According to two studies published Monday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) did not find any signs of brain injury or biological abnormalities in federal employees who are experiencing symptoms related to the so-called 'Havana syndrome'.
The NIH conducted a nearly five-year probe to compare a healthy control group with federal employees who experienced symptoms related to what the U.S. government now describes as anomalous health incidents (AHIs). The findings, published in JAMA, are the result of this investigation.
In 2016, government employees stationed in Cuba reported symptoms including head pressure followed by headache, dizziness, and cognitive dysfunction. These symptoms led to the term 'Havana syndrome'.
Many U.S. officials and lawmakers believed that the health issues, which were hard to diagnose, could be the result of an attack by a foreign enemy. However, last March, the U.S. intelligence community concluded that the health incidents were unlikely to be caused by interference from a foreign government. The studies released on Monday did not aim to determine the cause of the AHIs, according to NIH researchers. Instead, they sought to conduct evaluations to identify any structural brain differences in those reporting AHIs. One of the studies released on Monday analyzed MRIs of 81 participants with AHIs and 48 control participants, and it found “no significant MRI-detectable evidence of brain injury” among the group of participants reporting AHIs. Additionally, the study found “no significant differences in imaging measures of brain structure or function” between the two groups. The lead author on one of the papers, Leighton Chan, who is the chief of rehabilitation medicine and acting chief scientific officer at the NIH Clinical Center, stated, “Our goal was to conduct thorough, objective and reproducible evaluations to see if we could identify structural brain or biological differences in people who reported AHIs.”
Another study evaluated 86 participants with AHIs and 30 “vocationally matched control participants” and found that most biological tests found “no significant differences” between the two groups in terms of auditory, vestibular, cognitive, visual function, and blood biomarkers.
In the second study, the researchers concluded that participants with AHIs performed significantly worse on self-reported and objective measures related to balance, symptoms of fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. The study also found that about 28 percent of participants reporting AHIs “presented with functional neurological disorders.”
Chan emphasized the significance of the symptoms, stating, “While we did not identify significant differences in participants with AHIs, it’s important to acknowledge that these symptoms are very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected and can be quite prolonged, disabling and difficult to treat.”
Carlo Pierpaoli, the main author of the brain imaging study, said that even though there is no sign of brain damage on the MRIs, it's still possible that people reporting AHIs might be feeling the effects of an event that caused their symptoms, but the injury didn't cause the long-term brain imaging changes usually seen after a severe injury or stroke.
Pierpaoli, a senior investigator and chief of the NIH’s Laboratory on Quantitative Medical Imaging at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, mentioned that the lack of evidence for a difference in MRIs between people with AHIs and controls doesn't rule out the possibility of a harmful event affecting the brain at the time of the AHI. Mark Zaid, a lawyer representing AHIs victims from various government agencies and whistleblowers, also expressed a similar view as Pierpaoli, stating in a release that the absence of evidence is not a proof in itself.
Zaid also mentioned, however, that these studies don't disprove the theory of a foreign enemy harming US personnel and their families using directed energy.
Zaid emphasized his worry that these studies give ammunition to those who are casting doubt on the reported experiences of AHIs sufferers. He also raised concerns about how the subjects were approached to participate in the study.
Zaid expressed that the lack of definitive evidence is dishonestly used by the Intelligence Community and critics to support their public statement that AHI is not real. He accused the government of intentionally making use of the lack of scientific evidence in this area and hiding behind it.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) did not find any signs of brain injury or biological abnormalities in federal employees experiencing symptoms related to what is commonly known as “Havana syndrome,” according to two studies released on Monday. These studies, published in JAMA, are the outcome of a nearly five-year investigation by the NIH to assess…
“A lack of evidence for an MRI-detectable difference between individuals with AHIs and controls does not exclude that an adverse event impacting the brain occurred at the time of the AHI,” said Pierpaoli, senior investigator and chief of the NIH’s Laboratory on Quantitative Medical Imaging at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
Mark Zaid — an attorney representing “AHIs victims from CIA, State, DIA, Commerce, USAID, FBI and NSA, as well as whistleblowers from within the USG” — echoed some of Pierpaoli’s sentiment, writing in a statement, “Of course, the absence of evidence is not evidence.”
Zaid added, however, that “these studies therefore do nothing to undermine the theory that a foreign adversary is harming US personnel and their families with a form of directed energy.”
Zaid stressed his concern that these studies provide fodder to detractors undermining the experiences reported by those with AHIs. He also raised “substantive and ethical concerns” with the way subjects were allegedly approached about participating in the study.
“The problem, however, is that the absence of conclusive proof is disingenuously relied upon by the Intelligence Community and naysayers to support their public assertion that AHI does not exist,” Zaid wrote. “The government is knowingly weaponizing the lack of science that exists in this area and intentionally hiding behind.”
