Household Mold and Marital Discord: Part 2

Mold & Environmental Illness

......with Lisa Nagy M.D.

Lisa Lavine Nagy M.D. graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of Pennsylvania and then from Cornell Medical College in 1986. After a surgical internship she completed Emergency Medicine residency at Metropolitan Hospital in NYC and practiced in Los Angeles until becoming severely ill (Addison’s Disease, Mitochondrial Myopathy, Dysautonomia) –as a result of a complex medical condition known as Chemical Sensitivity or Environmental Illness.

Her story of survival and journey of discovery which led her to determine what had made her have such severe symptoms inspired ABC’s ‘Nightline’ to interview her this year and many newspapers and magazines to feature her recovery. In her case it was due to toxic mold and in others it is due to pesticide or chemical exposure. She learned about the field of Environmental Medicine and it’s focus on finding the causes of disease including genetic, hormonal, nutritional, allergic, and environmental factors.

She is now president of Preventive and Environmental Health Alliance which is a group focused on educating medical students, doctors, the AMA, congress and the public and assists patients to find help nationwide. Listening to physicians and other people who have developed severe Environmental Illness is the first step towards helping the 75 million people in the country with various health issues, including autoimmunity, related to their environments. Her website is www.EnvironmentalMedicineInfo.com

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009:

Household Mold and Marital Discord - Part 2

by Lisa Nagy, M.D,

Stay Well in this Toxic World

Even if you don't have mold in your home, do these things first to maintain or increase health:

- No perfume (read labels on body care products since many contain fragrance).
- Eliminate pesticide use at home and buy organic as much as possible.
- Change your detergent to one that is non-toxic and fragrance free.
- Three mainstays of living a non-toxic life:
>> Clean Air
>> Clean Food
>> Eat organic when possible
- Rotate foods every four days to prevent or reduce food allergies and addictions.
- Remove foods from your diet that trigger symptoms.
- Clean water.
- Choose water filtered through coconut charcoal in stainless steel bottles or drink water delivered in glass bottles.
- Avoid water in plastic bottles since it increases our toxic load.

Self-Test for Sensitivities

Like LSD (an ergot alkaloid) or hallucinogenic mushrooms, many molds produce mind-altering chemicals that can permeate the entire home, including clothing and furniture. Assess whether of not the clothing, fabric or furniture is toxic by spending five days in another location in fresh clothes before returning home to your habitual clothes and furniture. If you are intolerant to the items, this will determine their toxicity and your possible environmental illness.

Chemical sensitivity is synonymous with food allergies. Self-test foods for allergy symptoms by removing suspect food from your diet completely for five days. On the sixth day, eat a lot of that food alone for lunch and observe how you feel in the following minutes, hours and days. For example, I get a massive headache to peanuts the morning after I eat them. Take the offending food out of the diet for two to three months; then reintroduce it once a week as tolerated. Observe cause and effect in your own home.

Say No to Mold

Homeopath and board-certified environmental medical specialist Dr. Doris Rapp asks people to evaluate what they recently ate, touched or smelled when a person or family member is feeling bad or misbehaving. These are the clues to figuring out your sensitivities and those of your family. Keep humidity low, below fifty percent, to prevent mold growth, and always address water leaks the first day they occur.

Read Part 1 of Household Mold and Martital Discord.

Please visit again soon for more articles from Dr. Nagy and the Environmental Health Alliance
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