• Mark Lenzi was stationed in Guangzhou in 2017 when he developed unexplained symptoms, including headaches, memory loss and trouble sleeping 
  • An independent study by The Concussion Group found that Lenzi had several brain injuries linked to short-term memory loss, taste, emotion and movement 
  • His symptoms were similar those experienced by dozens of diplomatic staff based in Havana who may have been affected by a ‘sonic attack’ in late 2016
  • The cluster of symptoms has since been dubbed ‘Havana Syndrome’ 
  • In each case, people had reported hearing loud noises that included humming, screeching or squealing  
  • However, what exactly caused noises as well as the injuries to Lenzi, and to diplomatic staff who suffered similar symptoms, remains unclear  

By RALPH R. ORTEGA FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

 

PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

 

A US diplomat stationed in China who suffered 20 brain injuries that affected his short-term memory, taste, emotion and movement may have been in a ‘sonic attack’ – but what exactly caused the injuries remains a mystery.

Mark Lenzi, 45, was stationed in Guangzhou in 2017, when he developed unexplained symptoms, including headaches, memory loss and trouble sleeping.

His symptoms were reported after the U.S. State Department started investigating similar health concerns reported by diplomatic staff in Cuba in late 2016. The cluster of symptoms has since been dubbed ‘Havana Syndrome’.

It has been suspected that the symptoms were caused by a ‘sonic attack’, during which all staff affected reported hearing loud sounds which varied from humming to squealing. It was also suspected that the sounds were deliberate and caused by an unknown device used by the Cubans to produce discomfort.

A US diplomat stationed in China who suffered 20 brain injuries that affected his short-term memory, taste, emotion and movement may have been in a 'sonic attack' - but what exactly caused the injuries remains a mystery

A US diplomat stationed in China who suffered 20 brain injuries that affected his short-term memory, taste, emotion and movement may have been in a ‘sonic attack’ – but what exactly caused the injuries remains a mystery

The regions impacted (illustrated in shades of blue), according to the study of brain scans taken from U.S. diplomat Mark Lenzi, who was stationed in Guangzhou, China, in 2017, include short-term memory, taste, emotion and movement

The regions impacted (illustrated in shades of blue), according to the study of brain scans taken from U.S. diplomat Mark Lenzi, who was stationed in Guangzhou, China, in 2017, include short-term memory, taste, emotion and movement

Havana Syndrome

U.S. government personnel and their family members in Havana in late 2016, and after President Donald Trump’s election, complained of mysterious symptoms.

Those afflicted said they were suffering from a variety of neurological problems, that included difficulty with concentration and memory, dizziness, visual issues and balance.

All staff reported hearing loud noises in their hotels rooms or homes. The sounds were varied, but included humming, screeches and squeals.

This cause of the so-called ‘sonic attack’ has several theories.

One theory is that it was unleashed by Cuban government officials using a secret device.

But one Cuban scientist argued that the sounds were more likely caused by insects.

What exactly caused the sounds – and the subsequent brain injuries – remains a mystery.

In an independent study by doctors with The Concussion Group, Lenzi was reported as having low-grade headaches, ‘with subsequent development of memory and attention problems; problems in executive functioning, organization, and reading; and increased irritability and poor sleep,’ according to Dr. Jeffry David Lewine.

However, doctors are still unable to say exactly what caused the mysterious symptoms.

‘There’s no smoking gun,’ Dr. Edward Soll, medical director of The Concussion Group and a radiologist who was among those who evaluated Lenzi’s brain scans, told CNN.

‘Still, looking at the compendium of evidence, ‘it would be hard not to conclude that there was serious damage to this gentleman’s brain,’ he adds.

U.S. government personnel and their family members in Havana had complained of a variety of neurological problems. These included difficulty with concentration and memory, dizziness, visual issues and balance.

They were linked to sudden, intensely loud noises heard in their homes and hotel rooms. To this day, it is not clear what happened.

 

  Revealed: American diplomats’ brains SHRUNK after being…

   Sonic attacks in Cuba ‘WERE caused by insects’: Mysterious…

US diplomatic staff based in Cuba were the first to report their symptoms after the so-called 'sonic attack' shortly after Trump was elected president in 2016

+3

US diplomatic staff based in Cuba were the first to report their symptoms after the so-called ‘sonic attack’ shortly after Trump was elected president in 2016

Lenzi’s discomfort was investigated after the government reported several staff also stationed in China suffered the same symptoms.

In the report written by Dr. Lewine, he noted that Lenzi had ‘first noted odd auditory percepts in April 2017.’

He underwent MRI examinations a year later at University of Pennsylvania as part of the independent study carried out by Dr Lewine and his colleagues.

An earlier study by researchers at Penn State University that focused on staff stationed in Cuba had also revealed signs of brain changes. The analysis found that 40 affected diplomats’ brains had actually shrunk.

The team identified differences in the grey matter compared to healthy individuals. In particular, an area known as the cerebellum was affected, which is responsible for performing voluntary tasks such as walking and writing.

WARNING: Sound that allegedly made US diplomats in Cuba sick

Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
0:03
Previous
Play
Skip
Mute
Current Time0:03
/
Duration Time0:12
Fullscreen

Need Text

Warren Weinstein hostage video

But those researchers concluded that the clinical importance of the findings was uncertain, and they lacked MRIs to compare what the patients’ brains looked like before the shrinkage.

‘It says something happened, and we need to look further, and that’s about it,’ Ragini Verma, one of that study’s authors and a professor of radiology and neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, previously told CNN of the Cuba patients.

Officials in Cuba had described hearing very loud sounds, sometimes specifically coming from one direction, that varied from ‘buzzing,’ ‘grinding metal,’ ‘piercing squeals’ to ‘humming.’

But experts said the noises were unlikely to have caused the symptoms.

‘We actually don’t think it was the audible sound that was the problem,’ Douglas Smith, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Brain Injury and Repair, previously told CNN.

‘We think the audible sound was a consequence of the exposure.’

Many theories have been considered to explain what may have caused ‘Havana syndrome.’

Cuban scientist argued the sounds were probably crickets, a contention backed by researcher Alexander Stubbs of University of California, Berkeley.

The sound reported by officials and ‘he calling song of the Indies short-tailed cricket (Anurogryllus celerinictus) matches, in nuanced detail,’ the scientist said earlier this year.

‘This provides strong evidence that an echoing cricket call, rather than a sonic attack or other technological device, is responsible for the sound in the released recording.’

 

 

SOURCE

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7814637/Sonic-attack-study-finds-diplomat-suffered-brain-injuries-no-cause-Havana-syndrome.html