N.B. residents suffering from mystery brain disease call for fresh investigations
Sarah Nesbitt turned 40 on Sunday but says she is not sure if she will be around to celebrate many more birthdays.
Nesbitt, a resident of Moncton, N.B., said she began experiencing symptoms of a neurological disorder of unknown cause in the summer of 2020.
She is part of a group of New Brunswick patients who say they are suffering from a mystery brain illness. But the provincial government maintains that there is no new neurological disorder and that studies have shown that the patients who are sick are likely suffering from known diseases.
On Tuesday, Nesbitt joined a group of patients and their families who have called on the provincial government to investigate the link between their symptoms and environmental toxins -- particularly the popular weed killer glyphosate. The news conference was organized by the Green Party of New Brunswick.
Their call for new investigations came after their doctor, Dr. Alier Marrero, asked federal and provincial health authorities in January to look into the link between their symptoms and the herbicide.
"I had a lot of different symptoms that all piled up to realize, 'OK, this is something going on,"' Nesbitt said. "I went to my doctor in November of 2020. And he couldn't find anything."
A slate of tests later, she said her doctor thought she had multiple sclerosis.
"For almost two years, I thought that's what I had."
Nesbitt was referred to Marrero last year, who tested for and ruled out diseases such as cancer, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, she said. But further tests have shown that she has high levels of glyphosate and other chemicals in her system.
Health Canada said on its website that glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the country and figures prominently in the agricultural industry. Products containing glyphosate are used to control weeds, including toxic plants such as poison ivy.
Marrero said in a letter dated Jan. 30 to Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, and Dr. Yves Leger, New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health, that he has been working with about 147 patients experiencing symptoms such as rapidly progressing dementia, muscle spasms, atrophy and other complications.
Marrero said that cases have also been reported in Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
"I am particularly concerned about the increase in numbers of young-onset and early-onset neurological syndrome," he said in the letter.
"I now call to your attention one of the major hypotheses extensively discussed during previous meetings during the years with national and international experts, including possible environmental toxins."
Tests from patients in Nova Scotia show high amounts of glyphosate and other compounds from that family, he said.
"On behalf of our patients and families, I request your support to further and detailed testing of patients and environments for these and other toxins."
New Brunswick health authorities concluded in a February 2022 report that "there is no evidence of a cluster with a neurological syndrome of unknown cause."
They said that the cluster of disease had been subject to "many theories" that were based on "speculation, uncorroborated opinions and the absence of a thorough analysis of epidemiological and clinical information."
The province said a review of 48 cases of patients suffering from a neurological syndrome of unknown cause found that the patients didn't have symptoms in common or a shared illness.
On Tuesday, New Brunswick Health Minister Bruce Fitch told reporters he was briefed about Marrero's letter.
"Public health is drafting a response," he said. "If they require more information, they will go back to the doctor in question and get that information and then proceed from there."
Fitch said he recognizes that it's difficult for families and patients when they don't get the answers they want.
Nesbitt said she is heartbroken that she had to give up her cabin and her dream of living in a rural area because she suffers from seizures, tremors and moments where she doesn't know where she is, "almost like dementia."
"The sad part is I'm going to rapidly keep on declining."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Images taken deep inside melted Fukushima reactor show damage, but leave many questions unanswered
Images taken by miniature drones from deep inside a badly damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant show displaced control equipment and misshapen materials but leave many questions unanswered, underscoring the daunting task of decommissioning the plant.
DEVELOPING February inflation rate slows to 2.8% as price growth unexpectedly eases
Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly fell to 2.8 per cent last month, amid sharp declines in cellular and internet services as well as slower grocery price growth.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.