Havana Syndrome: U.S. and Canadian diplomats targeted with possible weapon causing brain injury and neurological symptoms

[Hutan]

I've always thought it interesting as well that such awful damage with terrible behavioural consequences can only be diagnosed post mortem.

Yes, that was mentioned in the media item I saw. A brain tumour had been suspected, he had scans and nothing was found.
Link to an article about the rugby player, Billy Guyton.

The article says that tau proteins are markers of the damage. In that case, there are ways to test the living brain e.g. this written for Alzheimers

Until a few years ago, tau and beta-amyloid levels in a person with dementia could only be measured after the person had died. Now, however, tau and beta-amyloid levels can be measured in living individuals by analyzing samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the fluid surrounding the brain, and by using positron emission tomography (PET) scans and special dyes to show tau tangles and beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. Scientists are beginning to use CSF analysis and PET scans to study how possible tau and beta-amyloid interactions may speed the brain changes that ultimately result in memory loss and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s dementia.

 

[JohnTheJack]

Yes, that was mentioned in the media item I saw. A brain tumour had been suspected, he had scans and nothing was found.
Link to an article about the rugby player, Billy Guyton.

The article says that tau proteins are markers of the damage. In that case, there are ways to test the living brain e.g. this written for Alzheimers

Interesting, thanks. I do vaguely remember reading something more recently about how there was now a way in some victims of CTE to see some evidence. Perhaps that was it.

 

[SNT Gatchaman]

I've always thought it interesting as well that such awful damage with terrible behavioural consequences can only be diagnosed post mortem.

Slow blood-to-brain transport underlies enduring barrier dysfunction in American football players (2020, Brain)

Effects of Low-Level Blast on Neurovascular Health and Cerebral Blood Flow: Current Findings and Future Opportunities in Neuroimaging (2024, International Journal of Molecular Sciences)

Dynamic Blood–Brain Barrier Regulation in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (2019, Journal of Neurotrauma)

Imaging Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Football Players (2014, JAMA Neurology)

 

[SNT Gatchaman]

CNN: NIH cancels ‘Havana syndrome’ research, citing unethical coercion of participants

The NIH said it would end the work “out of an abundance of caution” after an internal investigation found that people had been coerced into to being part of the research.

The coercion, the agency specified, was not on its own part, but the NIH did not elaborate as to who may have forced the participation. However, it noted that voluntary consent is a fundamental pillar of the ethical conduct of research.