Mystery of 'Havana syndrome' continues as no clear clinical issues found

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-03-19 01:00

International

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Assessments of 86 US government staff and family members who developed mysterious symptoms after serving overseas, something often called “Havana syndrome”, have failed to find significant clinical differences between people with this syndrome and a group of unaffected people. Sufferers have reported intrusive sounds and head pressure, often alongside dizziness, pain, and visual problems among other symptoms after serving overseas. The two studies did not find any significant differences in brain structure, or in most tests of auditory, vestibular, cognitive, visual function, or blood biomarkers between the groups. The only differences they could find were in self-reported and objective measures of imbalance and symptoms of fatigue, posttraumatic stress, and depression. An accompanying editorial says this still provides valuable lessons for clinicians along with the scientific and national security communities.

Media release

From: JAMA

Clinical, Biomarker, and Research Tests Among US Government Personnel and Their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents

About The Study: In this exploratory study, there were no significant differences between individuals reporting anomalous health incidents and matched control participants with respect to most clinical, research, and biomarker measures, except for objective and self-reported measures of imbalance and symptoms of fatigue, posttraumatic stress, and depression. This study did not replicate the findings of previous studies, although differences in the populations included and the timing of assessments limit direct comparisons. Since 2015, U.S. government and related personnel have reported dizziness, pain, visual problems, and cognitive dysfunction after experiencing intrusive sounds and head pressure. The U.S. government has labeled these anomalous health incidents.

(doi:10.1001/jama.2024.2413)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

# # #

Neuroimaging Findings in US Government Personnel and Their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents

About The Study: In this exploratory neuroimaging study, there were no significant differences in imaging measures of brain structure or function between individuals reporting anomalous health incidents and matched control participants after adjustment for multiple comparisons. U.S. government personnel stationed internationally have reported anomalous health incidents, with some individuals experiencing persistent debilitating symptoms.

(doi:10.1001/jama.2024.2424)

# # #

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research JAMA, Web page Paper -1 - clinical differences: Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).

Research JAMA, Web page Paper 2 - Neuroimaging differences - Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).

Journal/
conference: JAMA

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: National Institutes of Health, USA

Funder: The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) including the Clinical Center, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, the Office of the Director, and Uniformed Services University (MTBI2). This work was supported by the NIH intramural research programs of the Clinical Center, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Eye Institute, National Institute of Nursing Research, and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.