A Review for Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, By Katherine Duff

"One of the smartest books on this topic I have had the pleasure to read."

In the distant future, it may be possible for those injured by environmental causes, to contact a national association for guidance to regain their health and put their lives back together again. In the meantime, we will have to depend on the kindness of those who are willing to share their experiences through books. The Sick House Survival Guide by Angela Hobbs is a new contribution in this vein and it is one of the smartest books on this topic I have had the pleasure to read.

The author begins by recounting her experience with strange symptoms after moving into a new house. She takes us through the process so familiar to those who have been through it: the many doctor visits and tests that come back normal; the diagnoses of stress and anxiety; the self-doubts; the wariness of friends and relatives; and finally the connection between environmental exposures and symptoms. But in a twist from most books on this topic, Hobbs did not really find relief from her symptoms until she took steps to protect herself from electromagnetic fields (EMFs) that were blanketing her home and neighborhood.

A program designed to assist others work through the complicated task of identifying the offending exposures constitutes the second part of the book. Starting with the concept that our bodies are burdened with ever increasing exposures, Hobbs has designed Eight Simple Steps that identify sources for toxic exposures. The elimination of those exposures will allow the body's burden to be decreased and thus lead to a healthier life without symptoms.

As part of the Steps, there are eleven worksheets that will aid the reader in conducting a deep exploration of environmental exposures by keeping a daily log and in some cases, using the principles of the elimination diet to identify offending cosmetics, clothing, electrical exposures and more. For those still in the throes of illness, eleven worksheets may be a bit too demanding, but will have value nonetheless. They will steer the reader in the direction of alleviating troublesome exposures.

The most enlightening part of this book may be the discussion of our ever-increasing exposure to electricity and the effect this could be having on our health. Hobbs informs us that when we are exposed to chemicals and they find their way inside our bodies, two protective mechanisms are utilized: melatonin neutralizes the free radicals that are created by the chemicals; and the blood-brain barrier prevents chemicals from entering the brain and spinal cord. Exposure to EMFs though, will decrease production of melatonin and increase permeability of the blood brain barrier, leaving us even more vulnerable to the toxic effects of chemicals.

Hobbs then describes the many sources of EMFs, with advice for minimizing exposure. For example, selecting a home would include consideration of population density, location of cell towers and power stations and proximity of water bodies. Inside the home, power to non-essential electrical circuits can be turned off at night and the bed could be located in a spot with the least amount of EMFs.

In addition to those seeking to regain their health, The Sick House Survival Guide should have a readership among those skeptical about environmental illness. In the last part of the book Hobbs provides an overview of environmental health where she demonstrates a gift for stating most succinctly, the often-overlooked common sense of considering the environment in health matters. At one point she reminds us that no two people share the same environment. Elsewhere she questions the wisdomn of grinding up shark cartilage for the purpose of cancer prevention when it is possible we should be studying the shark's ability to detect and avoid EMFs as a more likely cancer preventative measure.

In the genre of authors sharing their stories of environmental illness, Hobbs has a found a voice of reason. Without rancor, she has utilized logic and common sense to aid others and demonstrate the absurdity of mainstream medicine's failure to grasp the importance of the environment on health. For the latter, I hope another book is planned.

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From The Cover

Curtains that make you sick? Electricity as a pollutant?? More people suffer from indoor pollution -- from chemical sensitivities -- than diabetes nowadays, often with little help from the medical profession stuck with outdated research from the 1980s. Sufferers are frequently diagnosed with 'anxiety' or allergies, and returned to the very environments that have made them sick in the first place.

The Sick House Survival Guide tells the story of how indoor pollution from a newly renovated house brought the author's regular, healthy life to a standstill - and how she successfully overcame it. In the first part, Angela Hobbs relates her downward health spiral, followed by that of her children. In desperation, she invented her own systematic search for answers, and eventually triumphed over this invisible monster. Part Two ties together existing research into the interaction of chemicals, hormones, and electromagnetic fields (EMFs), and outlines a series of interactive steps that readers can follow to identify problematic environments and transform their sick house into a healthy home. These include:

• Keeping track of environments that make you sick
• Discovering sanctuary spots where you can sleep
• Isolating foods that burden your system
• Dealing with your tap water
• Purifying your air
• Lifting the burden of synthetic fabrics, and
• Reducing your exposure to EMFs.

Part Three then discusses some of the measures being taken by other countries to mitigate the dangers of chemicals and electromagnetic fields.

Of vital interest to parents of asthmatic children, siblings of chronically fatigued adults, or spouses of chemically sensitive seniors, The Sick House Survival Guide will also be essential reading for victims themselves.

The Sick House Survival Guide is the first book to explore the combination of electricity and chemicals in the home. This pioneering work identifies sources of exposures, their combined impact on the body's systems and simple strategies for reducing their effect.