doctors examining brain scans
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
May 10, 2021 ·  4 min read

Doctors investigate mystery brain disease in Canada

A mystery brain disease is popping up on the east coast of Canada, and doctors still aren’t sure what it even is, let alone what is causing it. Now, the race is on to try and figure it out so that they can hopefully one day find a cure. (1)

The Mystery Brain Disease In Eastern Canada

Nearly two years ago, on his 40th wedding anniversary, Roger Ellis suffered a terrible seizure at his home in the Bucolic Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick. In his early 60s, his son says he was completely healthy until that June. Unfortunately, Roger has not been the same since. (1)

Roger experienced hallucinations and delusions, weight loss, unexplained aggression, and repetitive speech. The retired industrial mechanic was no longer the man that his friends and family knew him to be. His doctors thought that perhaps he had the degenerative brain disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), but all the tests came back negative. All they did know was that Roger was suffering from a mystery brain disease, and unfortunately, they can’t treat what they don’t know. (1)

“At one point he couldn’t even walk. So in the span of three months we were being brought to a hospital to tell us they believed he was dying – but no one knew why.” recalled his son Steve. (1)

As test after test for every potential disease came back negative, all the doctors could do was try to alleviate some of Roger’s symptoms. It turns out, Mr. Ellis isn’t the only case in the province, leaving many doctors around the country trying to figure out what is causing this mystery brain disease and if there’s anything they can do to stop it. (1)

What Are The Symptoms?

The disease is so far affecting 48 previously healthy men and women in the province between the ages of 18 and 85. (2) The symptoms typically come in stages, starting with (1):

  • Behavioral changes (anxiety, depression, irritability)
  • Unexplained pain
  • Muscle aches and spasms.

As things progress, patients typically experience (1):

  • Severe insomnia or hypersomnia
  • Memory problems
  • Language impairments that progress rapidly

In the second stage, patients struggle to hold conversations. They have problems with word repetition and stuttering. From there, they develop further symptoms, including (1):

  • Rapid weight loss
  • Muscle atrophy
  • Vision and coordination problems
  • Involuntary muscle twitching

This phase often forces patients to use walkers or wheelchairs, as they become either too weak or too uncoordinated to walk properly on their own. As the disease progresses, a final wave of symptoms takes over the patients’ brains. These include (1):

  • Hallucinations and hallucinatory dreams
  • Waking auditory hallucinations
  • Capgras delusion

Capgras delusion is a disorder in which the person believes that someone close to them – their spouse, child, best friend, etc. – is an imposter. They don’t believe that they are who they say they are. Most of the patients experiencing this mystery brain disease all developed symptoms starting as early as 2018, except for one case that is believed to have begun in 2013. (1)

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What Is Being Done

A team of neurologists and members of the federal public health agency led by Moncton’s Dr. Alier Marrero is investigating the condition. Currently, patients with the symptoms undergo (1):

  • Prion disease tests
  • Tests for genetic conditions
  • Screenings for viruses, bacteria, fungus, heavy metals, and abnormal antibodies
  • Test for autoimmune disorders and cancers
  • Questions about environmental factors, lifestyle exposures, travel, medical history, food, and water sources.

The Theories

Though no patients have any signs of any known prions disease, they haven’t ruled it out as a potential cause. They also do not believe that there is a genetic component to the mysterious illness. (1)

“Our first common idea is that there’s a toxic element acquired in the environment of this patient that triggers the degenerative changes,” says Dr. Marrero. (1)

The team also believes that it could be caused by chronic exposure to excitotoxins. These are excitatory neurotoxins found in the human food supply. There different types of these, and some can cause brain damage and even death. (3)

Another theory is that the mystery brain disease is caused by beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). This is an environmental toxin associated with degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This toxin is produced by blue-green algae bacteria and has been linked to other neurodegenerative diseases. The team insists, however, that this list of theories is not complete. They are not ruling out any potential cause. (1)

Where To Go From Here

For now, the researchers are continuing to investigate. All the cases so far have been found in the Acadian Peninsula and Moncton, but time will tell if it is seen outside of these two regions. They believe that five people have died from the illness. (2)

“We don’t know what is causing it,” said Marrero. “At this time we only have more patients appearing to have this syndrome.” (2)

As for Roger Ellis’s case, he is currently in stable condition. Unfortunately, he had to move out of the home he shared with his wife and now lives in a specialized care home. He still struggles with speech and sleep problems. Hopefully, the research team can figure out something soon before more people suffer the way Roger Ellis has. (1)

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Sources

  1. Doctors investigate mystery brain disease in Canada.” BBC. Jessica Murphy. May 2021.
  2. Mystery brain disorder baffles Canadian doctors.”The Guardian. Leyland Cecco. March 30, 2021.
  3. Excitotoxins in foods.” Pub Med. J W Olney. 1994.