Ecological Medicine

By Paul Davis

Most people are familiar with the common allergic conditions of hay fever and hives. Quite often, we can recognize the symptoms and determine the cause.

However, according to writers and researchers such as Sherry Rogers, M.D. and William Crook, M.D., hidden allergies can cause symptoms and conditions that have much more serious effects on health. These might include chronic exhaustion, migraines, asthma, eczema, post-nasal drip, sinusitis, bronchitis, constant colds, irritable bowel, ulcerative colitis, chronic cystitis, urethritis, prostatitis, enuresis (bed-wetting), premenstrual syndrome, infertility, inability to concen-trate, hyperactivity, violent mood swings, poor memory, depression, panic attacks, dizziness, chronic Candida, chemical hypersensitivity and various auto-immune conditions such as sarcoidosis, lupus, multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

Allergy is certainly not the only cause of these health problems, but it should be considered in a complete analysis of your condition.

Ecological or Environmental Illness (EI), also known as EI syndrome, describes the condition of significant health impairment due to environmental allergies or sensitivities. “Allergy” is the original medical term used to describe an exaggerated immune response to a sub-stance. “Sensitivity” is a more recent term for a broader range of allergy-like symptoms that may also involve other as-pects of the immune system not affected in classic allergies. EI syndrome appears to be the result of adverse reactions to natural or synthetic substances in our air, water, food and drugs.

An individual’s susceptibility to these substances is modified by the strength or weakness of his/her immune and de-toxification systems. This is an important point. You are an individual with unique environmental requirements which are to a certain extent genetically determined. However, lifestyle and nutritional factors play a crucial role in either supporting or undermining your ability to tolerate en-vironmental exposure. Hence, a wellness program with an emphasis on a healthy diet, moderate (non-traumatic) exercise, and rest and relaxation can prevent dis-ease and is vital for the improvement and maintenance of health.

Another important factor Dr. Rogers discusses is the “total load.” This refers to the total amount of substances that one is exposed to in food and environment (including the inner environment, where metabolic residues from previous expos-ures may have remained). Simply put, if your total load exceeds the ability of your system to adapt and detoxify, then EI may result.

The therapeutic approach used by most ecologically oriented practitioners is to reduce the total load and improve a per-son’s ability to handle substances in his/ her environment. The most common allergenic substances appear to be dust, mold, pollens and various natural and synthetic chemicals.

Discovering our environmental sen-sitivities can require a lot of detective work. Many of us live and work in en-vironments with high levels of potentially irritating substances without knowing it. Probably the best initial step is to read some of the excellent books on EI and related matters, listed below. They identify substances in your home and workplace that are potential triggers and explain how you can improve air, water and food quality and other aspects of your daily environment.

You may also need to work with an ecologically oriented practitioner. Typ-ically, this will involve some form of initial investigation to determine which substances you may be sensitive to. A careful case history to evaluate quality of nutrition and lifestyle and extent of environmental risk factors, past and pre-sent, is essential. Allergy or sensitivity testing is done using skin tests, blood tests such as IgE-IgG RAST, ELISA/ ACT, less conventional testing such as Interro and Vega testing, and other forms of testing such as muscle response testing or pulse testing. Also, you can experi-ment personally with the removal and reintroduction of substances or foods (often called an elimination diet) to find hidden allergies or sensitivities.

Treatment programs generally include three aspects:
1) Reduction of total load. This includes reduction of processed foods, i.e. foods containing artificial colours, artificial fla-vours or preservatives, improvement of water quality using spring or filtered water, reduction or elimination of non-essential drugs, and improvement of home and office air quality through re-duction of dust, mold, possible use of air filters and reduction or elimination of toxic-building materials, scented cleaning products or cosmetics.
2) Allergy desensitization using injections or homeopathic dilutions.
3) Some element of immune and de-toxification support such as dietary im-provements, nutritional supplementation, homeopathic and herbal remedies or other naturopathic therapies. A wellness support program might also include chir-opractic, massage, acupressure or other forms of bodywork, yoga and relaxation techniques.

Individual needs vary so much from person to person that it isn’t possible to give more specific recommendations here. The books listed below, which are available at your natural foods store or local library, will help to give you dir-ection. We all need to become more informed in order to balance our inner and outer environments.

Suggested reading:
- EI Syndrome by Sherry Rogers, M.D.
- Detecting Your Hidden Allergies by William G. Crook, M.D.
- Indoor Pollution by Steve Coffee and Karyn Feiden
- Your Health and the Indoor Environment by Randall Earl Dunford
- Why Your House May Endanger Your Health by Alfred V. Zamm, M.D.

(Paul J. Davis, B.Sc., N.D. is a graduate of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, where he is chair of the Nutri-tion department. He currently practises naturopathic medicine in Toronto.)