Breaking Out Of Environmental Illness

The authors up-close and personal account of their process of recovering from environmental illness.

Healing Environmental Illness from Within is a true story of one woman's journey of healing from chemical and electromagnetic sensitivity, chronic fatigue and allergies. In the book, Marcia describes the development of her illness and the baffling, seemingly unrelated symptoms she experienced for nine years before diagnosis. She shares her experience with physiological treatments which brought temporary relief of symptoms and explains why none were sufficient to bring true healing. In the second half of the book, Marcia shares how she found her way back to wellness by going within her heart to examine the disempowered way she was living her life. She describes her life experiences from childhood to the present day which created disharmony in her mind and spirit, eventually taking the form of serious illness in her body. Most importantly, she tells how she came to understand and let go of the emotional blocks crippling her immune system, and how doing so allowed her to resume a life of quality. The healing path Marcia chose to follow will touch your heart as you recognize familiar life circumstances all of us face at one time or another. You will understand how the choices you make and your responses to people and daily life events can affect the strength of your immune system, and thus your health. Above all, the book offers hope to people suffering from environmental illness, giving them a new perspective to consider in working to regain health. It is a must-read book for anyone suffering from any illness who believes that recovery is impossible.

Preceded by Exposure assessment in occupational and environmental epidemiology / edited by Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen. 1st ed. 2003.

Over fifty million Americans endure a mysterious environmental illness that renders them allergic to chemicals. Innocuous staples from deodorant to garbage bags wreak havoc on sensitives. No one is born with EI; it often starts with a single toxic exposure. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, brain fog, muscle aches, inability to tolerate certain foods. Broudy investigates this disease, and delves into the intricate, ardent subculture that surrounds it--Adapted from jacket

Chemical sensitivity (or "multiple chemical sensitivity") describes people with numerous troubling symptoms attributed to environmental factors, from simple housepaint to complex building structures and materials in offices and schools. Many such people are seeking special accommodations, applying for disability benefits, and filing lawsuits claiming that exposure to common foods and chemicals has made them ill. Their efforts are supported by some physicians who refer themselves as clinical ecologists. They use questionable diagnoses and treatment methods, while critics charge that these approaches are bogus and that "chemical sensitivity" is not a valid diagnosis. The complaints associated with chemical sensitivity include depression, irritability, poor memory, fatigue, drowsiness, constipation, sneezing, wheezing, skin rashes, headache, chest pain, pounding heart, swelling, upset stomach, paralysis, AIDS-like illnesses, psychotic experiences, and just about every other symptom noted in medical textbooks. One prominent clinical ecologist even claimed that chemical sensitivity patients may well be human "canaries" on an increasingly poisoned planet, and others have actually labeled chemical sensitivity as a disease. While some people are adversely affected by exposure to some chemicals, there is an overwhelming increase in false claims and reports from misled obsessive patients and opportunistic doctors. Chemical Sensitivity examines this phenomenon in depth and the scientific, legal, ethical, and political issues that surround it. The authors explore the speculations about environmental exposure in the light of scientific knowledge of human physiology, allergy and immunology, pathology, toxicology, and clinical medicine. They evaluate cases of chemical sensitivity relative to controlled tests, and reveal that symptoms were brought on by psychological factors rather than physical ones. Chemical Sensitivity also critically assesses claims related to "sick building syndrome," "mercury-amalgam toxicity," "yeast allergy," and Gulf War syndrome.

Symptom checklist included in appendix A.