Re: Re: From the Duke List Serv Sickbuilding syndrome, isn't

[Guest guest]

My suggestion would be to compose a letter on behalf of the members of

and cite references. Then send it to the reviewer and the

authors.

Make it polite, factual, and to the point.

Here is the first reference I would cite:

_Respiratory Morbidity in Office Workers in a Water-Damaged Building_

(http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7559/7559.html)

_http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7559/7559.html_

(http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7559/7559.html)

<<Job stress/dissatisfaction. There were no statistical differences among

symptom status groups for responses on job satisfaction or how often a person

was required to work hard. Being very or somewhat satisfied with their job was

reported by 87% of respiratory cases, 90% of the group with fewer symptoms

and 93% of the comparison group. Being required to work hard frequently or

very often was reported by 51% of respiratory cases, 62% of the intermediate

group, and 45% of the comparison group.

We found strong associations between respiratory symptom status and lower

health-related quality of life, confirming the social burden of respiratory

morbidity in building occupants. In contrast, we found no relation between job

stress, job satisfaction, or perceived work burdens with symptom status; this

is consistent with the findings of another investigation of building-related

respiratory disease (Jarvis and Morey 2001) and reduces the likelihood that

disgruntled employees in a problem building exaggerate their symptoms.>>

[Guest guest]

i second that motion!

victoria

[] Re: From the Duke List Serv " Sickbuilding syndrome,

isn't "

> excellent letter

> haley

>

>

>>

>> Dear Dr. Agus:

>>

>> My name is Haley Mack and I'm a member of a listserv on

> called 'Sickbuildings.' Your review below went around this week, and

> I believe I can speak on behalf of the several thousand of us who

> read this site that the article you reviewed appears to be junk

> science.

>>

>> The term 'sickbuilding' is rather a bit out of date these days as

> science has done a great deal to identify the mycotoxins and

> bacterial exposures that create the illnesses once lumped into the

> unquantifiable 'sickbuilding' pile.

>>

>> Not all of us have had our exposure at work - most days in the US

> there are stories somewhere about schools with mold contamination and

> the effect is has on the students as well as teachers - according to

> this article, we should tell the children their schools are too

> stressful and not supportive enough rather than remediate the mold-

> filled buildings.

>>

>> Many of us have been affected in our homes, and it might be

> amusing to see a study that similarly lumps our family lives

> as 'unsupportive.'

>>

>> In my case, I found this group after doing research on behalf of

> my neighbor when we suspected her 36-year-old son died due to his

> exposure to mold and bacteria after a sewer pipe leak under our

> apartment building. Forensic pathology has demonstrated that my

> neighbor had an enormous amount of the mycotoxin Trichothecene in his

> lung tissue that could only have gotten there through direct exposure

> to mold. Here is a CDC link to explain what this is, so you can see

> this isn't just because we had a negligent and 'unsupportive'

> landlandy: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/trichothecene/casedef.asp.

> My neighbor developed many ailments that became pronounced in the

> year before his death and were documentable, including fungal skins

> sores, asthma, and a seizure disorder.

>>

>> I have different symptoms than my neighbors did - yes, that's

> plural. We all had one thing or another, some respitory, some

> neurological, some allergic, some memory related. Our differing

> symptoms have to do with our genetic susceptibilities and

> predispositions - if you haven't read Ritchie Shoemaker's book Mold

> Warriors, it will really open your eyes to the spectrum of symptoms

> people have in response to exposure to these elements. You can find

> the book at www.moldwarriors.com. In my case, in addition to

> horrific dizzy spells, blood pressure drops and bleeding

> complications (which are a serious and sometimes life-threatening

> problem since I take bloodthinners), my renal function has decreased

> more than 30% - here's a link to an article about the connection

> between polycystic kidney disease progression and mold and

> nanobacterial exposure:

> http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol3no2/miller.htm.

>>

>> We know in this group that we can have similar exposure and yet

> have differing symptoms - or even be bothered differently by

> symptoms, so our self-reports would look very different. However,

> most of us would probably have indications of elevated immune

> responses in our bloodwork. In my case, I suspect there are

> mycotoxins in the cyst fluid in my kidneys, but fluid aspiration is

> complex and dangerous.

>>

>> I note the study you reviewed didn't look for any hard physical

> indicators of illness - not even simple blood or urine work - only

> self-reports of their complaints.

>>

>> What we are missing from this snippet of the study is what the

> hypothesis was from the experiment - I suspect that they expected

> to 'prove' exactly what they found. Since they did no physical

> epidemeological workups, they have no idea whether there is anything

> non-psychosocial affecting the people they studied.

>>

>> We already know that most workplaces in the US and the UK don't

> tend to be supportive to workers and that employers attempt to drive

> workers to produce the most possible. That's simply not news.

>>

>> Without exception, ALL of us on the Sickbuildings listserv have

> been told repeatedly by doctors that our illness is in our heads -

> many of us do have mental confusion, memory loss and extreme

> depression on our list of symptoms, but what we have are very

> physical ailments, and we are searching for ways to make our minds

> and bodies fully functional again and to allow us to be relatively

> pain free.

>>

>> Comments like yours make it much, much harder for us to have our

> doctors really listen to us when we describe our symptoms, and if

> you'll take just a minute to look at this tiny bit of information I

> am passing along to you, perhaps you'll see that in addition to the

> study being 'unsupportive' to those of us with very real and

> discernable symptoms, it is also simply unsupported scientifically

> and arguably flat out inaccurate.

>>

>> On behalf of all of us who have been affected by toxic indoor

> environments, please reconsider your words and exposure yourself to a

> more complete and current scientific picture - when you do, please

> consider retracting your remarks and sending them to the folks to

> whom you passed this along.

>>

>> Thank you,

>>

>> Haley Mack

>>

>>

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