Investigate environmental factors potentially causing ‘atypical neurological decline,’ group tells province and feds
Patients and families struggling with symptoms of a neurodegenerative illness are calling for a new investigation into potential environmental causes of the condition.
Their demands come 13 months after the province announced that the “neurological syndrome of unknown cause” doesn’t exist.
The provincial Green Party held a news conference on Tuesday alongside people affected by the condition.
There are now 147 people “demonstrating a rapid onset of severe neurological symptoms,” according to the group. They said more than a third of those patients are under 45 years old.
Listen to the audio report:
Medical testing has shown that many of the patients were exposed to “multiple environmental toxins,” said Stacie Quigley Cormier, whose stepdaughter is among the patients.
In particular, she pointed to the herbicide glyphosate, which is widely used in forestry and agriculture.
“We want to confirm that in recent months, patients have tested positive for multiple environmental toxins, including glyphosate, with detectable levels between four and 40 times the average limit,” she told reporters.
Few details were immediately available, but she said “many patients have been tested.”
Her stepdaughter, former Mount Allison University student Gabrielle Cormier, is one of the youngest patients affected by what officials previously called a neurological syndrome of unknown cause.… Continue