditions, conventional illnesses and environmental factors were the cause of the reported symptoms.

It certainly gives the appearance that people are suffering from a very real condition that they have not been able to diagnose and that they're hand waving it away. 

From Wiki:

Quote

A 2019 study commissioned by Global Affairs Canada of 23 exposed Canadian diplomats, completed in May 2019, found "clinical, imaging, and biochemical evidence consistent with the hypothesis" of overexposure to cholinesterase inhibitors (a class of neurotoxic pesticide) such as organophosphates (OPs) as a cause of brain injury; the embassies and other places in Cuba had been sprayed frequently as an anti-Zika virus mosquito control measure. The study concluded that other possible causes could not be ruled out.

Organophosphates are very bad news, I just don't know whether they would cause the type of brain injury that is being reported.

[El Presidente]

 

[Nevrknow]

It was dem dere aliens. Me and Martha seen'em out in the cornfield.

[jhalischuk]

The reports from people suffering from whatever this is are compelling. They all mention hearing a sort of buzzing and feeling an immense pressure build up in their skull. Only when moving from the room they were in did it dissipate.

This was at a time when there was no name for this and no publication or widespread knowledge of symptoms. And in Havana at least it was only US officials that ended up being affected.