Suffering with environmental illness is a huge struggle, not only in terms of dealing with the dibilitating symptoms themselves but also the lack of healthcare provision and the way we are regarding with suspicion by doctors and even our friends and family. Finding ourselves in this situation though does have its up side...it has a way of opening our minds to possibilities we may not otherwise have considered.

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Thought I would let you all know the ONE THING that has helped me with living with chronic fatigue that I learned from one of my customers/patients.  I own a small medical company that services assisted livings and nursing homes in Portland,  Oregon.  Her name is "T" and she died of terminal cancer a few years back.  I asked her one day how did she get through the day knowing she had a terrible illness.  Her response was I look forward to watching Seinfeld re- runs every night.  There are days where I have severe fatigue and that One Thing that I focus on is getting home after work and walking my black lab.  I know it sounds cheesy, but thought I would throw that out for people struggling with this illness.  Pick One Thing everyday that you enjoy and can look forward to.

Scott

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In 1991 I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) following a two day stay in hospital for a battery of tests. The diagnosis of M.E. was given by my GP and hospital specialists. It's funny then that the latest guidelines to doctors from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) here in the UK blatantly dismisses the very existence of this illness - referring to M.E. as a "colloquial" term. Rather odd when this is a true medical name which had been in use for decades, in contrast to 'chronic fatigue syndrome' or 'CFS' - the all encompassing term with which anyone suffering from a single symptom of mild chronic fatigue to what we used to know as severe M.E. is now branded.

Unlike those who pull the strings at the RCGP, and despite my 20 years of illness, I can be objective and like to give credit where credit is due. I have been pleased to note during this period that my GPs have become much more supportive. After my initial diagnosis aged 12 I was given no and told nothing could be done and both myself and my parents were made to feel like we were in the wrong - I apparently was a young hypochondriac with a dislike for school - and my parents were, well, bad parents for raising such a child (both polar opposites of the truth!). Nowadays however, I have a GP who not only is understanding and empathetic - believing ME/CFS patients are suffering the same ignorance as those with multiple sclerosis (MS) once did before its pathophysiology was elucidated - but also willing to entertain my requests for testing and biomedical interventions. I am hugely appreciative of this even though official guidelines and restrictions mean it is most often impossible to fulfill these requests. It is just nice to have a doctor working with me rather than against me!

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Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is quoted in his recent blog entry titled 'Autism Spring' as saying about autism "The answers — and there will be answers — will no doubt merge genetic risk and environmental exposure to help us reach the far side of the complexity of ASD". Whilst to many this sentence has made sense for many years, it is indeed a 'game-changer' when the Head of the one of National Institutes of Health makes such a bold statement. One might even suggest that his words define a new era in autism research where genetics share the throne with environment rather than environment somehow being seen as the distant cousin.

What might lead Dr Insel to make such bold claims? Could it be that 2011 might just be the year when the worm turns. Indeed, 2011 has witnessed several interesting findings in relation to research into autism spectrum conditions, some of which I will include here.

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Considering the fact that most people spend at least half their day confined inside their homes, it is very important to have an allergen-free environment. Allergens are unhealthy for everyone and can be particularly harsh on those suffering from respiratory ailments like asthma or emphysema. Microscopic airborne contaminants not only make it harder to breathe, they also can cause coughs, sore throats, nasal problems and watery eyes. Chances are very good that if you always feel weak and tired, allergens in your home are at least partly responsible.

Homeowners can employ a number of different allergen control strategies that can help keep the air that you breathe as clean as possible. There is no such thing as 100% pure air in any house, but the following steps can certainly make a big improvement in the overall quality of the air you breathe every day.

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The other day I was contacted by new EiR member Emfsafety100 about the potential dangers the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from our modern technology, such as power lines, wireless internet and cell/mobile phones, pose to human health and also to wildlife.

Emfsafety100 reported coming across the global non-profit organisation Avaaz, who have a simple democratic mission: “to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want”. If you aren’t familiar with this organization, their campaigns typically address environmental issues, corruption and human rights.

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