Health Topics Menu

Today, more is being understood about the world of allergy and man's abnormal and altered reactions to his environment. This reflects literally hundreds of complex cause and effect relationships. Many chronic conditions can be linked to environmental causes and contaminants in our food, air, and water. Environmental Medicine represents one of the most exciting specialties in medicine, offering many people who have already seen numerous physicians without benefit the opportunity to successfully determine the cause of their signs and symptoms.

One must understand that rarely does something happen to us by chance. "Why me?" and "Why now?" do have answers, and Environmental Medicine can often provide valid explanations. For example, many chronic and acute diseases have a cyclical or seasonal pattern. The role of pollens with seasonal changes serves as just one of many environmental triggers to be explored. Specific toxic chemical exposures is another one of the growing list of unrecognized triggers. Since the introduction of petrochemicals, including the wide range of solvents, plastics, pesticides, herbicides, etc. into society, man has paid a rather severe environmental price. Case studies have shown that a single exposure to various types of organophosphate pesticides, for example, can result in brain wave abnormalities associated with memory loss, reduced concentration, loss of libido, and inability to sleep.

The Health Topics Menu of disorders treated at the Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine reads from A to Z. One may ask, "How can all these disorders and chronic diseases be caused by environmental triggers?" The answer is because environmental triggers or hazardous materials can affect any organ of the body, including the brain and nervous system. They can also aggravate pre-existing conditions or exacerbate a latent disease or disorder.

As this page develops, each of the symptoms outlined below will be explored more fully in order to help each patient understand the extent to which our environment affects our health.