Case Histories


Medical Doctor Overcomes Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

Sherry A. Rogers, M.D., a physician in her early thirties living in upstate New York, suffered from unsightly red eczema over the lower half of her face, recurrent sinus problems, periodic asthma, severe migraine headaches, chronic back pain from an old horseback riding injury, and chronic exhaustion and depression.

 

Over the next decade, she experienced allergic reactions to a new Formica countertop and other chemicals in her home and office. She treated her multiple chemical sensitivities to no avail with injections, multiple vitamins and ionisers, cotton blankets and pillows, bottled water, oxygen tanks, and aluminum foil. She started macrobiotics in the late 1980s and experienced major improvement within the first six months. The excruciating pain in her shoulders disappeared, and all other major symptoms vanished in the next few months. Over the next few years, she gave up her allergy injections and medications and could remain in a toxic, smoke-filled environment almost all day. "In three years, she'll be fifty, yet she's stronger and healthier now than she has ever been in her life," a profile in The Human Ecologist noted. "She takes no medications, no supplements, no injections, and for the first time in her life, has no symptoms." Dr. Rogers went on to become a recognized expert in the natural treatment of multiple chemical sensitivities and allergies.

 

Source: The Human Ecologist, Fall 1990, pp. 19-21.


Overcoming Hay Fever, Asthma, and Chronic Allergies

Since childhood, Vincent Armenio experienced allergic reactions to cow's milk, eggs, wheat, and nuts. Over the years, he suffered from frequent colds, asthma, and chronic lung and sinus congestion. He met with an allergy specialist in Boston, but the treatment he recommended didn't help. Vincent struggled to graduate from high school, but had to withdraw from Georgetown Law School because his health continued to decline. The cherry blossoms and pollen season in Washington, D.C. coincided with final exams, and he had such strong allergic reactions that he could not take the tests.

 

Relocating in New York, Vincent worked in TV time sales in a high stress environment and led an active lifestyle. But his allergies worsened and he could hardly function. Vincent slept only after taking Valium, and he awoke each morning numb and unable to cope. "It was as if someone had charged my head with an electric shock," he recalled. Despite the support of family and friends, he could no longer function in New York. Moving to the West Coast, he found a job in California's San Joaquin Valley, hoping to benefit from a sunny, natural climate. But the region had the most chemically intensive agriculture in the country and his problems persisted. Friends and associates encouraged him to try a nutritional approach and become a vegetarian. His search for health ultimately led him to macrobiotics. Vincent realized that since childhood he had been eating excessive meat and other animal products, white flour and flour products, oily foods, chips, sugar and sugary food, and what he called "a lot of health food 'junk' food." Changing to a diet centered around whole grains and vegetables, Vincent gradually began to recover his health. His allergies to pollen and food diminished, and his hypoglycemia and candida started to decline. In Becket, Mass., he worked as a gardener at the Kushi Institute, continued his studies in macrobiotics, and met a young woman from Japan. Married and the father of a beautiful little girl, Vincent today is free from the allergies, asthma, and chronic illnesses that he suffered from most of his life.

 

Source: "Diet and Environmental Illness: The Vincent Armenio Story," One Peaceful World Journal #10, Spring 1992.