Northampton Wellness, Associates, LLC

MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES:
TALE OF A “WARY CANARY”

Joe was a successful marketing executive for a large corporation, until he was transferred to the main office, right next door to the firm’s chemical plant. Within a few weeks after he was exposed to fumes on a daily basis, he began to feel headaches and dizziness by late morning on weekdays. Soon he began to develop allergy symptoms which he had not experienced since childhood: runny nose and congestion from dust and tree pollens. A profound feeling of fatigue and sleepiness began to overcome him, even on weekends. He found that he needed more and more sleep, up to twenty hours per day, at times.

Even during an extended medical leave from the office, Joe found that he could not tolerate much exposure to car fumes, gas stoves, new carpeting, furniture, appliances, or newsprint. These made his headaches, dizziness, and fatigue worse. It was later found, through blood testing for immediate and delayed food sensitivities (called IgE and IgG RAST testing) that Joe had developed allergies to a large number of foods. Elimination and rechallenge with these foods proved that they were now making his symptoms worse, even though he had been eating those foods regularly for his whole life.

Joe’s story may sound bizarre, but it is unfortunately all too common. A steadily growing number of people are suffering to some degree from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, or MCS as it is called. Researchers have determined that this syndrome results from the presence of various synthetic materials in our environment. These chemicals are toxic to all of us at some level. But there are those among us who are especially sensitive, often because of a genetic predisposition or because of repeated challenges to an already stressed immune system.

In years past, miners would bring a canary into the mines with them, to warn of the presence of any toxic gases. If the canary suffered ill effects, the miner would know that there were toxic fumes present, and that he should leave the mine for fresh air right away. If the miner were to wait until the point when he began to suffer, the effects might be irreversible or, even worse, he might not be able to get out of the mine in time.

Many specialists in environmental medicine suspect that our patients with MCS are the “canaries” of modern society. We would all be wise to learn from their experience. Each of the chemicals to which Joe had obvious reactions can affect all of us in ways that are initially hidden, such as an increased statistical risk for cancer.

With today’s heat-efficient, “tight” home and office construction, we have to be especially conscious of (1) reducing the level of chemicals in our indoor environments and (2) ensuring there is adequate ventilation to blow away whatever toxins and molds which inevitably appear.

For patients like Joe, there is still hope. His physician was able to help him identify the significant triggers for his symptoms. He provided him with neutralization therapy, which prevented many allergens from bothering him. He was able to clean up his home environment and move to another line of work in order to reduce his chemical exposure. He is taking specific nutritional supplementation to enhance his liver’s ability to detoxify chemicals stored in his body. He was found to have elevated levels of heavy metal, such as lead and mercury, stored in his tissues, and these were removed by a process called chelation therapy.

Now Joe is living a happy and productive life, though he will always have to be careful. He says, “I have to pay an extraordinary amount of attention to the quality of air I breathe,” but when you think about it, shouldn’t we all?