Havana Syndrome: Part 1

Havana Syndrome. Take a guess: how many Americans have heard of it, or by its new name, Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI)? 33%. A scandal that CBS/60 Minutes has done multiple programs on. 8 years of history, over 1500 victims, Russia and China and Cuba links. Personnel from the State Department, DOD, the Intelligence Community, and the CIA, attacked, sometimes more than once, in over 90 countries.

Mysteries, coverups, not-to-be-believed but proven-true injuries, and careers destroyed. Children too. This is the stuff of Tom Clancy. And Netflix. And ongoing pain and suffering and Agencies walking away from the victims. “Treatments” that turn into throwing-in-the-towel, disrespect, accusations, pills, abandonment, lawsuits, deep resentment, and conflicting and even laughable official research, hearings, reports and stonewalling. Some good people are part of the mix, but fewer and fewer. On to the next crisis, hurricane, election, outbreak of violence.

Sound familiar? Burn Pits? Gulf War Syndrome? Agent Orange? Toxic water? We’re writing about this because it has direct bearing on brain wounding, ignorant medical practitioners, failure to know the research, sloppiness, laziness, bureaucratic bafflegab, and lack of accountability.

First some background and circling back to how this is another example of medicine and politics failing patriotic victims wounded in the line of duty and left to their own devices for coping with an uncertain and degraded future. That is, until some of them starting finding out about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and other alternative therapies that are giving them their lives back.

Beginning in 2014, US personnel in the US embassy in Havana Cuba began reporting a mysterious set of debilitating symptoms. Extensive reporting in 2016 reported symptoms beginning with a loud noise, ear pain, intense head pressure or vibration, dizziness, visual problems, and cognitive difficulties.  The reports over time and in many other places also included other symptoms: migraines, memory loss and trouble concentrating, ear ringing/tinnitus, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, anxiety, vision problems, balance issues, hearing loss, sleeplessness, and other neurological symptoms. Over the next seven years, as many as 1500-2000 personnel and family members from multiple countries reported similar phenomena and injuries in over 90 countries.

Efforts began to describe the neurological manifestations that followed exposure to an unknown energy source associated with auditory and sensory phenomena. Results studying those with reported exposures demonstrated a similar pattern: individuals reported a similar constellation of neurological symptoms resembling brain injury. Over time, some of those individuals were referred to academic brain injury centers and DoD facilities for multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment. And the numbers of subjects continued to grow, along with multiple alleged attacks on the same individuals.

In parallel, efforts were begun to discover the source of the injuries. From a diagnostic perspective, of course, the origin or origins of the multitude of symptoms would help in accurate identification of the insults and help in recommendations for treatment. Numerous committees speculated on various possibilities: Directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) energy; Sonic weapons; Functional neurological disorders/persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD); Psychogenic or mass psychoses; Chemicals/ neurotoxins; Infectious agents; Vestibular migraines; and Multifactorial. Also mentioned were preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors. One theory was that buzzing noises reported in several of the Havana incidents were the mating call of a particularly loud cricket, Anurogryllus celerinictus.

Contrary and more controversial opinions also varied; official reports were conflicting over time. Investigators found that efforts to understand this syndrome, now renamed “Anomalous Health Incidents” (AHIs), were hampered by politics, overarching national security concerns, the unusual features of the victims' accounts, incomplete information, non-standardized clinical testing, delayed reporting, and the sensitive/classified nature of the circumstances, individuals, and their work.

At the end of the day, almost everyone agreed that something debilitating had happened to some of America's finest public servants and service members, their children, as well as foreign diplomats. The alleged incidents occurred overseas and in the US.

Starting in 2023, led by the National Foundation for Integrative Medicine and the TreatNOW Coalition, a number of clinicians were contacted by US Government personnel complaining of AHI symptoms. After thorough vetting and analysis of the symptoms, the Coalition determined that the bulk of the growing list of callers had suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries, among their numerous maladies. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, unavailable and uncompensated by the USG, was recommended. Based on objective and subjective symptoms reported in the literature and interviews, HBOT was one obvious choice for treatment. Yet no one who came forward had been offered HBOT; virtually none had ever heard of it as a proven safe and effective treatment for TBI.

What was clear, however, was the nearly unanimous reports from the victims that they have been left to their own devices and resources to get sustained help for their conditions. Far too many of the victims have had to quit work or, worse, have been "retired" or let go. The stories of neglect, disrespect, suspicion, endless bureaucratic paperwork lasting years, ghosting, and/or denial of claims have all led to too much gloom and sense of abandonment. They had approached us for help despite legislation intended to provide and pay for that help. Many of them had already spent tens of thousands of their own dollars to seek relief.

Even before legislation, certain AHI victims were granted access to DOD facilities like the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) where active duty service members with traumatic brain injuries were treated. Initially, personnel were sent to the University of Pennsylvania for diagnosis and treatment. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was available through a host of VA and other civilian facilities. Yet none of the USG interventions focused on the frequently diagnosed traumatic brain injury. Interventions were focused on symptom palliation. Diagnoses for TBI became increasingly hard to come by. And the AHI victims continue to search for relief.

Background on TBI, PTSD, and the use of Hyperbaric Oxygenation for Brain Wounds

The use of HBOT for TBI and related symptoms has a decades long scientific legacy. Numerous peer-reviewed clinical trials demonstrate the safety and efficacy of HBOT for TBI. The largely pro bono efforts of TreatNOW and NFIM and over 150 clinics, researchers and practitioners have resulted in over 31,000 successes in over 150 TreatNOW Coalition HBOT clinics across the US.

Reported symptoms from AHI echoed decades of history treating TBI and PTSD suffered by combat veterans. The similarities of AHI symptoms to TBI – whether from BLAST, IEDs, falls, training, accidents, or friendly fire – were virtually identical. The label attached to the various complex of symptoms was unimportant; HBOT clinicians treat the patient and reported disease.

The symptoms reported by the AHI patients presenting to HBOT specialists bear a strong resemblance to those cataloged by the military health system and the VA.

• Flashbacks, or feeling like the event is happening again
• Trouble sleeping or nightmares
• Feeling alone or detached from others
• Losing interest in activities
• Having angry outbursts or other extreme reactions
• Feeling worried, guilty, or sad
• Frightening thoughts
• Having trouble concentrating
• Having physical pain like headaches or stomach aches
• Avoidance of memories, thoughts, or feelings about what closely associated with traumatic events
• Problems remembering
• Negative beliefs about themselves or others
• Irritability
• Feeling very vigilant
• Startling easily
• anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and substance use also are seen with people who have PTSD.

As a result of the presentations by numerous AHI victims, and the objective, subjective, and diagnostic record, some patients hae been successfully treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to help in their brain wound healing. Again, as decades of clinical experience and clinical trials demonstrate, helping to heal brain wounds leads in a majority of cases to a diminution or cessation of many symptoms.

This is the first of a two part series showing the government, again, a way forward with HBOT in the case of a national emergency/ epidemic.

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of BLAST injury, mild TBI Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI and Burn Pits. Diabetic Foot Ulcers have become a major emphasis. www.treatnow.org

*Heal Brains. Stop Suicides. Restore Lives. TreatNOW*

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