Integrated Studies Project
submitted to Dr. Catherine Bray
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts – Integrated Studies

Athabasca, Alberta
January 2012

Abstract

This integrated project on Environmental Illness and Social Justice was motivated by my own frustration with a decade of disability from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and two subsequent diagnoses of cancer. A personal viewpoint is valuable in assessing a realm of contested medicine, with biomedical knowledge about environmental diseases outside the expertise of many practitioners, leaving those affected by the conditions with little medical and social support. The problem is examined through a search of literature on various occurrences of environmental illness, including the work of popular epidemiologists, and the conflict between permitted levels of toxic exposures versus safe amounts of toxins in our air, water, and soil. The approach through reading multiple sources involves a compilation of information generated by many groups tackling the evidence of harm to health from environmental pollutants. The chosen examples follow the path of activists utilizing popular epidemiology to determine numbers of affected people in a specific area, complexity of symptoms, and possible sources of contamination. Information was presented to local and regional authorities, with a goal of determining the mechanism of environmental toxicity. Inequities of racial and socioeconomic status are noted, as well as the dominance of corporate leaders in setting their own standards of toxic trespass without proof of safety for the population. There is a theme of cautious optimism and improvement in discovering sources of environmental pollution, and awareness of increasing power of grassroots activists versus industrial giants who were previously thought to be all-powerful. Organizing techniques were shared, and electronic media now permit rapid accession and sharing of knowledge. The conclusion here is a sense of more social justice for affected persons, while at the same time, future damages may be prevented by instating stringent safety regulations and enforcing environmental laws.

Read entire paper.

Whilst facing a worldwide fast increase of food and environmental allergies, the medical community is also confronted with another inhomogeneous group of environment-associated disabling conditions, including multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, electric hypersensitivity, amalgam disease and others. These share the features of poly-symptomatic multi-organ cutaneous and systemic manifestations, with postulated inherited/acquired impaired metabolism of chemical/physical/nutritional xenobiotics, triggering adverse reactions at exposure levels far below toxicologically-relevant values, often in the absence of clear-cut allergologic and/or immunologic involvement. Due to the lack of proven pathogenic mechanisms generating measurable disease biomarkers, these environmental hypersensitivities are generally ignored by sanitary and social systems, as psychogenic or “medically unexplained symptoms”. The uncontrolled application of diagnostic and treatment protocols not corresponding to acceptable levels of validation, safety, and clinical efficacy, to a steadily increasing number of patients demanding assistance, occurs in many countries in the absence of evidence-based guidelines. Here we revise available information supporting the organic nature of these clinical conditions. Following intense research on gene polymorphisms of phase I/II detoxification enzyme genes, so far statistically inconclusive, epigenetic and metabolic factors are under investigation, in particular free radical/antioxidant homeostasis disturbances. The finding of relevant alterations of catalase, glutathione-transferase and peroxidase detoxifying activities significantly correlating with clinical manifestations of MCS, has recently registered some progress towards the identification of reliable biomarkers of disease onset, progression, and treatment outcomes.

Read the rest of this document:

• View PDF on EHA-AB’s website (Published: 1 July 2011).
• View original document on National Center for Biotechnology Information website.

And lately, it seems like the most recent neuroscience research is confirming what we already know to be true — that the brain is capable of change.

What we also realize at DNRS is that not all change is good change.  In fact, in limbic system related disorders the neural circuits have become disorganized through trauma.

At DNRS we understand how these disorganized neural circuits affect the different systems of the body and how this expresses as illness.  And moreover we teach our clients how to correct or rewire these neural circuits so that they can go on  to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.   Yes,  the testimonials on our website are all true — rewiring your  brain can alter your life in the most profound way and make a  believer out of anyone.  Even for people who have been  suffering for 30 years or had been to see 52 doctors before they  found us – like Gloria (http://dnrsystem.com/testimonials_Gloria.html).

Understanding and learning how to self-direct neuroplastic  changes in the brain is driving a revolution in health care, and  finally the world is taking notice.

We have travelled extensively over the last 3 years to bring  this teaching to those who need it the most.  Our business  for the most part has been word of mouth and is a grass roots  movement filled with highly compassionate people who want to  share their recovery stories with others in hopes that they can  prevent further suffering.

And to them, we say a big Thank You! for standing on the rooftop  and telling people about your recovery.   It is  because of your efforts that the medical community is now taking  notice.  In fact alternative, environmental, and  conventional doctors are referring their patients to this  program.

And now we have a whole country throwing their support behind  us.

The Government of Switzerland has been following The Dynamic  Neural Retraining System™ and our work with neuroplasticity for  quite some time.  We are happy to officially announce that  they are sponsoring the Dynamic Neural Retraining System™ in  Zurich in May, 2012.  The program there will be 5 days as  we will have two German translators present as well.  We  are grateful to the Swiss government for being leaders in this  field and are hopeful that other governments will soon take  notice and follow suit.

Closer to home, the Dynamic Neural Retraining System™ program  returns to Florida April 13 through 15.  We have an amazing  special guest speaker attending who will blow you away.   Internationally known fitness guru Phil Kaplan will speak about  his own amazing recovery with the Dynamic Neural Retraining  System™.  Phil had suffered from severe Multiple Chemical  Sensitivities due to mold toxicity.  Phil had also seen  countless specialists and had spent more than $300,000 before  finding us.  And to top it off, he had been misdiagnosed  with Parkinson’s along the way!

Thanks again to everyone in our DNRS Community who are standing  up to be heard in their recovery!  The world is listening  and know that your recovery is paving a road with hope and  inspiration for countless others.

Much Love and Blessings to All,

Annie Hopper

Founder — The Dynamic Neural Retraining System™

Please call the Edmonton Police Service, Complaint Line, at 780-423-4567 (or fax info to 780-421-3311 attention: Rick Franchuk) to make arrangements to have the 911 Dispatch Section create a profile.

If Health Canada truly cared about the health of Canadians, this is what they would do.

1.  They would issue a warning (similar to that Council of Europe) that wireless routers be replaced with wired routers for internet access in schools, at home, and at work. No one should be exposed for hours each day to pulsed microwave radiation generated by Wi-Fi routers.  For places that need to have wireless routers, they should use the patent issued to Swisscom for their “on demand” routers that radiate only when in use.

2. …

Read the rest of this article by Dr. Magda Havas, PhD:
http://www.magdahavas.com/2011/10/08/advice-for-health-canada-regarding-wi-fi-cell-phone-antennas-and-other-forms-of-radio-frequency-emitting-devices/

The grievor filed a grievance against the employer for making it difficult to obtain the accommodation to which she was entitled – the grievor suffered from environmental hypersensitivity, and telework was the accommodation recommended by the physician – a new manager questioned the arrangement – the employer did not provide the grievor with the equipment that she needed to work from home in a timely manner – the adjudicator found that the employer failed in its duty to accommodate by trying to change the grievor’s work arrangement without consulting her and by failing to provide the required work tools in a timely fashion – however, the adjudicator found that no harassment had occurred – the adjudicator awarded compensation for pain and suffering and a special compensation under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Grievance allowed.

Full Text

In Canada we use the umbrella term Environmental Sensitivities, which includes Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

The last thing she says is, “If you suffer from Environmental Sensitivities, what’s one thing you’d like others to know?” So… post a comment.

http://youtu.be/_kWrubnMGd0

Trombonist Scott Bean of Local 400 (Hartford, CN), like many professional musicians, spends many hours of each day practicing and teaching trombone. However, for many years he suffered from a lung condition that sometimes made playing his instrument difficult.

“I coughed. I had a horrible deep barking cough-especially when I played trombone,” explains Bean in a recent National Public Radio interview. “I had a sore throat, lost 60 pounds at a time, had a low-grade fever. It was a huge hindrance.”

Doctors diagnosed him as asthmatic, but none of the treatments they tried seemed to help. After 15 years of suffering from this mysterious ailment, he went on vacation without his trombone and a funny thing happened-he felt better. That’s when he first began wondering if the instrument could somehow be causing his sickness.

When doctors from the University of Connecticut, where Bean teaches, took a culture from the inside of his horn they discovered it wasn’t his trombone that was making him sick, but it was the things living inside it. The culture revealed a mold called fusarium, as well as a type of bacteria called mycobacterium, which is related to tuberculosis.

These inhabitants of Bean’s trombone had been entering his lungs each time he played. His immune system reacted to the invasion, causing a severe inflammation of his lungs called hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Though many players would not react to the molds and bacteria as strongly as Bean, for those with such sensitivity, it is no joke. And besides, for wind players, their lungs are their livelihood. Should they really be risking that type of pulmonary contamination?

Upon learning of Bean’s condition, University of Connecticut professor Mark Metersky, who works in the Medical School’s division of pulmonary care, set out to study just how common the problem was. “One hundred percent of the instruments studied had the same bacteria and 80% of the players admitted to having pulmonary dysfunction,” reports Bean.

Today, Bean has made it his mission to make other brass players aware of the dangers of not cleaning their horns. He admits to previously being lax about cleaning his. “You talk about cleaning out your instrument, and they laugh and make some funny remark about it,” he says. “I never cleaned out my trombone-maybe once every other year.”

Today, he realizes it is no laughing matter and he is diligent about cleaning his instrument. “I use a rod with a cloth and I use alcohol-rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol-pour it down, and it cleans out the germs,” says Bean.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5434/is_201010/ai_n56228221/