The Canary Report

Open tabs

Posted on Feb 25, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, News, Susie Collins

Every night when I turn off the computer, I have dozens of tabs open from all the sites I’ve explored during the day. In the first of a new regular series on The Canary Report called “Open Tabs,” I’d like to share some of the more interesting with you!

Every night when I go to turn off the computer, I have dozens of tabs open from all the sites I’ve explored during the day. Some links are emailed to me, some I pick up on Twitter and Facebook, some I get from peeps during chats on our network, some I find on my own. I thought it might be fun to share them with you from time to time: it will give you a glimpse into the roaming I do all day to satisfy my uncontrollable urge to stick my nose into absolutely everything.

Here are a few of the tabs that I’ve had open for the past few days:

A sign every canary will love.

Someone sent me a link to this awesome sign, “Environmentally Sensitive Area.”

My cat’s been very sick for months, unable to eat without throwing up. We put her through myriad tests, which all came up with nothing. Then, I remembered my holistic vet from when I lived on Kauai, Dr. Ihor Basko. Ihor’s specialty is homemade diet and Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and medicines. From his website: “Dr. Basko provides high quality, caring, holistic veterinarian services and healing acupuncture services on the Islands of Kauai and Oahu. Dr. Basko also provides guidance to pet owners world-wide for preventing disease and supporting the well-being of their pets through telephone consultations, a weekly radio show and through products and resources available through this website.” I filled out an online questionnaire, sent it off along with all the test results, and within five minutes on the phone, Dr. Basko had the problem diagnosed as gall bladder problems. He prescribed a special diet and some Chinese medicine, and after only a couple of days, my cat was doing almost 100% better! We are in week two of the Basko Protocol and she’s getting stronger every day. Thank you, Dr. Basko!

[...]

Continue Reading

Tags: Air, Chemicals, Children's Health, Environment, Environmental Health, EPA, Policy, Products

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity associations in Spain meet with Ministry of Health officials

Posted on Feb 05, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Disability Rights, Government Regulation, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Social Justice

Eva Caballé reports on the meeting between Multiple Chemical Sensitivity associations and Ministry of Health officals in Spain, Feb. 4, 2010

Translated from Spanish by Eva Caballé

On February 4th 2010 at 12:00h has been held the meeting with Ministry of Health to state the situation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferers in Spain.

Mr José Martínez Olmos, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Mr Alberto Infante Campos, General Director of Professional Planning, Cohesion of SNS and High Inspection and Mr Francisco Valero Bonilla have attended to the meeting representing the Ministry of Health. One person by almost each MCS association has attended to the meeting and also Jaume Cortés, lawyer of Colectivo Ronda, and Dr. Pablo Arnold, immunologist specialized in MCS.

• ACAF: Cristina Montané
• AFCISQUIM: María Roldán
• Alas de Mariposa- SQM: Tránsito Rodríguez
• ALTEA – SQM: Cristobalina Bejarano
• APQUIRA: Mª Carmen Gómez de Bonilla
• AQUA: Mario Arias
• ASQUIFYDE: Francisca Gutiérrez
• AVASFASEM-AVASQ: Francisca García
• ENA: Laura Domínguez
• MERCURIADOS: Mª Carmen Miravete
• Plataforma Estatal Contra la Contaminación Ambiental: Minerva Palomar
• PLATAFORMA PARA LA FM ,SFC, SQM, reivindicación de derechos, Asociación Nacional: Elena Navarro

A petitions document done by MCS associations under David Palma coordination has been submitted. This document has been signed by:

• ABAF: Margarita Pascual
• ACAF: Maite Ribera
• AFCISQUIM: María Roldán
• Alas de Mariposa- SQM: Irene Escudero
• ALTEA – SQM: Cristobalina Bejarano
• APQUIRA: Mª Carmen Gómez de Bonilla
• AQUA: Mario Arias
• ASQUIFYDE: Francisca Gutiérrez
• AVASFASEM-AVASQ: Francisca García
• ENA: Rosa de Gabriel
• MERCURIADOS: Servando Pérez
• Plataforma Estatal Contra la Contaminación Ambiental: Minerva Palomar
• PLATAFORMA PARA LA FM ,SFC, SQM, reivindicación de derechos, Asociación Nacional: Elena Navarro
• Eva Caballé

Also a copy of Desaparecida: Una vida rota por la Sensibilidad Química Múltiple (Missing: A life broken by Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) has been hand delivered on behalf of Eva Caballé, who couldn’t attend to the meeting, as an example of what MCS sufferers have to go through in Spain.

The meeting with Ministry of Health has meant an agreement on minimum standards by the Ministry, but a big hope for all MCS sufferers.

Representatives of Ministry of Health have committed to contact MCS associations within 2 weeks to jointly agree on experts to form a Scientific Committee to create a document of consensus on the MCS. They have stated that this is the first step to make possible the inclusion of the MCS in ICD-10, i.e. its official recognition as disease in Spain. They have demonstrated that later there would be necessary to start creating the protocols.

All people who have been part of this process are thrilled by the result of the meeting, because doors have opened us to obtain the recognition of the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Spain and to achieve that MCS sufferers have the same rights as the other chronically ill people.

Link

Continue Reading

Tags: Children's Health, Environmental Health, Environmental Illness, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy, Research, Work

Short film: The People’s Grocery

Posted on Jan 29, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Food, Media/Videos, Organic Gardening, Susie Collins

Food justice: The People’s Grocery in West Oakland is an inspiration to communities everywhere about the importance of a healthy diet and about knowing where your food comes from. Director of the project Brahm Ahmadi is a hero!

In West Oakland, California, where liquor stores have replaced markets, People’s Grocery is creating a healthy alternative, offering access to organic produce. Through urban gardens and local farms, People’s Grocery supports a culture based on connection to the land, sustainable agricultural practices, and regenerating community.

Brahm Ahmadi is the co-founder and executive director of People’s Grocery. He has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California and is an MBA candidate at the Presidio School of Management. Brahm combines social enterprise, cooperative economics, urban agriculture, public education and youth development to build healthy and stable inner city communities. He is also Executive Director of the North Oakland Land Trust, which preserves properties in North Oakland for the exclusive purpose of community gardening.

Link (A great site with oodles of online films to watch!)

Continue Reading

Tags: Children's Health, Environmental Health, Food, Healthy Living, Organic, Video, Work

Poster for fragrance-free hospital care

Posted on Jan 26, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Disability Rights, MCS, Susie Collins

This poster was designed as a public service project for patients requiring in-hospital care at hospitals that are still lacking a proper fragrance-free policy for the staff.

The poster comes in two versions: one for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and one for Severe Allergic Asthma. Click here to download either one in print resolution.

I think the posters are FAB, but I knock off a couple points for using the word “allergen” in the MCS poster. As we all know, MCS is not an allergy, it does not have any of the physiological markers of an allergy. But that criticism aside, this poster rocks. I especially love the part where it says, “Patient is not a Fragrance Crash Test Dummy. Don’t just ‘come & see if it affects the patient.’”

Continue Reading

Tags: Air, Asthma, Chemicals, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy, Products, Sick Building, Toxic, Work

More blogging canaries

Posted on Jan 26, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Susie Collins

A couple of blogs came up on my radar this week that I wanted to share with you.

Healthologist & well seasoned Nurse. Out of the box practical thinker with common sense. Fabric Artist – Quilter. Problem Solver.

My first find is Kathy AK’s Blog at Open Salon. Kathy is a new member of The Canary Report community, and among her topics at Open Salon, she blogs about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. In the post Visiting someone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, she writes:

There are not any products that I am not neurologically reactive to. It is just a matter as to how reactive or sensitive to them I am and how ill a specific product will make me.

So, please leave them all at home.

Those “all natural” fragranced products are not safe around me either. While some products are worse than others, all WILL make me sick to some degree, probably too sick for you to even come into my home or to enjoy your company.

A nurse with over 25 years experience (and a quilter to boot), Kathy’s also encouraged her readers to Make the connection — Chemicals & Fragrances make you sick, and asked them to consider When Scented cleaners do not make good Cents.

~~~

Sundog –noun 1. parhelion. 2. a small or incomplete rainbow.

I also found Sundog Tales by Lisa, who describes herself as “a survivor of the devastation multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).”

Lisa writes a lovely blog, full of detail, emotion and tales of a survivor.

I was feeling energetic and alive. My brain fog was noticeably less and it felt like just out of the corner of my eye I kept catching glances of what it would be like to have no fog at all. That little glimpse you catch of something that is mythical and mysterious but no matter how quick you are to turn and look you always just missed it. But I knew it was there and almost tangible.

Lisa and her partner Jeremy are living in a tent in the foothills of Washington state. They are living in the tent through winter and several of her blog posts describe the harrowing experience of cold and freezing temps (while battling CFS and MCS). They are currently building a straw bale house.

~~~

Continue Reading

Tags: Environmental Health, Environmental Illness, Healthy Living, Home, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

We are all connected

Posted on Jan 25, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Media/Videos, Susie Collins

A tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.

“We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” -Carl Sagan

Incredible mix of quotations from some of the greatest scientific minds of our age. If everyone understood the truth of this, the planet would not have been poisoned with toxic chemicals and most of us canaries would not not have developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity due to toxic chemical injury.

There is much to learn.

“We Are All Connected” was made from sampling Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, The History Channel’s Universe series, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking’s Universe, Cosmos, the Powers of 10, and more. It is a tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.

Check out “A Glorious Dawn” by Carl Sagan, another Symphony of Science project!

And my website for more original music: [Colorpulse]

Enjoy!

John
john@symphonyofscience.com

Lyrics [after the jump]:

[...]

Continue Reading

Tags: Environment, Environmental Health, Video

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity housing survey

Posted on Jan 21, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Healthy Living, MCS, Products, Susie Collins

Home renovation expert launches survey to discover the housing needs of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Please take a moment to participate!

James Van Raden, doing home renovation services under the name Paragon Renovations in North Dakota and Minnesota is starting a new “energy efficient affordable housing” business called Building Impressions. He’s expressed interest in including safe homes for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity as part of his services. To that end, he’s currently conducting an exploratory survey to discover the needs of people with MCS.

James is a member of our Canary Report social network and I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with him. I think he’s genuinely interested in exploring the housing needs of people with chemical sensitivity and sees as his goal the creation of safe housing for people with MCS. I hope you’ll join me in supporting his efforts.

Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey so James has the information he needs to develop this aspect of his business.

Hello Everyone!

The housing study is ready and can be accessed by visiting

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22A53MHW7T7

Thanks everyone for your willingness to participate and the survey is limited to 100 responses and I hope that there are many more that wish to take the survey than that!

If there is more interest in participating than 100 I will create another study so PLEASE visit the study page and answer as many questions as you are willing.

Also, for those NOT afflicted with MCS please leave the study for those that are and I appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

Warmest regards,

James Van Raden

Continue Reading

Tags: Environmental Health, Home, Housing, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Support

Linda Sepp launches a blog about her urgent housing needs

Posted on Jan 17, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Linda Sepp, MCS, Susie Collins

The main purpose of Linda’s blog is to send out a clarion call for help in securing safe water, clothing and place to live. Are you able to help?

Canary Report contributor Linda Sepp launched her own blog today! I am doing the admin on the site but the writing is all Linda’s.

As many of you know, Linda suffers severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and is housebound. She faces eviction on April 4. She’s using the blog to explain her urgent housing needs in the hopes of finding people who can help her in securing safe water, clothing and place to live. Other than a limited amount of support given by Canada’s social services, Linda’s basically been abandoned by her country’s safety net, even though Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Environmental Sensitivities are fully recognized by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The urgency of Linda’s situation cannot be over emphasized given the looming eviction. Please visit her blog, read through the posts and pages, and if you are able to help her in any way, please do so! I’m especially interested in finding people in Toronto who can help Linda with everything from daily chores like shopping and shoveling snow, to the larger challenges such as installing a water filter and finding her a safe home.

Linda’s challenges are great but I’m convinced there are people out there who can help her. We just need to find them and enlist their help. Please do all you can to brainstorm about this, or more importantly, implement action!

From Linda’s “About” page:

I am disabled and housebound from severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivities / Environmental Sensitivities (MCS/ES) and chemically induced Fibromyalgia (FM) as well as some ElectroHyperSensitivity (EHS). My symptoms and abilities are directly, and often severely impacted by exposure to petro-chemicals, moulds, wireless technologies and high electrical fields, yet most resolve when I am able to avoid exposures. There may be some residual and permanent brain damage, but we won’t know until I have safe housing and the therapeutic supports required to repair and heal the damage.

My critical and urgent needs list includes: 1) a whole house water filtration system and installation, 2) a washing machine, 3) clothing, 4) a housing search and preparation, and 5) an advocate to help me navigate the processes to secure it all. Are you able to help me in any way?

Bloggers, please add Linda’s blog to your blogroll and share her story with your readers. Please do all you can to find people who can help her secure safe water, clothing and a place to live. You can also donate funds by check or PayPal, or purchase some needed clothing for Linda.

Together, we can make this happen!

Continue Reading

Tags: Air, Environmental Health, Health, Healthy Living, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Nontoxic, Support, Water

Book ties toxic chemicals to rising healthcare costs

Posted on Jan 11, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Home & Garden, Linda Sepp, Media/Videos, Research

Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA: A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick, by Catherine J. Frompovich (2009, BookSurge Publishing)

Post by Linda Sepp.

I just ran across a reference to this.

From the Industrial revolution and onward, the world has become an environment that is overflowing with dangerous toxins. Mass manufacturing has resulted in thousands of chemical pollutants being released in the atmosphere, water, and soil. As well, there has been a widespread increase of chemicals being added to almost every type of food and retail product. With this overwhelming chemical exposure, there has been an increase in research and studies showing the life threatening impacts on our health and well being. In her book, Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, author Catherine J Frompovich delves into the effects of a chemical laden world on the body at a cellular level.

Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA is an important “wake up call’ about the current and future state of our toxic environment and what will happen if important changes are not made. Not only is it highly educational, the attention to detail makes the book a handy health resource tool. It is highly recommended to not just mass readers, but also to politicians, manufacturing industry officials, and health professionals.

Link to the author’s website.

Link to Amazon.com and good review.

Continue Reading

Tags: Books, Chemicals, Children's Health, Environment, Environmental Health, Environmental Illness, Fragrance, Home, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Pesticides, Toxic

Film review: Chemerical

Posted on Dec 26, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Healthy Living, Linda Sepp, Media/Videos

Review by Linda Sepp.

I would give a copy of this film to everyone if I could afford it.

I received a copy of the new documentary film Chemerical and wanted to share a few thoughts with you about it. The film shows how a family detoxifies and survives to tell the tale, AND not only that, they save money by cooking up some of their own products.

This is a really good film for people who haven’t thought about how they are poisoning themselves and just buy chemicals off the shelf for their kitchen, bathroom, cleaning and personal care use, either because they don’t believe there is a problem or they think buying healthy products is too inconvenient.

The film isn’t heavy, even though the subject is, and encourages the viewer to make changes instead of just hitting you on the head.

I would have made a few more points, including some info on neuro-toxins and endocrine disruptors, as well as hammered in that air “fresheners” are poison instead of just not fresheners. The microbiologist made a comment about air fresheners, which showed he wasn’t a chemist. That should have been edited, but his other stuff was good. They didn’t mention that essential oils have to be USDA certified organic to be safe, and that EO need to be used carefully as they can be sensitizers even if organic. I might also have mentioned that not all soap is created equal, but that might be in the documentation that can be downloaded if you join the Chemerical Community from their website. (All the site’s pages might not be up and running quite yet.)

The film has a segment with a woman with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and Dr. Lynn Marshall from the Environmental Health Institute in Ontario. Stacy Malkan is also there for a bit, as is Dr. Rick Smith from Environmental Defence. They mention the Environmental Working Group’s cosmetics safety database, too. And a few other experts, like one who tests their indoor air quality before and after they embark on detoxifying their lives from unnecessary chemical use.

I would give a copy of this film to everyone if I could afford it.

In Sweden a number of years ago, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, a Swedish doctor and cancer scientist, wanted to create a consensus among governments, business people and environmentalists as to what must at least be agreed to safe guard prosperous life.

“With the support of His Majesty the King of Sweden, Karl XVI Gustaf, this ‘consensus document’ and accompanying audio tape was sent to every household and school in Sweden.”

This eventually went on to become The Natural Step.

If only we had a King Gustaf who would help deliver films like Chemerical, we would soon have a safer world for all living beings.

Link to purchase Chemerical.

Continue Reading

Tags: Chemicals, Children's Health, Environmental Health, Health, Home, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Personal Care, Products, Sick Building, Video

Surviving the holidays: Guidelines for visiting people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Dec 24, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Healthy Living, MCS, Susie Collins

Your home may be your only safe haven from chemical exposures. Here are some guidelines to give family and friends before they visit over the holidays.

The holidays are strewn with toxic chemical landmines for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Some of our biggest problems can be brought to us by visitors who truly love us– family and friends– but who do not understand MCS or why we are put on the defensive during holiday visits. They don’t understand why we just don’t get over ourselves, welcome them with open arms and big hugs, and join the merriment. Meanwhile, we are overwhelmed with perfumes, freshly dyed and coiffed hairdos, laundry products and dryer sheet residues on people’s clothing, holiday potpourris, scented candles, food that can make us sick, new products brought as gifts that knock us on our butts, and tons more toxic products.

The Allergy, Sensitivity, and Environmental Health Association of Australia has some excellent information to educate family, friends and other people on what may be needed in order to visit people who have MCS. Individuals will vary as to what is acceptable or not, but ASEHA’s “Guidelines for visiting a person with MCS” gives a good starting point on the types of things that need to be considered.

It has in many cases taken years for someone with MCS to clear their homes of products that contain chemicals that adversely affect their health. This is no mean feat, try maintaining a home without being able to use commercially available paints, wallpapers, cleaning products, insulating products etc. Even after years of dealing with the challenges there are difficulties. The home of a person with MCS may be their only SAFE HAVEN from chemical exposures. Please respect this space; it has often taken a long time to make it happen.

If your visit brings with it a number of chemical contaminants, the person may:

* Become total disabled,
* Suffer an asthma attack that is difficult to resolve as the person cannot use medications normally used to treat attacks,
* Have a major life threatening reaction (anaphylaxis)
* Experience a permanent deterioration in their health, a greater degree of sensitivity to chemicals, and probably to an even larger range of products and chemicals.
* Be afflicted by pain, disorientation, discomfort, migraine etc.

If you have any questions about chemical sensitivity and the needs of the person you are planning to visit please ask – BEFORE YOU VISIT.

Link to full copy of the Guidelines.

Thanks, Linda!

Continue Reading

Tags: Chemicals, Environmental Health, Home, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Toxic

U.S. senator responds to a canary by talking in circles

Posted on Dec 22, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Products, Susie Collins

“Many consumers are concerned that the cosmetics industry is using chemicals in its products that are linked to cancer and other health problems,” answers Sen. Tom Carper to a canary constituent’s pleas for action. But what are lawmakers actually doing about it?

Canary Report community member Linda Delp asked me to share this with you. It’s a letter to her from her state of Delaware’s senator, Tom Carper. “The letter just shows how they talk in circles don’t you think?” says Linda. “I have so many letters from him and Senator Biden, it just gets exhausting.”

December 22, 2009

Dear Mrs. Delp:

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for legislation to strengthen oversight and regulation of the cosmetics industry. I appreciate hearing from you about this important matter.

As you know, many consumers are concerned that the cosmetics industry is using chemicals in its products that are linked to cancer and other health problems. A class of industrial chemicals, phthates, are commonly used as fragrances in shampoo and lotion, but have been shown to lead to birth defects, asthma, and impaired development. Under current law, manufacturers are not required to list the individual ingredients of fragrance on labels, which limits consumers’ ability to avoid potentially hazardous chemicals.

As you also may know, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal agency that regulates cosmetic safety. However, the FDA has different legal authority over cosmetic products than it does over drugs, food, and medicine. Unlike these products, cosmetics are not subject to a FDA premarket approval process. Instead, cosmetic firms are responsible for ensuring the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing. If infractions of safety regulations or consumer complaints arise, the FDA can take regulatory action. For more information concerning the FDA’s regulation of cosmetics, please visit http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/default.htm.

With that said, I have heard from a number of constituents who believe that current regulation of cosmetics under the FDA are inadequate. While there is no current legislation that would provide the FDA with stricter oversight of cosmetics, I will be sure to share your comments with my colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over this matter. Thank you again for contacting my office. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or other matters of importance to you.

With best personal regards, I am

Sincerely,

Tom Carper
United States Senator

To send another message please visit my website at http://carper.senate.gov/contact and fill out the webform for a prompt response. Thank you.

Continue Reading

Tags: Chemicals, Children's Health, Environmental Health, FDA, Home, Indoor Pollution, Policy, Products

Change is coming on U.S. toxic chemical policy

Posted on Dec 09, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Government Regulation, Policy, Social Justice, Susie Collins

A great report today from the Huffington Post on the work currently being done in Washington DC to change toxic chemical policy.

While Afghanistan, the economy, Copenhagen and health care grabbed headlines this week, on December 2nd, Senators Frank Lautenberg and Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment & Public Works committee, held a hearing on an issue that could significantly influence three out of four of those big ticket items. That issue is chemicals – the synthetic and industrial chemicals, largely petrochemical in origin that permeate every aspect of our lives – and the inadequacies of TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act), the primary law aimed at protecting Americans from chemical hazards.

The report also covers introduction of the Endocrine Disruption Prevention Act of 2009 by Senator John Kerry and Representative Jim Moran. The Environmental Working Group’s study is included as reference (they are doing God’s work in my opinion). EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has called for increased research and development of safer chemicals through green chemistry. Coinciding with the Senate hearing was a statement signed by 13 states also calling for TSCA reform.

The coming changes might not impact the lives of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in real time, but the current paradigm on chemical policy, the one that got most of us sick in the first place, is about to get trounced.

Link

Continue Reading

Tags: Chemicals, Environment, Environmental Health, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy

The false promise of miracle cures for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Nov 30, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Linda Sepp, MCS

All ten warning signs of a medical scam are present when it comes to curing MCS, CFS, and FM with amygdala retraining.

Op-ed by contributor Linda Sepp and guest contributor Lourdes Salvador, MCS America.

This post was originally published at MCS America.

The History of Health Scams

People with incurable illnesses are often the target of miracle cure scams. These promises usually involve the marketing of unproven cures for a fee. Often the cure is easy and painless and the aggressive marketing is loaded with lucrative testimonials and success stories in bold fonts and bright colors with flashing text and lots of exclamation points.

They come in the form of websites, word-of-mouth, multi level marketing, email marketing, printed ads, mail, telemarketing, and the backs of traveling wagons.

The danger is not merely the wasting of time and precious money to purchase these cures. In addition, these miracle cures often delay appropriate medical care. Some may even be harmful or interact with prescription medications in a negative way.

These scams are often widely touted by the chronically ill because they offer false hope. When one is sick, scared, in pain, and desperate for relief, the promise of being cured is easy to grasp onto. However, the pain of being duped and realizing it was only false hope can be devastating.

Ten Warning Signs of a Scam

1. The Promise Of A Quick And Easy Cure

2. Presents Unproven Patient Testimonials & Emotional Appeals Instead Of Science

3. Claims To Cure Many Ailments Which Have No Cure In Medical Science

4. It’s Not Sold In Stores

5. It Has Undisclosed Ingredients Or Content

6. You Have To Keep At It To Get Results

7. It Doesn’t Work Because You Did It Wrong

8. Science Hasn’t Even Bothered To Discredit It (No Threat To Pharmaceutical Sales)

9. The Seller Lacks A Medical Degree Or Similar Qualification

10. It’s Too Good To Be True

Targeted For A Scam

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are debilitating illnesses which have no cure and leave sufferers lives in ruins. Even those with the best ability to adapt and cope often suffer from the abuse of other well-meaning people who think the ill somehow brought these illnesses upon themselves or that the illnesses don’t really exist. This can create a situation of desperation in which a patient is willing to try anything to get better.

[...]

Continue Reading

Tags: Chemicals, Environmental Health, Healthy Living, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products

Environmental medicine expert says women’s health is environmental health

Posted on Nov 29, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Susie Collins

Lisa Nagy, MD: Women are four times more likely to exhibit symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chemical Sensitivity than are men.

Lisa Nagy, MD, reports on Women’s Health is Environmental Health: Avoiding Common Toxic Exposures. “There has been tremendous and hostile resistance to educating doctors on the dangers of environmental illness and toxic mold, generated mainly by the fields of Occupational Medicine, Public Health, Allergy, and Psychiatry,” she writes. “As a new delegate to the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), I introduced a resolution calling for increased awareness about the environmental illnesses and implementation of a one-hour Continuing Medical Education course on Chemical Sensitivity.”

She argues that the reason environmental illnesses are not taken seriously in the medical establishment is because there are far more women than men who have them.

I firmly believe that one reason that environmental illnesses are not taken more seriously is because it is chiefly women who develop them. Many women experience cognitive and mental health problems along with environmental illness. When they go to the doctor, they may suffer from mental or cognitive impairment, but their behavior actually results from being environmentally ill. Too often, physicians focus on women’s mental health symptoms and insultingly recommend psychiatry, when these patients actually need an environmental medicine specialist. When toxicity is treated, mental and physical symptoms can dramatically improve or disappear.

Dr. Nagy was recently appointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Working Group on the Scientific Understanding of the Effect of Chemicals on Human Health. She is founder and president of the Preventive and Environmental Health Alliance. She is doing incredible work on a national level toward having all physicians educated about environmental illnesses.

Link to Dr. Nagy’s website.

Continue Reading

Tags: Chemicals, Environmental Health, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy