Takeaways from the X Space on Havana Syndrome

We all learned something!

The X Space on Havana Syndrome was held on February 5, 2025. If you missed the event, the recording is available here: https://x.com/TargetedJustice/status/1887320181136904502

I enjoyed the opportunity to make specific points about the diagnostic process related to Havana Syndrome and its AHIs (Anomalous Health Incidents). Here are some important takeaways.

1. Distinctly Unusual. A quote from the 2022 Intelligence Community Expert Panel Report on Anomalous Health Incidents ( full text here )

   

2. Four Core Characteristics of the AHI (from the same IC Report).

   

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3. Verification Using Objective Vestibular Tests (as described in Hoffer et al., 2018)

   1. Eye Movement Test - simple (following a point), or using goggles (Videonystagmography, or VNG)

   2. Specialized Vestibular Tests

      1. Subjective Visual Vertical (SVV) - correcting vertical line while in a chair.

      2. cVEMP (cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential) - measuring neck muscle response to standardized stimuli

      3. oVEMP (ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential) - measuring eye muscle response to standardized stimuli
         

4. Having Appropriate Tests done does not give you a diagnosis. Interpretation by a skilled physician does.

5. When Communicating with a Physician, don’t ask her for a specific diagnosis. Rather, ask to differentiate between potential conditions and the effects of EM Pulses. If EM Pulses are not on the “menu”, correct diagnosis is less likely to be made.

6. Additional tests (blood biomarkers, fMRI DTI, qEEG with swLoreta, neuropsychological evaluation) are used to increase confidence of the diagnosis, not to diagnose it in the first place!

Toward the end of the Space, we attempted a “role play”, - a hypothetical interaction between a patient and a doctor. I am grateful to the brave volunteers who made this experiment possible. We learned from this interaction, that a patient must organize his or her symptoms, and present them to the doctor in an intelligible manner: what exactly you are experiencing, how the symptoms are related, what triggers them, etc. Also, do not use explanatory statements to describe your symptoms. For example, “I am hit with a laser beam” is not a symptom, and not a sensory experience. Describe what you experience instead of making an explanatory statement.

Thanks to Ana Toledo at Targeted Justice for organizing and holding this event!

We’ll do it again soon!