Thanks for bringing the Havana Syndrome to my attention. I haven't heard of it by now.
Searching for it online, I came across this article that might serve as food for thought - "Challenging the diagnosis of ‘Havana Syndrome’ as a novel clinical entity" - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0141076819877553
I think that the authors' conclusion makes sense:
"During a press briefing in Washington, DC, on 28 September 2017, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert observed: ‘We have never seen this any place in the world before’. Physicians treating these patients have made similar observations, the significance of which cannot be overstated, using terms like ‘novel clinical entity’ and ‘new syndrome’ characterised by concussion-like symptoms. In his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, State Department doctor Charles Rosenfarb concurred with this assessment, noting that what may be a ‘novel syndrome’ was proving to be a challenge to understand. What might this new syndrome be that masquerades as brain damage, and why has it not been identified before now? We believe that it has. Over the past century, soldiers returning from combat have been diagnosed with a new and novel syndrome for which no organic cause could be found. Some of the most common complaints include headache, dizziness, disorientation, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, insomnia, chest pain, and impaired vision and hearing – all common features of Havana Syndrome. However, the most conspicuous feature is the appearance of concussion-like symptoms. These psychogenic symptoms associated with American soldiers living under continuous stress parallel those reported by the US diplomats working under continuous surveillance while living on foreign soil under the spectre of the Cold War. The symptoms of the American diplomats in Havana closely parallel those associated with war trauma – right down to the concussion-like symptoms that have often confounded physicians who have misdiagnosed it as brain trauma in the past. In so far as the political and scientific evidence for the perpetration of an attack on US embassy staff in Cuba is inconclusive, we pose the question: what is the more likely, that the diplomats were the target of a mysterious new weapon for which there is no concrete evidence and the use of which defies the laws of physics, or they were suffering from psychogenic symptoms generated by stress?"
Thanks for sharing the article Vera! It is indeed a novel syndrome.
Thanks for bringing the Havana Syndrome to my attention. I haven't heard of it by now.
Searching for it online, I came across this article that might serve as food for thought - "Challenging the diagnosis of ‘Havana Syndrome’ as a novel clinical entity" - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0141076819877553
I think that the authors' conclusion makes sense:
"During a press briefing in Washington, DC, on 28 September 2017, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert observed: ‘We have never seen this any place in the world before’. Physicians treating these patients have made similar observations, the significance of which cannot be overstated, using terms like ‘novel clinical entity’ and ‘new syndrome’ characterised by concussion-like symptoms. In his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, State Department doctor Charles Rosenfarb concurred with this assessment, noting that what may be a ‘novel syndrome’ was proving to be a challenge to understand. What might this new syndrome be that masquerades as brain damage, and why has it not been identified before now? We believe that it has. Over the past century, soldiers returning from combat have been diagnosed with a new and novel syndrome for which no organic cause could be found. Some of the most common complaints include headache, dizziness, disorientation, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, insomnia, chest pain, and impaired vision and hearing – all common features of Havana Syndrome. However, the most conspicuous feature is the appearance of concussion-like symptoms. These psychogenic symptoms associated with American soldiers living under continuous stress parallel those reported by the US diplomats working under continuous surveillance while living on foreign soil under the spectre of the Cold War. The symptoms of the American diplomats in Havana closely parallel those associated with war trauma – right down to the concussion-like symptoms that have often confounded physicians who have misdiagnosed it as brain trauma in the past. In so far as the political and scientific evidence for the perpetration of an attack on US embassy staff in Cuba is inconclusive, we pose the question: what is the more likely, that the diplomats were the target of a mysterious new weapon for which there is no concrete evidence and the use of which defies the laws of physics, or they were suffering from psychogenic symptoms generated by stress?"