I’m sure you’re aware, just about every roadblock to corporate pollution initiated during the Biden administration (there were more than 100 of them) has now been reversed by Trump in favor of the polluters. Really disheartening how his EPA lackeys finalized a rule that specifically states that before any reversal of an environmental hazard can be initiated, that decision will be based on economic costs only. It will not consider incidental benefits such as “health” or “death risks.”
Cancer causing tobacco of the 20th century was finally stopped by a spate of government regulations. The cancer sources of the 21st century, our foods and environment, are now being encouraged by President Trump in the name of profit for himself and his buddies. The newly reported rising rates of stomach cancer in women below age 50? Maybe you’re depressed. Maybe it’s the booze. Maybe it’s the cheap food you have to buy at Dollar General to feed your family.
We talk a lot about chemicals in our food, air, and water. The total number of chemicals pouring into our bodies is mind boggling: we intentionally add 2,500 chemicals to our food as additives, preservatives, and coloring agents. A shocking total of 12,000 chemicals find their way into our food supply via processing, packaging, pesticide residues, and drugs given to animals.
More than 700 chemicals have been found in drinking water, and don’t even ask about air, especially in urban areas and near factories. Astonishingly, Trump also gave a thumbs-up to massive budget cuts maintaining our current levels of soot in the air, budget cuts for environmental protection in Blue States, revenge for having voted Democratic. So, let’s get back at the poor and people of color by punishing their lungs. And rich or poor, urban or rural, let’s not forget the junk we inhale from new furniture, vehicle exhaust, sprayed herbicides and pesticides, plastics, treated wood, and the formaldehyde in everything from flooring and pillows to mouthwash and furniture polish.
In addition, doctors are seeing more problems with naturally occurring toxins, including the off gassing from mold biotoxins. Here’s a Heath Tip about Mold Biotoxin Inflammation from encountering black mold in water-damaged buildings.
The irony in all this is that the conventional medical profession may do a lot of handwringing about environmental pollution of air, water, and food, but there’s actually been very little progress in understanding how all this affects patients.
If you’ve been feeling chronically ill and have heard, “Your tests are negative,” ask yourself when (if ever) your physician offered to test you for accumulated environmental pollution or accumulated food additives or the damage these pollutants might be doing.
These tests are available, and although not overly expensive, rarely covered by insurance. If you ask your doctor, you’ll probably hear some variation of, “We don’t know what to do with the results anyway.” (HINT: We at WholeHealth Chicago have detoxification programs for just this sort of thing).
Learning More About Pollution’s Health Effects
Actually, we do know a lot about all this exposure, and we seem to be learning more every year.
- Some people are affected more than others. Some get disabling chronic illnesses, others nothing at all. This leads to a real mess among genuine sufferers who are disbelieved by doctors, co-workers, and family members. Physicians can be especially brutal, insisting that the affected person is “just depressed” or “seeking financial reimbursement.”
- The reason for this disparity is a now-recognized genetic susceptibility in detoxification pathways. Every doctor with a lick of common sense knows that Patient A will do just fine on one medication while Patient B suffers nausea, mental confusion, or even failure of major organs like the liver or kidney.
- An ever-growing number of patients start with sensitivities to one or more relatively innocuous substances, but become increasingly sensitive over time, adding newer chemical responses and more intense reactions to their burden. This is called the “spreading effect” of environmental illness syndrome, also known by its preferred name, multiple chemical sensitivities.
- Symptoms of environmental illness and multiple chemical sensitivities can affect any organ in the body. The most common symptoms are neurological (fatigue, lethargy, headaches, insomnia, brain fog, blurred vision), musculoskeletal (muscle aches, joint pain), gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting), heart/lung (chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing), ear/nose/throat (sore throat, hoarseness), dermatologic (rashes, flushing, dry skin), and immunologic (increased susceptibility to viruses, swollen lymph nodes, candida).
Our Functional Medicine practitioners will review your health history including dietary and environmental exposures. Functional medicine testing will measure different aspects of environmental Illness. Based on exposure history, lab tests and symptoms, you and your practitioner can begin a program of detoxification and repair.
You can schedule an in-person or telemedicine appointment by calling (773) 296-6700. Any of our Functional Medicine practitioners are available for this type of consultation.
In the meantime, let’s get started. Here are 17 immediate steps to reduce your indoor air pollution (probably worse than you think), courtesy of the Cleveland Clinic, with even more at their link.
- Avoid smoking indoors (quitting smoking is the best answer for overall health).
- Use craft supplies in well-ventilated areas.
- Make sure your gas stove is well-ventilated.
- Minimize clutter.
- Remove carpeting if possible.
- Use a dehumidifier and/or air conditioner to reduce moisture.
- Keep trash covered to avoid attracting pests.
- Remove shoes at the door.
- Have car emissions tested regularly.
- Minimize air freshener use.
- Test your home for radon.
- Use carbon monoxide detectors.
- Fix water leaks.
- Dust surfaces and vacuum frequently.
- Wash bedding weekly in hot water.
- Make sure exhaust fans are functioning in your bathrooms and kitchen.
- Keep a lid on scented candles.
All set? Call one of your practitioners and let’s get started.
Be well,
David Edelberg, MD
P.S. You really don’t need a lot of nutritional supplements for maintaining good ‘steady state’ detoxification.
Your liver is your major detox organ. Help it along with:
- Detoxication Factors (Integrative Therapeutics) one capsule, twice a day
- Lipotropic Complex (Integrative Therapeutics) one capsule, twice a day
Your other important detoxifying organs are the kidneys. To support them, drink plenty of pure water, avoid drinking from plastic bottles, keep your blood pressure and your blood sugar within normal range, and stay away from excessive use of over-the-counter meds like Advil.
Less involved with detox but not without some importance are your skin, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract.
- Liposomal glutathione one teaspoon daily.
In addition to eating antioxidant-rich foods, you should take a good antioxidant supplement. Rotate monthly among green tea extract, UBQH, lycopene, and resveratrol ultra, one capsule daily (any brand, these are options).