Tics and Toxins: LeRoy Officials Gave Little Attention to Schoolyard Before Ruling Out Environment
By Dan Olmsted
Health experts say they’ve eliminated every possible environmental and infectious cause for the “tics” afflicting 12 girls at LeRoy Junior/Senior High School in New York state. They’ve scoured the building for mold and carbon monoxide (nothing, they say), considered illnesses that might cause the symptom (none), even checked on vaccinations (not all girls had the same shot).
However thorough that workup may have been, it seems to have stopped at the schoolhouse Exit sign. Except for checking a log of pesticide spraying, there is no evidence they considered toxins in the schoolyard or on playing fields. Yet the symptoms occurred during mild weather when students would have been outside, and the school grounds are surrounded by intensively farmed land from which chemicals could conceivably have seeped or drifted.
The school is required to keep annual pesticide logs that were reviewed by a consulting firm looking into environmental factors, and therefore pesticides were ruled out. As best I can determine, that’s as far as it went.
That may not be far enough, given that parents and some of the students involved don’t accept the psychogenic diagnosis they have been given, and that a number of Web commentators familiar with the school have raised concerns about the grounds and how the relatively new building is sited.
Public health officials remain adamant that the case is closed.
"The LeRoy school is safe,” Jeffrey Hammond, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, replied Friday after I raised the issue in a telephone call. “The environment or an infection is not the cause of the students’ tics. There are many causes of tics-like symptoms. Stress can often worsen tic-like symptoms.
“All of the affected students have been evaluated and some have shown signs of improvement. Vaccines (Gardasil) have been ruled out."
While the department has been careful for privacy reasons to avoid naming the illness, a doctor treating the girls has now gone public, with their permission, by calling it “conversion disorder.” Known less gingerly as mass hysteria, the diagnosis is rooted in 19th century Freudian psychology: Stress or trauma is subconsciously transformed into physical symptoms that can occur in several people at the same time.
In part because the LeRoy diagnosis took months to emerge, and in part because many people – including parents and affected children – find conversion disorder a suspect explanation, multiple theories continue to arise. Those include concerns about the school building and grounds, expressed in online comments:
-- An environmental study “would be the first logical step, knowing that the school was built in a swamp and that a number of classrooms were underwater the first year as well as the gym you would think it would be the first thing the school would address- even if only to disprove it.”
-- “Girls started feeling sick in September, sounds like pesticide spraying At the end of summer before the fall to protect late crops.” (The girls’ symptoms began as early as September 10, according to published accounts.)
-- “Have the doctors considered that the condition may be related to the school's having been built on swampy land? Water in the building continues to be a problem. A second story that should be pursued by the press and others is why this new school was built and why it was built on this particular piece of land.”
A quick look look at Google Earth (click the plus sign to see the school and grounds in detail) shows the setting. The high school’s Web site has an aerial photo that appears to show a large pool of standing water close to the school, with a rivulet coming even closer; it appears to be dry in the Google photo.
Farming, despite its idyllic image in American lore, is a highly chemical-intensive practice, and Western New York is no exception. For that and other reasons, it can be dangerous. In October, a few miles west of LeRoy in Genesee County, two people became ill when a pesticide being applied to a potato field wafted in their direction. The substance was a toxic fumigant being injected into the soil in preparation for planting this year’s crop. Officials said humidity might have helped spread it.
Obviously, that incident had nothing to do with the LeRoy illnesses, but it does give a sense of time and place missing in accounts of the area, as well as suggesting weather is an unpredictable vector.
But in such a scenario, why would only girls be affected? That's unclear, but there are a number of possibilities that environmental triggers could help explain. For instance, in some cases of mass illness in high schools, the victims were male football players and the problems were traced to toxins where they played. Being male was not a susceptibility factor, but it pointed to the exposure nonetheless. (In another case, marching band members suffered the same problem for the same reason.)
It is possible that more has been done to consider toxins outside the school building, but if so nothing has been done to communicate it to the national media.
In fact, opportunities continue to be missed. The two consultant reports and the school district’s official statement make no mention of looking for anything amiss outside the building itself ,except to note the water supply comes from neighboring Monroe County's public system. "No history of building water damage or site contamination was found," it states.
Neither the district nor the consulting firm it hired would talk to me Friday when I told them I was seeking information on whether risks outside the school building had been investigated.
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism and co-author, with Mark Blaxill, of “The Age of Autism – Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-made Epidemic,” published by Thomas Dunne Books.
Schools, as our children's second home should be safe for kids. Schools must look into pesticide usage to make our children away from harm.
Posted by: Pfarr Cottrell | May 03, 2013 at 05:18 AM
July 9, 2012
Why can't we ever get to the bottom of situations like this?
Where are all the attorneys who should be representing these families?
Why aren't reporters keeping this in the news?
Oh yeah, I forgot...$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Posted by: Linda Soderberg | July 09, 2012 at 03:18 PM
We know have a problem in one of the Schools in Ct, it's been all over the News, 19 girls(only) have had tics and they are trying to treat them with Antibiotics, they say they have no Idea where it has come from, I wonder have they seen this article, well I will make sure they will, at least hear about it from me,they want to say all 19 girls have stress conditeions , can you believe that, why do people not come forward when they know it has happened some where else , not far from them, it's not like people don't watch the news, maybe it would help these poor kids!HELP THEM OUT!
Posted by: Deborah Beltz | February 08, 2012 at 12:08 AM
I have not read this posted anywhere but I think that if the sports field is contaminated then the reason the girls are affected more is a matter of basic hygiene than a case of mass hysteria.
As I understand it all of the girls affected were athletic and spent a lot of time on that field. All pesticide workers are taught to wash their hands thoroughly before using the restroom or eating. Many people do not wash their hands before using the restroom. If a persons hands have toxic chemicals on them then touching their genitals is a very quick route for poison absorption. In women while changing tampons, or in the case of men while urinating.
Just a thought.
Posted by: Kathy | January 29, 2012 at 10:58 PM
I hope an investigation can be performed to verify if hypoxia is the issue or not.
Posted by: vk | January 28, 2012 at 10:25 PM
UPDATE - 1970 train derailment - 30,000 gallons of industrial trichloroethylene 4 miles from the school is being investigated. There is an unresolved EPA investigation that shows high contamination existed in the crash area of Gulf Road and the now abandon tracks as late as 2006 and was still not cleaned pending more planning. The town built the school in a swampy area. It opened in 2003 and an investigative team is planning to obtain dirt samples which prove or disprove rumors that dirt may have been imported from the crash site to use as fill on the sports fields.
Posted by: Beth | January 28, 2012 at 12:35 AM
Why hasn't the CDC been involved? These kids need an independent exam and Dr's not involved in the political correctness in NYS. A new school built in swamp land with some classrooms being under water.....and the spraying that went on....HOW many children need to be affected for some one to take control and get the answer - whatever that is.
Posted by: Kara | January 24, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Dr. Mechtler needs to be ditched. I hope they are also testing for heavy metals and also take a real accounting of any vaccines given in the last few months.
Posted by: Jen | January 24, 2012 at 09:58 AM
If you read this article, it states that the Dent Institute that was "treating" the students (where some parents have lost faith in the doctors), have now agreed to more free testing for the students. So, the parents go out to find another doctor for a second opinion and the original doctors now decide that they will do more testing for free? Sounds like Dent Institute may be interested in controlling how the message is relayed. Cynical view, I know, but from the beginning the "doctors" from that Institute seemed slimy to me.
http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2465335.shtml?cat=566
Posted by: Susie Q | January 24, 2012 at 09:16 AM
Updates:
http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s2463450.shtml
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120124/NEWS01/120124003/1168/RSS?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Posted by: Patrick | January 24, 2012 at 08:49 AM
Yes Benedetta, I meant the doctors are minimizing the problem. According to the article, the doctors keep saying the girls are getting better, but the parents don't agree. The parents want more testing done to find out what has made their daughters ill.
Posted by: Rachael | January 23, 2012 at 07:39 PM
Rachel
Do you mean the doctors are minimizing the problem?
Posted by: Benedetta | January 23, 2012 at 05:42 PM
I'm wondering how/when the mainstream media will report on the parents' loss of faith in the way the docs/neuros have handled this situation...
Posted by: Jen | January 23, 2012 at 04:51 PM
Up to 16 students who are now affected. A boy and another girl were pulled out of LeRoy High School last week after exhibiting similar symptoms to the ones that these other teens have been experiencing. All of the parents there have been seeking treatment from Dent Neurologic Institute in Buffalo but have recently stopped it. They say they have lost faith in the doctors and they are minimizing the problem.
http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s2463450.shtml
Posted by: Rachael | January 23, 2012 at 11:59 AM
To add to the picture of Clostridia/gut bugs and Autism it is almost certain that if people without the other issuses of metabolism/immune function and other problems had similar amounts of Propionic Acid excess they would show far less or no symptoms neurologically except in extreme cases. The Propionic Acid problem is a sign of and contributor to the problem, not at all the whole problem.
Posted by: Visitor | January 23, 2012 at 11:35 AM
To me its presenting as classic PANDAS - tics and neurologicla symptoms that come on seemingly overnight. This happens to my son too. Caused by strep that invades the blood stream - in some it doesn't go away.
Posted by: Diane | January 23, 2012 at 11:04 AM
I heard they ruled out gardasil,,, but what does that mean? Does that mean not all the girls were given gardasil? Or does that mean they decided it wasn't gardasil since that isn't politically correct? Also..... Did all these girls get the same pertussis shot at the beginnning of the year? I hope someone from the canary party is sharing with the parents what sorts of testing might get to the bottom of this and to run away from those freaky neurologists who are so in the woods that they are pulling out a dx that was popular in freudian times.
Posted by: maggie | January 23, 2012 at 10:54 AM
Well, I hope someone has the sense to test them for strep and gut bugs.... and from a decent lab.
Posted by: maggie | January 22, 2012 at 08:36 PM
Speaking of schoolyards, isn't it interesting that Orac, schoolyard bully of the internet has not jumped in to defend the conversion disorder (i.e. mass hysteria) diagnosis at LeRoy HIgh School? Even Gorski - industry's head whore online - is afraid to touch this subject. What would his female disciples say? The diagnosis is so absurd to the extreme, even he knows better than to defend his masters on this one. Instead, he jumps around to other topics in hopes no one will notice he hasn't weighed in with his usual invective.
For genuine, real life mass hysteria, see the comments beneath any of Orac's rants.
Posted by: Wayne State's finest | January 22, 2012 at 06:10 PM
Sarah wrote:
"Not sure if it is connected but in "The Autism Enigma" documentary, Dr. Derrick MacFabe showed that a buildup of a metabolite called propionic acid produced in the gut can result in autistic behaviors."
I learned of this while studying Clostridia species back in 1996 and found the info from Dr. Shaw after noting the presence effecting a family member. Treatment reducing a Clostridia must be reducing some strong effects in some as it did in my family member.
Shaw - Increased urinary excretion of a 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropionic acid (HPHPA), an abnormal phenylalanine metabolite of Clostridia spp. in the gastrointestinal tract, in urine samples from patients with autism and schizophrenia.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20423563
Posted by: Visitor | January 22, 2012 at 02:46 PM
Diane Harper helped develop this HPV vaccine which possibly explains ALL the symptoms for Le Roy Girls.
She spoke how bad it was.
For example in the Sunday Express.
Lots of the adverse comments are being retracted.
Have we got to have 100 years more of this dangerous vaccine?
That article has gone but the quotes rest
Quotes:
"We don't know yet what's going to happen when millions of doses of the vaccine have been given and to put in place a process that says you must have this vaccine, it means you must be part of a big public experiment. So we can't do that until we have more data." - Dr. Diane Harper
"If we vaccinate 11 year olds and the protection doesn't last... We've put them at harm from side effects, small but real, for no benefit... The benefit to public health is nothing, there is no reduction in cervical cancers..." - Dr. Diane Harper
"I think there's a strong possibility that Gardasil was the catalyst that set off the ALS [Lou Gehrig's Disease]. It could have been the straw that broke the camel's back in a child who was already predisposed to the condition. I do think it's wrong for physicians to tell parents that it's 100 percent safe." - Dr. Diane Harper
"...neither physicians nor women should be lulled into a false sense of security [about the vaccine]" - Dr. Diane Harper
"It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11- to 12-year-old girls There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue. This vaccine has not been tested in little girls for efficacy. At 11, these girls don't get cervical cancer - they won't know for 25 years if they will get cervical cancer. ...To mandate now is simply to Merck's benefit, and only to Merck's benefit." - Dr. Diane Harper
"Dr. Harper is afraid that the way the vaccine is being presented could actually have the effect of increasing the rate of cervical cancer in the U.S." - Michele Cagan, who interviewed Dr. Diane Harper for the Health Sciences Institute.
Posted by: John Fryer | January 22, 2012 at 12:54 PM
Visitor commented:
"The state is saying "We cannot disclose what is wrong with these girls" and saying it's "Psychological"
If they are claiming it's psychological, then why say they cannot disclose it?"
I always thought they got away with quieting vaccine injury outbreaks by hiding behind telling the victims and officials that it was a matter of public safety or call it national security.
The victims, doctors and health officials I imagine are told that the victims will be compensated for their injuries, but if you let this out to the world know you would be killing masses of people whom will not vaccinate due to your hysteria.
Your comment got me to look up national security on wikipedia:
"Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies (ISECOM) in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection where a separation is created between the assets and the threat". This includes but is not limited to the elimination of either the asset or the threat. Security as a national condition was defined in a United Nations study (1986)[citation needed], so that countries can develop and progress safely."
I think it may be no coincidence that in 1986 "Security as a national condition was defined in a United Nations study (1986)[citation needed], so that countries can develop and progress safely." and also in 1986 our government saved the vaccine companies from going out of business due to vaccine injuries by shifting financial liability from pharmaceutical companies to consumers for vaccine injuries by developing the vaccine injury compensation program (VICP).
Heck just a few years ago by hiding behind national security the pharmaceutical companies almost succeeded in forcing their product on everyone in the world.
Back to your point. Why would the State explain that they could not reveal a mere psychological cause? What would be the harm? I feel they compromised by releasing part of the diagnosis eventually by calling this mass psychogenic illness instead of mass psychogenic illness after vaccination (MPIv). I believe these girls will not be compensated if they reveal the cause as in all vaccine injury cases. They are told it is a matter of public safety.
Pharmaceutical companies have a complete abuse of power. It is the only way they have progressed passed the point at which the benefit of vaccines clearly do not outweigh the risks.
Posted by: Patrick | January 22, 2012 at 12:52 PM
Eileen;
Dullsville and kids getting into trouble from being bored thus getting into drugs.
Rural Kentucky is in the center of this. The very first pretty, warm, spring day; fleets of helicopters beat the sky across our community toward the forest and mountians surrounding us. What an adrenal rush it must be for them to be going to war on drugs.
My neighbor retired from a big health insurance company up in Mass, made a big life change by moving down here and taking a volunteer job working along side churches and government programs with addicted women. He says that everyone of these women who have a drug problem have an underlying mental illness ---- mostly bipolar.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 22, 2012 at 11:32 AM
Not sure if it is connected but in "The Autism Enigma" documentary, Dr. Derrick MacFabe showed that a buildup of a metabolite called propionic acid produced in the gut can result in autistic behaviors. In agriculture, Propionic aid is also used as an anti fungal to prevent mold on hay.
From an EPA fact sheet:
"Propionic acid is a fungicide and bactericide, registered to control fungi and bacteria in stored grains, hay, grain storage areas, poultry litter, and drinking water for livestock and poultry. It is formulated as a liquid
and sprayed onto grain, hay, grain storage area surfaces, and poultry litter. It is added directly to drinking water for livestock and poultry."
Propionic Acid:
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/4078fact.pdf
http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1599.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0529.html
The Autism Enigma:
http://cogentbenger.com/autism/interviews-and-discussions/genetics-or-environmental/
Posted by: Sarah | January 22, 2012 at 10:58 AM
I had to lookup Le Roy. It is about 150 miles west of where I grew up in New Hartford (south of Utica). I went back a few years ago for a high school reunion. As I crossed the border from western MA into NY I was moved to tears. I had a way to go before passing Albany, but there already were the old corn silos and pastures.
At the hotel in New Hartford, I told the young clerk at the desk how wonderful it felt to be back home, "Of course I thought this was dullsville USA growing up here," I added. His blunt response was, "It still is dullsville." I know. That's why I chose to go to college at Barnard in NYC over Cornell or Vassar.
Le Roy has an active farmers' market program, and instructions from the police department for disposing unused medications. It looks like a wholesome place to grow up in, but does it feel like dullsville to teenagers? Would the drabness of their lives lead them to experiment with "recreational" substances? Would they (or could they now) admit this? The "conversion disorder" theory seems rather out-of-date and simplistic.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | January 22, 2012 at 08:42 AM
I found this on another blog, and thought it makes a good point..
"The state is saying "We cannot disclose what is wrong with these girls" and saying it's "Psychological"
If they are claiming it's psychological, then why say they cannot disclose it?"
Posted by: Visitor | January 22, 2012 at 08:27 AM
Extrapyramidal
What a great word, as well as the knowledge behind it!
Posted by: Benedetta | January 22, 2012 at 01:38 AM
Hi Benedetta,
Correct about males and Tourette's - if you mean DSM diagnosis. This may be more in the "Extrapyramidal" category.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | January 22, 2012 at 01:19 AM
If they didn't perform the correct tests or take the samples using the correct methods, they won't have accurate results regarding environmental contaminants. For accurate information, check out the Global Indoor Health Network at http://globalindoorhealthnetwork. The parents might also like to contact Dr. Jack Thrasher at drthrasher.org. He is a Ph.D. toxicologist who has many years of experience investigating environmental problems in homes, schools and businesses.
Posted by: Cheryl Wisecup | January 21, 2012 at 08:32 PM
Sounds like what they have been calling those poor people sick with ME CFS for years hysterical!
Posted by: dolly | January 21, 2012 at 08:32 PM
From "across the pond":- I can't forget my late father (b.1913) who used a pesticide/chemical called Aldrin/Alldrin until it was taken off the market in the late 1960s. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at 66 and died at 73 with P.D. on his death certificate (unusual). Somewhere in the American literature is a report from more than 15 years ago stating that P.D. grandfathers had an increased risk of having grandchildren on the autism spectrum. There was also a similar study more than five years ago. Sorry, I don't have precise references.
It's conjecture on my part but does the genetic inheritance from the grandfathers somehow transmit to an increased risk of pesticide/vaccine/chemical damage in the grandchildren? Is that one of the genetic susceptibilities we're all trying to tease out of the tangled web of genetic factors?
Posted by: ElizaCassandra | January 21, 2012 at 06:39 PM
Just want to share something a farmer reported. He said that one of the pesticides used on farms causes low copper which in turn caused prions to grow, which in turn caused mad cow. He said his organic farm did not have mad cow, but the farms around him did due to the low copper the pesticide caused. This is but one example on how pesticides cause symptoms. Toxins cause imbalances in minerals, bad and good minerals, which not only causes problems with mito and metabolic systems, but also leads to immune dysfunction. Thus, where there are toxins, there are pathogens, and vice versa. So, antibiotics may still lead to the healing of tics in these cases because I have found that it takes several conditions to bring about symptoms, and eliminating only one or some of them relieves the symptoms. Thus, ridding the pathogen, toxin, or even restoring the nutrient imbalance may bring relief. This explains why some got ill and not others. At low levels, pathogens and toxins will cause symptoms in some, but not all. Of course, when you raise the toxin and pathogen levels, you raise the amount of people who fall to symptoms.
Perhaps one can test these girls to see if they do have pesticide levels in them. Keep in mind that if you Google, you will find all kinds of causes of tics, from bacteria to toxins, to lack of certain B vitamins produced only when one has the proper microflora to do so. I sure hope one of the families continues to pursue this. I would like to see those girls back to being healthy.
Posted by: Heidi N | January 21, 2012 at 06:29 PM
Tim, I think you're right about the "substance" theory. By now one of them would've cracked. I wonder exactly how many of them had Gardasil, dpt update or flu shots. They keep saying not all of them had Gardasil. Well how many 7/12 ??? Did some get dpt/flu. Either way the increase in schedule is coinciding with a lot of bizarre problems they can't or don't want to explain. Parents need a lawyer, they are being shafted.
Posted by: Jen | January 21, 2012 at 06:08 PM
Teresa Conrick;
Am I mistaken that boys are the majority afflicked with tourettes?
Just as in autism?
Posted by: Benedetta | January 21, 2012 at 05:24 PM
Notice this quote from one of the moms:
Her mother, Melisa Philips added, “She also now has daily blackouts and seizures … not like epilepsy seizures, but where she’s somewhat lucid and can feel her body being rigid and it`s almost like she’s a stone statue. And she can’t move and she’s very weak and tired, and so, it just continually seems to get new symptoms.”
Guillaine-Barre, anyone?
Posted by: Taximom5 | January 21, 2012 at 05:16 PM
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1986 Spring;10(1):1-14.
Effects of estrogen on the basal ganglia.
Van Hartesveldt C, Joyce JN.
Abstract
Recent research suggests that estrogen regulates the activity of dopamine-containing fibers originating in the midbrain and terminating in the basal ganglia, and/or dopamine-sensitive cells in the basal ganglia. The mechanism by which estrogen acts is not clear, since cells in neither of these regions concentrate estrogens. Nevertheless, estrogens clearly affect behaviors mediated by the basal ganglia, as illustrated in human patients suffering from extrapyramidal disorders. Both biochemical and behavioral research in animals has confirmed that estrogen modulates basal ganglia function, but there has not been agreement concerning either the locus, the direction, or the mechanism of its action. These topics are the focus of this review. The effects of estrogen on behaviors mediated by DA in the basal ganglia depend on the dose of estrogen administered, the time interval between estrogen treatment and testing, the behavior measured, and the part of the basal ganglia from which the behavior is elicited. A high dose of estrogen results in an initial suppression and later enhancement of DA-related behaviors elicited from the striatum. However, no later enhancement of these behaviors occurs if a low dose of estrogen is given. Even after low doses of estrogen, the latency to behavioral suppression varies depending upon the behavior measured. These varying latencies suggest that more than one mechanism is involved in the effects of estrogen on basal ganglia output. In addition, estrogen may also act on some regions in the mesolimbic DA system. While estrogen may act indirectly via the catechol estrogens and prolactin, it has been demonstrated that estrogen can act directly on the striatum. These findings are related to the effects of estrogen on human extrapyramidal disorders.
What are extrapyramidal disorders?
movement disorder - (Extrapyramidal disorder)- any of numerous neurologic disorders characterized by disturbances of muscular movement, distinguished as either hyperkinetic (conditions such as chorea, dystonia, hemiballismus, myoclonus, stereotypy, tic, and tremor) or hypokinetic (conditions such as akinetic mutism, psychomotor retardation, and the stiff-man syndrome).
Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | January 21, 2012 at 03:25 PM
Rachael-
Only females at LeRoy is a big key. The reason pesticides would then be a pertinent culprit is, estrogen-
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11884232?dopt=Abstract
"Several of the pesticides, dieldrin, endosulfan, methiocarb, and fenarimol, acted both as estrogen agonists and androgen antagonists."....the integrated response in the organism might be amplified by the ability of the pesticides to act via several mechanism and the frequent simultaneous exposure to several pesticides."
What is an agonist?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agonist
"An agonist is a chemical that binds to a receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance."
Why is estrogen involved in movement disorders---? think autoimmune diseases as well:
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | January 21, 2012 at 03:23 PM
Anne Dachel,
Thank you for supplying the links
The psych says nerves involved.
My son's neuologist has an quick answer for that;
Normal life involves emotions, epilespy and seizures cannot be stated as a pure case of nerves.
The blond girl on the "Today Show" has the same tic my son has with her eyes, I did not get to watch her long enough to see if she snuffed her nose like he did. Regardless, mild or not - years and time did not make it go away, and as for seizures; Yes at years they were not normal seizures - he was rigid, was lucid sometimes, moved around like he was lucid but he was not -- untill they started becoming more and more like regular ol'd seizures.
In this modern age - knowing all the things that we know- the age of the computer - the age of knowledge and we are getting no answers on this is Suspicious.
Maybe those twisty light bulbs with the mercury was not such a good idea?
Which leads me not to understand the EPA advertisment of how they are so important and should be given lots of money and continued to be supported. They don't get their way in Congress they get their way in forcing regulation with the Congress -- and the mercury containing light bulbs is the last thing they are worried about as they change the data for world wide temperatures.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 21, 2012 at 01:56 PM
I believe my son had this, but they didn't call it mass psychogenic illness (MPI). Why aren't they using the diagnosis mass psychogenic illness after vaccination (MPIV). Officials keep mentioning Gardisil so it is obvious that several if not all had at least one shot. I do believe one is considered unvaccinated if the entire series is not completed. It is hard to believe that one of the girls is over due for flu, hpv, and DPT.
In regards to the girls diagnosed with MPI in 1965, they had just been inoculated with polio and the doctors record that MPI was "A compromise theory--an organic affection with a deal of hysterical overlay-is the last possibility to consider. This type of explanation has an immediate appeal; it is worldly wise and dignified, and comprises the best of all possible worlds. It also saves face and has the advantage of being almost completely untestable. But not quite untestable.".
I do believe this doctor is trying to save face and may be trying to protect vaccinations or save lives.
I also would question if there really was nothing to be found on these MRI's as a common practice is to not inform the parents of certain masses on the brain that are considered incidental or not causing the symptoms. What my son had was considered incidental, but it is known to cause seizures which he did have. They did not inform me of this mass. I found out because I ordered a copy of his MRIs.
Another thing about my son was that before he was put over the edge at age four from vaccinations he was already very high in lead and cadmium of which I was exposed to years before he was born. I would suspect the girls may be high in other heavy metals or other toxins besides their vaccine exposure.
Lastly my son has the problem with light exertion or anything raising his spinal fluid pressure causing symptoms due to the pressure on his brain or hydrocephalus.
The girls in 1965 also were vulnerable to exertion. The injuries were the highest occuring during exertion.
I suspect also a problem with the fight or flight mechanism improperly being triggered (chemically) and causing heavy production of spinal fluid.
He did recover as well but the drugs prescribed did not work and caused severe side effects and delayed recovery.
I hope these girls recover quickly. It's a painful experience.
Posted by: Patrick | January 21, 2012 at 01:51 PM
I keep thinking of the tests breaking Hg containing light bulbs on various flooring surfaces and checking the air quality in proximity after simulating the agitation that perhaps a baby crawling across the floor might causes and how the air levels were found to be concerning particularly at the floor level for days afterward.
http://www.maine.gov/dep/homeowner/cflreport.html
Were the indoor tests thorough and sensitive enough to rule out some kind of toxic spill in an essentially "girls only area," the restrooms, shower/locker rooms? My high school even had separate gyms for boys and girls P.E. and we often worked out on the floor for several minutes.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | January 21, 2012 at 01:47 PM
“All of the affected students have been evaluated and some have shown signs of improvement. Vaccines (Gardasil) have been ruled out."
Why has the ONLY possible known cause been ruled out on the basis of a plain statement like this.
Dr Wakefield gave anonymous results for 12 people and got thrown out.
It is evident that if ANY doctor did the same for these girls his CAREER would be finished.
The public must know the dates for GARDASIL and the dates for first signs of TICS.
OR are a million girls around the world going to be brought to neurological harm at the rate of 1 in 2 000 to protect INCOMES, LOBBYING fees, and PAYOUTS to all USA doctors who are prepared to accept the known RISKS at this UNACCEPTABLE LEVEL.
Postlicensure SAFETY (JOKE?) Surveillance for GMO HPV VACCINE JAMA August 2009 page 750.
The safety tests by MARCK on very few were abandoned in 2006 on ETHICAL (choke) grounds. One way to avoid knowing how bad this vaccine is.
The VAERS list these exact SYMPTOMS of the Le Roy girls.
Mass hysteria may be possible for some but not all and the AUTOMATIC ticking is at a speed 5 times faster than can be produced by FAKERS.
The only FAKES seen by me are the SCARED DOCTORS who will face prison for what they are doing to these girls.
But they are PROTECTED so the CARNAGE will continue.
GARDASIL rules UN OK
Posted by: John Fryer | January 21, 2012 at 01:36 PM
The environmental Le Roy School report is both impressive but tells us that there is something serious here.
The link to GARDASIL is important to publicly explain away.
The symptoms are an EXACT metch to those reported in the GARDASIL 2 000 page list of ADVERSE effects which includes deaths.
The Hysteria means some but not all may be reacting in sympathy with the REAL illness the others received.
The illness hits men mostly and is known in many military units who coincidentally get up to 11 vaccines at once.
Coincidentally the only other incident with girls was in a school and also affected only girls and one lady adult.
Again for this incident in 2007 there NEVER was a public link of vaccine status to the individuals concerned.
This sort of illness is reported to affect possibly up to 1 in 3 at some point and is vastly over represented today since the introduction of GARDASIL in 2006.
Further the SAFETY TEST as relating to these girls was on only a 1 000 and the test was ABANDONED before completion.
From the point of view of what the vaccine does and these girls we have nothing except a 100 per cent theoretical connection.
VAERS as used by the CDC themselves admits to 1 event in 2 000.
A far cry from my day when the events were 1 in 500 000.
Looking to government laws we see a society where proper safety for vaccines is not necessary with the inbuilt protection for all involved even up to deaths after vaccines.
NOT so much a SHAMBLES as AUTHORITY party to GARDACIDE.
Failure to find the blame will lead to a 100 years of increasing chaos and illness in the USA where the death to babies is more than 100 per cent higher than equivalent countries.
Further the cure is only that to the level where the person copes and is not a CURE.
ACTION must be taken and COMPLAINTS filed with the FEDERAL AUTHORITIES.
Posted by: John Fryer | January 21, 2012 at 01:19 PM
“Two separate domestic delivery systems have been delineated – one involving country-wide reconfigurations of water systems, and the other involving imposter pharmaceuticals”. Hmmmmm. “imposter pharmaceuticals”? What’s that all about?
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/01/dancing-apocalypso-with-microbial.html
NOT AGAIN: Dr. Nancy Snyderman talking about FORCED FLU VACCINE
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1620576/pg1
Posted by: patrons99 | January 21, 2012 at 01:11 PM
Why would it be a HIPPA violation to release the diagnosis, but NOT a violation to state whether they've had Gardasil or not?? Just sayin.
Posted by: Zed | January 21, 2012 at 12:52 PM
Rachel said:
"This is only speculation on my part, but perhaps, it was a certain batch of "synthetic drugs", that was used by the girls, at that time, that made them ill."
I figure that as serious as this has gotten for some of these girls that at least one of them would have "cracked" and let doctors know about any usage in order to solve this and get better. I can not imagine any girl would sit back and watch themselves deteriorate without trying everything they can to get better.
You can also bet that if one of them had cracked it would be front page of the New York Times - mystery solved.
400 years ago these girls would have been burned at the stake. The only thing that has changed is that the fire has not been lit - the High Priestess of Neurology has simply tied them to the stake for all of us to point at, to divert attention away from a more realistic cause of events.
We have come so far in 400 years, but just in case, keep the matches away from the neurologists.
Posted by: Tim Kasemodel | January 21, 2012 at 12:48 PM
"If recreational drugs or bath salts were involved - again - why are the boys not getting tics? I doubt only girls would be using these."
***************
Same could be said about the spraying of pesticides as the cause for the development of tics ... why did it effect only the girls and not boys? This is only speculation on my part, but perhaps, it was a certain batch of "synthetic drugs", that was used by the girls, at that time, that made them ill.
Posted by: Rachael | January 21, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Also on Dr. Drew yesterday, where one of the girls had a seizure on the air, her mother said that no one had done heavy metal testing on the girls.
Dr. Drew talks mystery illness backstage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj9T67PNwVk
http://drdrew.blogs.cnn.com/
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | January 21, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Sorry I did not mean to confuse or ramble in my last blog.
But I think my sister-in-law and mother-in-law might have been poisoned with pesticides.
They lived in and around orange groves, visited and were very close to the grandparents that kept a constant- very - large and well tended rose garden.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 21, 2012 at 11:43 AM
If recreational drugs or bath salts were involved - again - why are the boys not getting tics? I doubt only girls would be using these.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | January 21, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Just an after-thought to my comment below ... One of the reasons that the use of synthetic cannabinoids(K-2)became so popular over the last few years was that they don’t show up in traditional drug tests. And "bath salts" appeal to young drugs users because they don't show up in drug tests either.
Posted by: Rachael | January 21, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Kawasakis; Some say it was after walking across a sprayed lawn, and even as adults they can't go near ball fields and treated golf courses.
Some claim it was after playing on wet carpet - one said they had played on a wet carpet some one had thrown out near a creek some where. So, some thinks it is fungus breathed in.
Then there are mine - came after a DPT shot.
My sister-in-law/mother-in-law in 1964 both became very ill with severe headaches, not being able to move. My sister-in-law ,missed half a year of the sixth grade and my mother-in-law ended up in the hospital. I do know that my husband was a very intelligent/gentle/but hyper active a nervous person, has always been very light sensitive and wears sunglasses even on cloudy days. He too may have been touched with this virus. Yes, Diagnosis some kind of virus probably. Virus is code word for we don't know.
This is only a guess; on my part.
*But what I do know that after a bunch of tetanus shots in his teens - a tetanus shot in his 20s caused my husband to have a seizure. A tetanus shot in his 30's made him sick enough to end up down at Emory Clinic for a dignosis of acquired mitochrondrial myopathy.
*A DPT shot caused my daughter Kawasakis, passing out gasping for air,fever 106. All five shots did something to different degrees.
*A DPT shot caused my son - five years younger than my daughter to have a stroke. and all three shots caused differnt reactions, but each were severe.
So, Gadisil different shots??? Mine received different shots and different lots too--- is that what it means by different shots - different lots? or some got the shot and some did not. High school kids around freshman year also all receive tetanus shots too.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 21, 2012 at 10:34 AM
There's been some speculation locally that synthetic marijuana (K-2) or "bath salts" (synthetic cocaine and methamphetamine) could be related to the outbreak of tics among teenage girls in Le Roy.
http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/potentially-dangerous-synthetic-drugs-readily-available-genesee-county/29930
Posted by: Rachael | January 21, 2012 at 09:59 AM
this will come back to bite the school administrators. I predict that next fall more kids will mysteriously develop tics. I think pesticides or chemicals sprayed on the playing field or surrounding field are a likely culprit.
Parents whould talk to parents at school systems in Texas and Oregon where athletes became ill from chemicals on the field.
Posted by: Sarah | January 21, 2012 at 09:17 AM
I feel sure that the authorities would have played that card by now if they had had the remotest pretext.
Posted by: For Eileen | January 21, 2012 at 08:58 AM
This has probably been brought up, but I haven't had time to follow this story. Were these girls using "recreational" substances of any kind?
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | January 21, 2012 at 08:25 AM
According to one media source .. Dr. Laslo Mechler .. Vice President of the Dent Neurological Institute in Buffalo .. said:
"this illness isn't something new, it's happened before, all around the world, in different parts of the world. It's a rare phenomenon. Physicians are intrigued by it. The bottom line is these teenagers will get better ....... we know exactly what's going on, we know exactly how to treat it, part of it is just the natural course of the illness".
Admittedly, I have no idea of the scientific credibility or reputation of the "Dent Neurological Institute in Buffalo".. but .. Dr. Laslo Mechler .. was .. none-the-less .. identified as the Vice President.
Raising the obvious question:
Has Dr. Mechler been asked to elaborate on his remarks .. such as .. tell the rest of us "exactly what is going on"? .. and .. "exactly how it is treated"?
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | January 21, 2012 at 07:02 AM