• Are chemicals and electro-smog in your home and workplace making you sick?

• Does your doctor tell you that your symptoms are not real? are all in your head?

• Has your condition been dismissed or labelled "idiopathic" (and then dismissed)?

Turn on any newscast. Open any newspaper. Read any blog.

What are they talking about? Pollution, global warming, and our skyrocketing disease rate. With so many research studies, how can these intricately-related topics still be called "controversial" and the results "inconclusive"? How can the scientists giving advice all have different versions of scientific fact? What and whom are we supposed to believe?

Real science doesn't lie! The answers and solution are clear. Read this book to discover why today's so-called invisible illnesses are never idiopathic and to learn how to hold your own within a system that gets you sick, keeps you sick, and wants you sick!

Which Poison Will Change Your Life?

An MCS Survivor's Eye-Opening View into the Socio-Political Forces Which Make Today's "Invisible Illnesses" Possible and ProbableBy GLENNA J. CHANCE

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Glenna J. Chance
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-1293-8

Contents

Introduction....................................................viiDedications.....................................................ixForeword........................................................xiMCS Questionnaire...............................................xiiiChapter 1: There's No Place Like Home...........................1Chapter 2: What is Invisible about Illness?.....................21Chapter 3: MCS is as Real as a Broken Bone......................37Chapter 4: What is it ... Really?...............................51Chapter 5: What's in it ... Really?.............................83Chapter 6: Hand-in-Hand-in-Hand.................................101Chapter 7: Reflexions...........................................131Chapter 8: From the Access Annals...............................151Chapter 9: On the Medical Horizon...............................191Conclusion......................................................209References......................................................211Recommended Reading & Viewing List..............................217Index...........................................................221

Chapter One

There's No Place Like Home

May 20th. Today is the four-month anniversary of my latest displacement from the house where I pay the mortgage, taxes, utilities, and upkeep. Too bad I can't live there, too! This time the intense trauma of the situation has actually turned some of my hair grey—not noticeable to the casual observer, perhaps, but to me, an inescapable reminder of these past few months of exile and its consequent roller-coaster of emotions.

Since I was pesticide poisoned in Syracuse, NY in August of 1988, I have lived in a church, numerous apartments, a van on the street, on friends' couches, and, since 2000, in my own house which I have painstakingly modified to accommodate the physical requirements of MCS. I was lucky to find this house after five years of searching. It was the only house which did not cause my face to burn (animal, pesticide reaction), or my throat to swell (chemical reaction), or my lungs and muscles to weaken to the point of non-function (animal, pesticide, smoke, petrochemical reaction). It has no particleboard (formaldehyde glues), plywood (phenols), drywall (chemical adhesives, possible asbestos, mold attractor), or PVC (carcinogenic dioxins). There have been no animals inside for at least 55 years. There is no mold (multi-organ system mycotoxin). There has been no pesticide use inside or out (possible organophosphates such as wrecked my immune system in the original 1988 injury). Such is the running inventory which an MCS-disabled person must tirelessly consider in every aspect of life—whether it be in choosing housing or in planning a trip to the store. If you find the above description to be a bit hypervigilant or even hypochondriacal, 1) you do not suffer from MCS and 2) it's time for some background of the illness.

FACT: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is an acquired disease characterized by recurring multi-symptoms in response to a variety of chemicals at doses below levels assumed to be safe for the general public. The symptoms recur at increasingly lower levels of exposure over time and the numbers of substances which trigger the response increase over time [so-called spreading effect] (Matthews, p. 4).

MCS is also referred to by the following names:

• Environmental Illness (EI)

• Chemical Sensitivity (CS)

• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome (MCSS)

• Environmental/Chemical Hypersensitivity

• Chronic Immune System Activation

• Total Allergy Syndrome

Note to astute MCS supporters and detractors who, for opposing reasons, are screaming, "You left one out!": I purposely do not include the newly- coined name for MCS—a name which was designed to discredit not only MCS patients, but also the physicians who treat them—because I do not want it linked with appropriate MCS monikers. It will make an appearance in a subsequent chapter.

FACT: The symptoms of MCS can be life-threatening on a daily basis and range from general malaise to confusion to extreme muscle weakness to intense pain to vocal cord paralysis to toxic encephalopathy to seizures to autoimmunity.

FACT: The cause of MCS is either a long-term chronic or massive one-time chemical exposure.

FACT: MCS is an illness recognized by and covered under the Social Security Administration, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Housing Act.

Why, you may ask, if we are all exposed to ambient chemicals at similar levels, do some people develop MCS while others do not? The answer to this question begins with an understanding of the body's detoxification process and pathways:

The human body is equipped with many detoxification pathways starting with its first defense and largest organ, the skin. Just as the skin absorbs beneficial substances such as the curative properties of an epsom salts or baking soda bath, it as readily absorbs toxic chemicals which happen to contact it—or worse, are purposely applied to it—such as pesticides, plasticizers, and chemical cleaning agents. Who would purposely apply toxic chemicals to his skin? Anyone who uses the myriad synthetic chemical hygiene, laundry, and cosmetic products which contain proven toxic ingredients. Personally, if I can't safely ingest a product, I don't apply it to my skin or hair, clean with it, or even have it in my house! Remember—the human race did successfully bathe, beautify, and survive for thousands of years before the chemical industry invaded its hygiene routine!

The skin does double duty in that it also provides an exit route for toxins when they are sweated out. Exercise will facilitate this process, as will a sauna regimen (consult your doctor before embarking on any medical regimen). At minimum, the skin should be brushed regularly to maintain its ability to breathe and to stimulate circulation to facilitate the elimination of toxins from the blood. Consider a houseplant with dirty, dusty leaves. It can't breathe! Thus, its processes to maintain life are inhibited. You must gently, carefully, and lovingly wash each leaf. Doesn't your own body deserve at least the same compassion and care?

Other entryways into the body are the respiratory and alimentary pathways. Depending on its mode of entry—absorbed, inhaled, or ingested—a substance then enters either the bloodstream or the gut. In the case of inhalation, the lungs' function is to exchange gases. They absorb oxygen molecules and expel carbon dioxide. Ideally, the red blood cells grab the beneficial oxygen from the inhaled air and transport it throughout the body via the bloodstream to facilitate the astounding array of tasks which the human body performs to sustain life. However, the red blood cells also absorb the molecules of other, similarly-structured gases which are counter-productive to sustaining and maintaining the human body. These are the chemical products of industry which are not only individually toxic but which increase their toxicity synergistically when combined. As Dr. Sherry Rogers points out in reference to this phenomenon, "One plus one does not equal two but more like ten.". In addition, bypassing the lungs are the fat soluble—or lipophilic—toxins which can lodge indefinitely in cell membranes and fat tissues such as in the brain and central nervous system.

Toxins in the blood are filtered and metabolized by the liver, where they arrive via the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestines. The liver is our hardest-working organ. It breaks down nutrients for digestion and then assimilates them in their proper form to support the functions of their target organs. It stores essential vitamins and minerals and produces the red blood cells which transport oxygen throughout the body. Before the current synthetic chemical onslaught added to the liver's workload, its task to remove microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites from the blood enabled the human race to survive. Incidentally, understanding that these microorganisms were here long before we were and will survive long after we're gone is good reason to give up trying to eradicate them with chemicals which also kill us, and instead to concentrate on improving our liver and immune function to be able to withstand them. Of course, this is not to say that we should drink dirty water and eat dirt!

The liver neutralizes internally- and externally-produced toxic chemicals. Normal processes of metabolism create waste chemicals which the liver is designed to neutralize and send to their exit via the bile, the intestines, and the kidneys. However, when normal metabolic processes become abnormal, the metabolization process becomes incomplete and its end products—or metabolites—are not in the chemical form which the liver was designed to process. When liver function becomes impaired, an ensuing domino effect intoxification of the body's systems occurs. What would cause metabolic processes to malfunction? The root causes are nutritional deficiencies and environmental toxins. According to the Columbia University School of Public Health, 95% of all cancers are due to diet and environment (Rogers, p. 170). These two factors go hand-in-hand, of course, as you will read further on.

Having familiarized yourself with the basic detoxification process, the question remains why some people succumb to chemical exposure and others are able to carry on with their normal lives. A typical analogy compares the MCS patient's physical system to a rain barrel which keeps filling until it simply overflows. Some bodies can metabolize toxins more efficiently (albeit not indefinitely) while some simply accumulate toxins until the system is overloaded and breaks down. This can happen over time or instantaneously with a massive enough insult/injury. Depending on the efficiency of a person's detoxification process, there can be up to a 500-fold difference in his and another person's ability to detoxify the same chemical (Perera). Don't forget that the detoxification process of the human body was never intended to have to eliminate the nightmarish chemicals which man has invented and with which he has crippled himself.

We with MCS have been likened to modern-day canaries in the coal mines. As the canaries gave up their lives by being the first-line defense against poison air deep in the mines, so our income-earning ability, professional and personal aspirations, and overall quality of life have been sacrificed to the poisonous greed of the industries which manufacture and market as safe unnecessary toxic chemicals, to the governments who enable and profit from these industries, and to the ignorance and apathy of a public which is less and less able to sort truth from lies. Unlikely as it may sound, I think that the chemically injured have much better functioning bodies than does the seemingly healthy population! Why? Because our bodies recognize and react to xenobiotics as they were designed to do. Something is dreadfully amiss with an organism that doesn't mount an immediate defense to an invading and marauding poison. That idea keeps me going, anyway ...

Back to my seemingly ideal house and why it is currently uninhabitable ... Remember the Far Side® cartoon which depicts what we say to dogs (no, Ginger, bad dog) and what dogs hear (blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah, blah)? Here's a typical (and actual) response of a non-MCS house hunter when considering a house in this area built in 1927:

• it will have pretty gumwood trim

Compare this response with the one from an MCS-disabled house hunter when given the same geographical and chronological information to consider:

• the basic building materials will be natural unless renovated

• no attached garage = no petrochemical residue drift into living area

• is it moldy? has there been water damage?

• is it insulated? if yes, with what material? if no, what non-toxic insulation can I use?

• was chlordane used indoors? [chlordane, an organochlorine pesticide with a 30-year half-life, was typically used for termite control and was banned in 1988]

• is there/was there an oil tank? = unremovable pervasive petroleum residue

• was there a coal chute?

• what is the present roofing material? When will it need to be replaced?

• if a frame house, when was it last painted and with what material?

• if sided, with what material and what was covered up?

• what is the condition of the wood floors as refinishing is not a possibility within a normal move-in timetable

• where are all the potential gaps/leaks in the structure? = air quality issues due to ambient neighborhood smoke, exhaust, etc. residue

• are the windows original or replacement? if original, are they tight-fitting? if replacement, what are the materials on and around them and were they correctly installed to prevent leakage/mold?

This is the short list ...

Try posing these questions to a listing realtor—that's where the blah, blah, blah comes in. No realtor wants to consider—let alone pursue— accurate answers to these questions. My house is currently for sale. No realtor—and so far no prospective buyer—cares at all that the house is environmentally safe and what measures have been taken to make it safe. I have been discouraged from even offering this information—which should be VITAL to the buyer and his family! But, as with so many other areas in this society, cover-ups are more convenient and marketable than is a sound foundation or structure.

In the case of my house, it initially appeared to be sound and inert—the acid test's being my body's physical reaction—or lack thereof. However, as the house and I became better acquainted throughout the seasons (seasons in an MCS homeowner's life consisting of neighborhood construction, lawn mowing, barbecuing, wood stove smoke, gasoline- powered snowblowers, neighborhood lawn pesticide application), areas needing fine-tuning became apparent. Of primary importance to those with MCS are BARRIERS. Barriers against the barrage of ambient outdoor neighborhood hazards such as smoke from wood stoves, barbecues, and fire pits; lawn pesticide residue; traffic exhaust; driveway and street resurfacing; scented laundry products; Tiki® torches and other pesticides; cigarette smoke; noise; neighbors themselves whose scented body products leave a toxic trail to waft into any open or loosely-fitting window; uninvited WiFi radiation. Barriers against indoor pollution such as combustion residue from gas furnaces, water heaters, and stoves; electro-magnetic frequencies; cleaning agents (no matter how innocuous); latent chemicals released by heat or cold; scents inadvertently carried indoors by well-meaning but non-compliant workpeople and acquaintances.

Renovation and repair in the MCSer's residence are tricky. Following is a flowchart which describes the typical chain of events for an MCS homeowner/renter in his attempt to create a liveable home by installing airtight replacement windows:

One false move in this chain of events can cause temporary or permanent displacement for the MCS resident. Since adequate safe housing is nearly impossible to find, where does a displaced MCSer go? Hotels are out. Shelters are out. Unless we are lucky, most peoples' homes are out (which is one reason that this illness precludes social contact). Ah, you clever readers answer, how about another MCS person's house? Good question! I was extremely fortunate in the 1990's to befriend a businessman with MCS who had initially contacted me professionally to perform an environmental assessment of his house. As he was a very successful businessman and owned various properties throughout the East, his local house was frequently unoccupied. He generously allowed me to stay at his MCS-safe residence during my various displacements. However, most MCS homeowners will not extend this courtesy because:

1. no two MCS-disabled people can tolerate the same substances/ products and thus cannot cohabit

2. a safe living space is too hard-won to risk its being compromised and

3. the deviation from a strict daily health regimen that the upset of a guest or roommate might cause is too risky

Keep in mind that a single debilitating exposure can take weeks or months out of an MCSer's life. Our day-to-day ability to function—even if only in solitude in the confines of our medically-modified homes—is very hard won and not readily relinquished.

As an example of the first point, for years this particular friend insisted that I "had something on" (MCS-talk for you're wearing something scented). As with anyone under attack (remember, chemical exposures in MCS can be life-threatening), he couldn't understand why I was purposely hurting him and I couldn't understand why he thought I was purposely hurting him! Finally I identified the problem: in a corner of my closet floor lay one small cedar block (cedar's being a non-toxic moth repellent). As I have no adverse physical reaction to cedar or other terpene-bearing woods or plants, I think nothing of having them in my home. However, my friend's sensitivity to terpenes is so acute that he could pick up the residue from a single cedar block placed in a far corner of my closet whenever I wore an article of clothing from that closet! I call this a double-blind test with a conclusive result!

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Which Poison Will Change Your Life?by GLENNA J. CHANCE Copyright © 2011 by Glenna J. Chance. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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