In her book "Chemical Sensitivity" Dr. Sherry Rogers emphasizes the importance of looking at the whole picture of a person's life rather than the symptoms only. Remember the key words: conjugates (chemical groups like glutathione which detoxify the body) and xenobiotics (foreign chemicals). She also emphasizes there is a wide range of individual vulnerability.
"A person with chemical susceptibility can become depleted of conjugates if he persists living in an environment that overburdens his detoxication pathways. The man who has a headache and difficulty concentrating at work when using a particular solvent will be less likely to recover if he has recently painted or carpeted his home. His xenobiotic detoxication capacity may become overloaded and even exhausted."
Dr. Rogers further explains that a diet of alcohol and processed foods will hinder his recovery.
This is why the concept of total load or total body burden is so crucial to recovery and why many of us with severe mold exposure must alter our entire lifestyle in order to heal.
Dr. Rogers takes issue with the traditional medical approach. "You can readily appreciate how parts of the currently operational medical model or paradigm need to be changed in order to successfully treat the victim of chemical sensitivity. Chemical sensitivity does not follow the rules of drug-oriented medicine. Right now, drugs and surgery are the current mainstay of treatment for most diseases. But give a drug (a foreign chemical that is metabolized by the same P-450 system) to a person with an already compromised system, and you make him worse. The already overloaded system is further stressed and new symptoms emerge. So treatment of these patients frustrates physicians."
I love Dr. Rogers' conclusion in this book. It makes a great conclusion for today's entry.
Now is an "exciting time in medicine. For at no other time have patients, through reading and education, had such an important and crucial role in determining their wellness."
2 comments:
Andrea, you amaze me with how quickly you "get it" (understand MCS)! I think your desire to help your family and others, joined with your honest and teachable spirit (and yes, your need to survive) are key.
"Individual Vulnerability" and "Total Load Concept" really do encompass the illness and how to deal with it, don’t they? To help us understand the Total Load Concept in the 1980s my husband and I were given a sketch of a rain barrel said to represent our bodies. We were told that we don't begin life with an empty barrel or even identical barrels, that each of us begins life with varying amounts of "rain" already in the barrel. They described the beginning level as being made up of our individual genetic makeup, i.e., we are products of our family's genetic history and their overall health and lifestyle choices. Then our own life experiences are added as we grow, and as adults we begin adding to the level on our own. Some of what we add is ours via the innocent and uninformed circumstances of where we live (lawn, agriculture, and manufacturing chemicals, and traffic pollution, etc.), exposures of our employment, and the homes we live in (mold and indoor air pollutants from laundry/dry cleaning, and cleaning products). And some is due to our conscious choices like food and behavior (with their associated risks). The goal is to keep the rain barrel from getting so full it runs over and our immune systems can no longer function to keep us well. So, with this "rain barrel" concept in mind, we began to measure everything we did by, "How will this affect his Total Load?". Picturing the rain barrel made the decision making simpler in my mind. But simple and easy to do are not always the same thing; it can take sacrifice.
Relatively early in the MCS journey, I recall one of the turning points for holding onto or letting go of stuff (or even a lifestyle) when we were in the doctor's office discussing our progress (or perhaps our lack thereof) at that moment. My husband turned to the doctor and said he thought we still needed to get rid of the bookcase in the family room. Please know that our home was pretty much empty by that time as we had already parted with much of our furniture (some new and some not so new) due to formaldehyde, and most of our clothing (due to synthetic fabrics and finishes, fragranced laundry products, and dry cleaning now no longer an option). So I was feeling at least a little ‘noble’ you know, when they both turned to me. Speaking in my own defense, pride in my intellect, and yes, my “nobleness”, I said, "How can we live without books?". The doctor did not hesitate nor bat an eye, he just looked at me with great compassion and gently said, "How bad do you want him to get well?". My only answer was tears. I like books, but I loved my husband.
I know "Total Load" is absolutely the correct and only approach that works. I also know it can be simple and complicated at the same time, but it clarified what is real and precious to me. Yes, it is a very important concept to learn.
Andrea, thank you for sharing your gift for understanding, your desire to serve others, and your dear family with us. Emma
Hi Andrea,
One more thing to think about regarding Total Load: Shower Heads has made the news here a couple of times in the past 24 hours. Here is a link to see an NBC news report (wait through the car advertisement and it will start): http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=62649@wbbm.dayport.com&cid=5 .
You will notice It is not mold, but a bacteria they are talking about. They state that metal is a better choice than plastic and to change them twice a year, but I saw other reports that said to clean and sanitize them regularly if someone has a weakened immune system. Yesterday they made the point that this bacteria is already in the water, but when it passes through a shower head where they are growing, the concentration in water coming out of the head is 100 times that of the water before the head. The lady they interviewed today has permanently damaged lungs from this bacteria per her doctor.
I have often referred to showers as “mold farms” but I didn’t think about also growing bacteria. Thanks, Emma
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