Chemical Brain Injury

[Guest guest]

http://www.safe2use.com/ca-ipm/01-10-20.htm

Chemical Brain Injury by Kaye H. Kilburn, M.D

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Chemical Brain Injury by Kaye H. Kilburn,

M.D

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 11:10:28 -0400

From: Tvedten <steve@...>

Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

Helliker <phelliker@...>

Director, State of California, Department of

Pesticide Regulation

cc: Whitman whitman.christine@...

Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read

the following:

Monday September 10, 10:59 am Eastern Time Press

Release

SOURCE: University of Southern California, School of

Medicine

Chemical Brain Injury by Kaye H. Kilburn, M.D. Raises

Provocative Questions, Provides Disturbing Conclusions

LOS ANGELES--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 10, 2001--Kaye H.

Kilburn, M.D., Ralph Edgington Professor of Medicine,

University of Southern California, Keck School of

Medicine, Laboratory for Environmental Sciences, has

released Chemical Brain Injury, a nineteen-chapter

text published by Wiley & Sons, Inc., that

examines knowledge of causation, treatment and

prognosis for this fast-growing medical phenomenon

affecting 15 to 30 per cent of the population.

Chemical Brain Injury, the definitive volume on

adverse effects of chemical exposure on the human

brain, focuses on how common everyday chemicals affect

the brain. It synthesizes the work of more than two

decades of study and treatment and 45 published

papers. Chemical Brain Injury makes a significant

contribution to the environmental health profession by

providing scientific evidence for the neurotoxic

effects of commonly used chemicals, and the

methodology for testing effects of exposure.

Environmental health professionals and the research

community are working to develop a solid scientific

foundation for the world to deal with increasing

numbers of environmentally-related health problems.

Efforts are focused on determining the causes of

environmentally-related diseases and disorders and

identifying ways to prevent them. Chemical Brain

Injury is based on Dr. Kilburn's extensive work with

patients and communities suffering from braininjuries

resulting from accidental and occupational

environmental chemical exposure.

Dr. Kilburn began his exploration of chemical brain

injury as a skeptic. By the early 1980s, he was well

known in environmental medicine and occupational

health, having demonstrated that airways-obstruction

caused the Monday-morning asthma from cotton dust in

textile workers, which led to the Cotton Dust

Standard. He had shown how asbestos scarred the lungs'

small airways, trapping air and reducing vital

capacity; and that welding fumes, aluminum refining,

diesel exhaust and formaldehyde caused asthma by

narrowing small airways. But it was these latter

workers' complaints of memory loss, inability to

concentrate, dizziness, lightheadedness, and loss of

balance that led him to consider how to measure brain

function.

He borrowed and adapted tests and built devices to

measure brain activities. He discovered how symptoms

predicted losses of balance, quickness and strength,

and loss of vision for color and form. Nearly 500

patients exposed to chemicals were evaluated, and

4,000 people exposed in groups were evaluated for

chemical effects. Statistical analysis of data on

individuals and groups in cities, towns and rural

areas provided complementary insights.

His tests included some of the usual psychological

tests, but also included precise and objective tests

of balance, reaction times, vision and hearing. Often

the observed differences between chemically exposed

and unexposed were so great, and variability within

each group so small, that the probability of test

differences appearing by chance was negligible.

Disturbingly, many of the control groups were found to

be significantly impaired, compared to four groups

that seemed least exposed. Dr. Kilburn finally had to

admit that we all may become impaired by the

ubiquitous toxic chemical exposures that float through

the air and contaminate our water, food, and the

earth.

Dr. Kilburn states that conditions including MCS,

fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, sick building and Gulf

War syndromes, chronic Lyme disease, asthma, ADHD, and

others may seem different, but research has

demonstrated they all may be induced by chemicals.

With impeccable credentials, Dr. Kilburn has often

been an expert witness, and his testimony is

unassailable in court. In many of the legal cases

where he found significant differences, the exposed

people received substantial settlements. These results

do not satisfy Dr. Kilburn, however, who wants to make

the public aware of chemical brain damage, which often

masquerades as accelerated aging or premature

Alzheimer's Disease. ``We don't need a senile

population to face up to our problems.''

In Chemical Brain Injury, Dr. Kilburn will penetrate

the mist, challenge some beliefs as myths and

synthesize where we stand on chemical sensitivity. It

is a volume for medical professionals who work with

chemically-injured patients, and for patients seeking

to understand their condition.

Dr. Kaye H. Kilburn is editor-in-chief of Archives of

Environmental Health, and has published more than 250

scientific papers. He can be reached at 323/442-1830,

or by e-mail at mailto:kilburn@....

Well Mr. Helliker, it is becoming quite evident even

to the skeptics that many of the population are being

found to be significantly impaired and that health

conditions including MCS, fibromyalgia, chronic

fatigue, sick building and Gulf War syndromes, chronic

Lyme disease, asthma, ADHD, and others may seem

different, but research has demonstrated they all may

be induced by chemicals. What degree of sickness

and/or impairment of the general population will it

take before you " legally' will allow the use of safe

and far more effective (unregistered) alternatives to

actually control pest problems?

Respectfully, L. Tvedten