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備註請放最後面 違者新聞文章刪除

1.媒體來源:
英國衛報

2.記者署名:
Leyland Cecco

3.完整新聞標題:
Whistleblower warns baffling illness affects growing number of young adults in
 Canadian province


4.完整新聞內文:

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省有越來越多年輕人出現漸進式的神經退化疾病）

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.

（症狀包括體重減輕、失眠、幻覺、思考障礙、行動能力受阻）

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.

（官方統計有48人，但消息來源指出可能多達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歲男性出現失智與走路不穩，他的太太照顧他後也突然出現失眠、消瘦、失智，
與幻覺）

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歲女性無法言語、靠鼻胃管進食，會大量流口水。他的照顧著是一名20歲護校生
，最近也突然出現神經退化）

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.

（官方認為8名死亡者是被誤診，他們不是死於共同疾病，而是死於不相關的已知疾病）

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.

（但一名科學家說，這些病患這麼年輕，實在不像官方所講的那樣）

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.

（目前官方認為沒有食物、行為、或環境可以解釋這些疾病）

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.

（但有人認為是龍蝦裡面的一種神經毒素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.完整新聞連結 (或短網址):
https://s.yam.com/TizQp

6.備註:
千～萬～別～抬～頭

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