Category Archives: Health Care

Why I LOVE Having Environmental “Sensitivities”

Posted on October 2, 2016 | 1 comment

Guest post

In all of this I don’t have a permanent place to stay and paid rent to a landlord who won’t fix anything, my apartment insurance cut me off and won’t help with my possessions, my medicare health insurance is not covering the health aspect and my one doctor wants me to see a doctor out of province which is not covered, and my social assistance did not pay me my disability this month, and family does not understand any of this….At this point I have nothing to lose and everything to gain….I AM MOVING FORWARD!

~ Marie LeBlanc, Manitoba, Canada

brick-walking-8-abcde

1 Comment

Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Community, Disability, Ecocide, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Health Care, Housing, Human Rights, Inspiration, Policy, Pollution

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Ontario Announces the Task Force on Environmental Health

Posted on June 3, 2016 | 12 comments

The Government of the Province of Ontario, specifically the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) finally announced the establishment of a Task Force on Environmental Health.

Let’s hope this new project creates the long overdue and effective changes and access to basic services that are needed by people with environmentally linked, disabling,  chronic health conditions like MCS/ES, unlike the 1985 project which created a  600+ page report with recommendations that were largely ignored (see links below), which allowed these and other problems to fester and increase in severity and magnitude.

Ontario Task Force 2016

The news release about the new task force follows:

Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Government, Health, Health Care, Human Rights, Policy

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What I Wear In Bad Air :: Marie

Posted on May 4, 2016 | 2 comments

2016 Marie LeBlanc 1

“I have to  wear my mask to do laundry in the basement because of mustiness and other people’s fragrances.”

~ Marie LeBlanc

Marie also shared an artistically altered image of her wearing her mask while waiting to see a doctor, because people were ignoring the fragrance-free signs on the wall behind her. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Fragrance, Health Care, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

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When We HAVE to Wear A Mask to Breathe and Function

Posted on May 2, 2016 | 24 comments

When breathing the air hurts…

When we have to filter and “purify” the air just to breathe…

What options do we have?

2016 MCS-ES Awareness Month Compilation

The Courageous Canaries of MCS/ES (and mask) Awareness Month 2016

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Having an invisible disability is difficult, especially when many of the adverse effects are delayed and we have to deal with them in isolation.  Some people feel  self conscious about wearing a mask, especially if we can’t find a “pretty” one that we are able to use, despite how they can reduce adverse effects. If there’s any good that comes from wearing one (in addition to protecting our health a bit) wearing a mask when we have an invisible disability helps make us visible.

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The type of mask we benefit most from will depend on our “sensitivities” and circumstances. Masks will filter the air we breathe in various degrees, but unless we have a full face respirator and wear a hazmat suit, our eyes and skin will still absorb chemicals that can have an adverse effect on our health and well-being. For this reason, they should not be thought of as complete protection from pollution, and are therefore best used only when absolutely necessary.

Information and resources about masks that filter out some of the different types of daily pollutants we are subjected to, and what kinds of filter materials are needed to purify what kinds of pollutants follows.

Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Disability, Environmental Health, Health Care, Pollution, Products

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“Artificial scents have no place in our hospitals”

Posted on October 5, 2015 | 24 comments

Canada’s top medical journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), says
“Artificial scents have no place in our hospitals“

Hospital NO Fragrance

“These patients may be involuntarily exposed to artificial scents from staff, other patients and visitors, resulting in worsening of their clinical condition. As patients,
family members and emergency physicians will attest, the attacks can be quite sudden and serious. There is little justification for continuing to tolerate artificial scents in our
hospitals.” …

Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Disability, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health, Health Care, Hospital Protocols, Policy, Precaution, Public Health

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Are Healthy Hospitals Possible?

Posted on July 10, 2015 | 7 comments

That may seem like a dumb question to people who haven’t been in a hospital, but to the rest of us, including those of us who can’t even go into a hospital in life or death situations, it’s a serious one.

hospitals make us sick

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Check out this TEDMED video where Robin Guenther* discusses connections between health and environmental design, and what she and others are doing to make things  different:

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Environmental Health, Health, Health Care, Healthy Environment, Hospital Protocols, Public Health

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Optional “Inconvenience”

Posted on June 28, 2015 | 7 comments

Guest post and images by Laura J Mac

What always strikes me during conversations about how to persuade service providers to accommodate our disability is how much extra work we have to do just to participate in simple survival stuff. I mean, “simply” tracking down professionals who are willing to accommodate is a chore and a half. The luxury of “having a good relationship” with a service provider falls way down on the list because it’s usually one or the other.

Laura J Mac 1

Nobody would think twice about someone who uses a mobility device asking if there are ramps and elevators but it seems that our need for fragrance-free and reduced chemical exposure is perceived as a “preference” rather than a medical necessity. That perception leads to the idea that accommodation of our disability is an “option” (and generally it’s an “option” that service providers aren’t willing to make available.) It’s not that we don’t “like” fragrance, these chemical exposures cause neurological and physiological problems that interfere with our ability to function on a daily basis.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health Care, Human Rights, Indoor Air Quality, Mental Health, Policy, Public Health

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Have Your Say for May by Leah

Posted on May 14, 2015 | 12 comments

 

Before I got sick, I was a dog trainer. My life was centered around my dogs,maybe too much, but I was happy. I taught basic classes, worked with serious behavior problems, and competed with my own dogs. It was my culture, and my life.

As MCS started to creep in, it make more difficult and even dangerous, to continue. To have poor reflexes or to miss something because I was brain fogged, could be the difference between success and failure, and sometimes failure meant a bite.

So I had to give it up. But I didn’t give up my personal dogs. While the number of dogs has diminished, I still have 3 beautiful and wonderful dogs left that keep me happy, keep me laughing and keep me sane. They make me get up on the bad days, cuddle with me when I’m sick, and keep my spirits up when I’m sad. And on a really good day, I train.

Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Chemicals, Disability, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health Care

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The Ontario Centre of Excellence in Environmental Health Has a Website

Posted on March 23, 2015 | 4 comments

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Recognition Inclusion and Equity  is the name of the new website for the OCEEH. Their comprehensive reports and other information about this much needed project can all be found there now. Please check it out and also “like” their facebook page if you are on facebook.

Why? From their website:

MISSION

Our overarching goal is to achieve ‘recognition, inclusion and equity’ for people living with the often painful and disabling conditions of ES/MCS (environmental sensitivities/multiple chemical sensitivity), ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome) and FM (fibromyalgia).

At present, more than 568,000 patients with these conditions lack the normal rights, benefits, policies, programs and facilities that Ontario makes available to those with conditions of comparable severity and prevalence.  …

CONDITIONS OF COMPARABLE SEVERITY AND PREVALENCE

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Child Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Fibromyalgia, Health Care, MCS/ES, ME/CFS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Public Health

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Learning About the Health Effects of Wireless Technology

Posted on January 11, 2015 | 8 comments

 

Health Effects of Wireless Technology Dr

Very few doctors have been taught about how environmental exposures to chemicals, molds, wireless radiation, and EMF fields impact our health. People are experiencing all kinds of adverse health effects from exposures, yet all too often remain undiagnosed and unable to address the true causes of their ill health or functional disabilities.

This is costing society dearly, hence it’s imperative that more people learn about all of the possible causes in order to prevent suffering, and save time, energy, and money.

Fortunately now, we have more resources for health-care practitioners, created by professionals who have been researching and treating the adverse health effects of wireless technologies. These presentations discuss the types of symptoms and conditions that are known to be affected by EMF/EMR and offer current knowledge and practices of how to deal with them.

Please watch, learn, and share the links with your health care teams.

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Autism, Brain, Child Health, Education, EHS, Electromagnetic Protection, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Health Care, Wireless

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