Environmental Dangers of Chemical Exposure
There is no question that a large, and growing number of people have developed illnesses largely caused from present-day environmental chemicals. Unfortunately, these are typically not discovered unless an individual’s symptoms persist or they fail to respond adequately to
prescription medications. Many of new patients have been to several doctors only to become discouraged by the results. And most of them are patients that conventional doctors really didn’know how to deal with.
Right now you are probably saying to yourself, “Environmental chemical exposure sounds like
a rare cause of illness and doesn’t really relate to me.”
“Do you know anyone with arthritis that
developed it without a related known cause?”
So whether you have arthritis, memory difficulties, heart trouble, thyroid weakness, or one
of a myriad of other chronic “idiopathic” illnesses, you may want to consider the causes that
can be identified and removed.
Could Chemical Exposure Be the Cause of Your Health Problems?
The symptoms caused by chemical or environmental exposures are usually multiple and sometimes disabling. But for sure, it is a subtle process—one that has taken decades for our nation’s experts to figure out. These chemicals more classically affect the brain, nervous system,
or immune system. However, evidence is mounting that they also affect joints, heart muscle, the
bowel, thyroid, intestinal lining, and probably more.
They may be contributing triggers to many “idiopathic” illnesses. While the exact mechanism of how chemicals affect these tissues is not entirely clear, antibodies and markers of immune system inflammation are both measurable and usually correspond with symptoms and
history.
A February 3, 2006, article on The New York Times
website describes one patient’s plight that is all too common:
“During a nine-year period that ended in 2004, Ms. Riley, 47, visited almost 20 doctors,
for a variety of intermittent and strange health complaints: Blurred vision, urinary difficulties,
and balance problems so severe that at times she wobbled like a drunk.
“She felt unwell most of the time, but doctors could not figure out what she had. ‘Each specialist ordered different tests, depending on the symptom,’ Ms. Riley said, ‘but they were usually rushed and seemed to solicit her views only as a formality.’
“Undeterred, Ms. Riley, an event planner who lives near New London, CT, typed out a fourpage
description of her ordeal, including her suspicion that she suffered from lead poisoning. One
neurologist waved the report away as if insulted; another barely skimmed it, she said. ‘I remember
sitting in one doctor’s office and realizing, ‘He thinks I’m crazy,’ Ms. Riley said. ‘I was getting absolutely nowhere in conventional medicine, and I was determined to get to the root of my problems.’
“Through word of mouth, Ms. Riley heard about Deirdre O’Connor, a naturopath with a
thriving practice in nearby Mystic, CT, and made an appointment. Right away, Ms. Riley said
she noticed a difference in the level of service. ‘Before even visiting the office, she received a fat envelope in the mail containing a four-page questionnaire,’ she said. In addition to asking detailed questions about medical history—standard information—it asked about her energy level, foods she craved, sensitivity to weather, and self-image: ‘Please list adjectives that describe you,’
read one item.“‘It felt right, from the beginning,’ Ms. Riley said. Her first visit lasted an hour and a half, and
Ms. O’Connor, the naturopath, agreed that metal exposure was a possible cause of her symptoms. It emerged in their interview that Ms. Riley had worked in
the steel industry, and tests of her hair
and urine showed elevated levels of both lead and mercury. After taking a combination of herbs,
vitamins, and regular doses of a drug called dimercaptosuccinic acid, or DMSA, to treat lead
poisoning, she began to feel better, and the symptoms subsided.”
. And I’m sure many of you have
had similar experiences.
This is sourced from a book on environmental factor and illness.
