Environmental medicine.

As we hurtle toward year 2000, it is clear that the 20th century has left us with the fallout of its progress. There is no doubt that adverse environmental factors now play a major role in the production of illness. Jet airplane travel can spread disease to all parts of the earth within hours. Tobacco and secondhand smoke produce cancer, vascular disease and pulmonary disease. The advertisement of high-carbohydrate foods and the popularity of "fast food" have created an epidemic of obesity and metabolic disorders.

Among the many papers given at the 34th annual meeting of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, October 7-12, 1999, three were especially noteworthy. Allen Lieberman, MD, of Charleston, South Carolina, reported on "Reactive Cranial Neuropathy Syndrome: A New Disorder." He presented several cases of cranial nerve neuropathy, specifically involving the trigeminal and vagal nerves, which were unquestionably triggered by exposure to toxic, volatile chemicals including solvents, perfumes, carpet cleaners, and pesticides.

Oceanographer Douglas B. Seba, PhD, and wildlife rehabilitator Judy Hoy described potential toxic effects on wildlife and humans from fungicides used on potato crops in Idaho. Dr. Seba had found that airborne dust from Africa transported vast amounts of pesticides into the Caribbean where they immediately entered the food chain. Judy Hoy has studied thousands of wild animal carcasses over the past 25 years. She noticed that extensive numbers of congenital anomalies began to appear, particularly in deer, in 1994. In 1997, a trend in human birth defects began to appear. Both events occurred simultaneously with a potato blight, which began in 1994 in the fields of Idaho where high amounts of the fungicides Chlorothalonil and Dithane are used.

William Rea, MD, described how to prevent the disability, nausea, vomiting, pain, and fatigue associated with chemotherapy treatment for cancer. He advises administration of constant intravenous and oral nutrition supplementation. He obtains excellent relief for his patients from the side effects of chemotherapy by daily "neutralization" to the chemotherapeutic agent. If this result can be reproduced by others it should become a routine part of chemotherapy.

Despite the changes that will inevitably occur in the 21st century as a result of the electronic information explosion of the late 20th century, technology is unlikely to replace the astute observation and ingenuity shown by such researchers as these.

JACK L. PULEC

Editor-in-Chief