备注请放最后面 违者新闻文章删除
1.媒体来源:
英国卫报
2.记者署名:
Leyland Cecco
3.完整新闻标题:
Whistleblower warns baffling illness affects growing number of young adults in
Canadian province
4.完整新闻内文:
A whistleblower in the Canadian province of New Brunswick has warned that a pr
ogressive neurological illness that has baffled experts for more than two year
s appears to be affecting a growing number of young people and causing swift c
ognitive decline among some of the afflicted.
（加拿大New Brunswick省有越来越多年轻人出现渐进式的神经退化疾病）
Speaking to the Guardian, an employee with VitalitHealth Network, one of the
province’s two health authorities, said that suspected cases are growing in
number and that young adults with no prior health triggers are developing a ca
talog of troubling symptoms, including rapid weight loss, insomnia, hallucinat
ions, difficulty thinking and limited mobility.
（症状包括体重减轻、失眠、幻觉、思考障碍、行动能力受阻）
The official number of cases under investigation, 48, remains unchanged since
it was first announced in early spring 2021. But multiple sources say the clus
ter could now be as many as 150 people, with a backlog of cases involving youn
g people still requiring further assessment.
（官方统计有48人，但消息来源指出可能多达150人）
“I’m truly concerned about these cases because they seem to evolve so fast,
” said the source. “I’m worried for them and we owe them some kind of expla
nation.”
At the same time, at least nine cases have been recorded in which two people i
n close contact – but without genetic links – have developed symptoms, sugge
sting that environmental factors may be involved.
One suspected case involved a man who was developing symptoms of dementia and
ataxia. His wife, who was his caregiver, suddenly began losing sleep and exper
iencing muscle wasting, dementia and hallucinations. Now her condition is wors
e than his.
（一名30岁男性出现失智与走路不稳，他的太太照顾他后也突然出现失眠、消瘦、失智，
与幻觉）
A woman in her 30s was described as non-verbal, is feeding with a tube and dro
ols excessively. Her caregiver, a nursing student in her 20s, also recently st
arted showing symptoms of neurological decline.
（一名30岁女性无法言语、靠鼻胃管进食，会大量流口水。他的照顾著是一名20岁护校生
，最近也突然出现神经退化）
In another case, a young mother quickly lost nearly 60 pounds, developed insom
nia and began hallucinating. Brain imaging showed advanced signs of atrophy.
The Vitalitemployee, who asked not to be named because they were unauthorize
d to speak publicly and feared repercussions for speaking out, said they decid
ed to come forward because of growing concerns over the speed with which young
people have deteriorated.
“This is not a New Brunswick disease,” said the employee. “We’re probably
the area that is raising the flag because we’re mostly rural and in an area w
here people might have more exposure to environmental factors.”
Mystery brain disorder baffles Canadian doctors
But in January, the province of New Brunswick is widely expected to announce t
hat the cluster of cases, first made public last year after a memo was leaked
to the media, is the result of misdiagnoses, which have mistakenly grouped unr
elated illnesses together.
The Special Neurodegenerative Disorder Clinic, also called the Mind Clinic, in
the city of Moncton is the clearing house for cases referred from within the
region as well as neighbouring provinces. Prospective cases have typically stu
mped doctors and resisted a battery of standardized neurological tests used to
rule out certain conditions.
Using a case description guideline developed by a team of neurologists and epi
demiologists, the clinic decides if the patients warrant further investigation
or if they may have a known illness or disease. Determining who becomes part
of the cluster is subjective, largely because the brain is notoriously difficu
lt to study. Certainty is often only obtained after the patient dies and the c
erebral tissue can be fully tested.
Despite the striking details surrounding the newer cases, the province has wor
ked to tamp down fears. In October, officials suggested that the eight fatal c
ases were the result of misdiagnosis, arguing that instead of suffering from a
shared neurological illness, the victims had died of known and unrelated path
ologies.
（官方认为8名死亡者是被误诊，他们不是死于共同疾病，而是死于不相关的已知疾病）
But experts familiar with the cluster are alarmed, largely because of the age
of the patients. Neurological illnesses are rare in young people.
“The fact that we have a younger spectrum of patients here argues very strong
ly against what appears to be the preferred position of the government of New
Brunswick – that the cases in this cluster are being mistakenly lumped togeth
er,” said a scientist at the Canada’s public health agency, who specializes
in neurodegenerative illnesses but was unauthorized to speak.
（但一名科学家说，这些病患这么年轻，实在不像官方所讲的那样）
In October the province also said an epidemiological report suggested there wa
s no significant evidence of any known food, behaviour or environmental exposu
re that could explain the illness.
（目前官方认为没有食物、行为、或环境可以解释这些疾病）
Tim Beatty’s father Laurie, a retired hardware employee, died in 2019 after t
he onset of mental confusion around Christmas marked the beginning of his rapi
d deterioration.
Beatty says the family was “gobsmacked” when he learned his father was one o
f eight people a pathologist controversially declared was improperly diagnosed
and had instead died of Alzheimer’s.
Beatty and his sister have pleaded to have their father’s remains tested for
neurotoxins, including β-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), which some have sugges
ted could be the culprit behind the illness.
（但有人认为是龙虾里面的一种神经毒素BMAA所造成）
In one study, high concentrations of BMAA were found in lobster, an industry t
hat drives the economies of many of New Brunswick’s coastal communities. The
province’s apparent resistance to testing for suspected environmental factors
has led to speculation among families that the efforts to rule out the existe
nce of a cluster could be motivated by political decision making.
“If a group of people wanted to breed conspiracy theorists, then our governme
nt has done a wonderful job at promoting it,” said Beatty. “Are they just tr
ying to create a narrative for the public that they hope we’ll absorb and wal
k away from? I just don’t understand it.”
Documents obtained through freedom of information requests and seen by the Gua
rdian showed scientists at the country’s public health agency were considerin
g BMAA as a possible cause, but needed the province to order the testing.
“I don’t know why the province wouldn’t just simply do the science and look
. They have my dad’s remains. We’ve given them full permission to do toxicol
ogy and do what needs to be done,” said Beatty. “Yet, nothing has been looke
d at.”
But experts nonetheless warn that testing itself is also more difficult than t
he public realizes.
While some medical tests can provide quick and definite results other types of
investigation require far more work.
“What people are talking about really amounts to a full research investigatio
n, because then we know what we’re looking for precisely,” said the federal
scientist who was familiar with both the cluster and the testing process. “Ri
ght now we don’t have a way to interpret simple data that you might get when
testing a person’s brain tissue for a particular toxin. For example, how much
are ‘elevated’ levels of a neurotoxin compared to the rest of the public? A
nd when does that become a cause for concern?”
The scientist said teams are ready to begin the research, but “New Brunswick
has specifically told us not to go forward with that work”.
Those familiar with the cluster are bracing for a January report, written by t
he province’s oversight committee, which will determine if the 48 cases are g
enuinely suffering from a neurological illness or the result of misdiagnosis b
y neurologists.
Amid mounting tension between specialists and the provincial government, a sou
rce familiar with the Mind Clinic say the postings for several jobs at the cli
nic – a social worker, an administrator and a neuropsychologist – were recen
tly made temporary, the budget would no longer be recurrent and the clinic wou
ld be converted into a Alzheimer’s and geriatric clinic. Health minister Doro
thy Shephard told reporters on 1 December that speculation the clinic would be
shut down was untrue.
“We keep telling the patients that the country is behind them, and that the t
ests will be done so that we can figure this out. We tell them we will get to
the bottom of this so that we can help them,” said the Vitalitemployee. “A
nd so far, that hasn’t happened. But they need us.”
5.完整新闻连结 (或短网址):
https://s.yam.com/TizQp
6.备注:
千～万～别～抬～头