EI is a general category of diseases which are caused by any of a wide variety of substances in our air, water, and food. Such substances include numerous chemicals, molds, yeasts, fungi, pollens, and other biological or artificial substances, which can have adverse effects on the body. There are a number of subcategories of EI which are named after the suspected cause, such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Candidiasis, Siliconosis. Other subcategories are named after their symptoms, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalitis ä

Gulf War Syndrome is one EI which has received media attention in the past few years. It is named after the war with Iraq in 1991 where service personnel were exposed to numerous chemicals and biological substances. In addition, many "conventional" diseases are actually EIs too, such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and perhaps even HIV. However, mainstream medicine ignores much of the well documented evidence of these facts.

It should be noted that multiple names for the same disease is not unique to EI. It occurs frequently before a disease is well characterized and designated as an "official" disease. Recall that although people were dying of AIDS, it was given several different names. Only after Gallo developed a laboratory test for the HIV virus did it officially become AIDS. A similar situation occurred with Legionnaires disease as well as many other diseases throughout the history of medicine.

Standard medical textbooks often superficially characterize this disease as "psychiatric." That leads to the widespread prejudice, which many patients have experienced from mainstream physicians. Support for their view comes from industry and insurance companies since it threatens their work force and profits. However, the patients and doctors who treat them must continue to do whatever possible to alleviate the disease and also reverse this prejudice. It is toward these goals that I direct my efforts.

In summary, EI is a family of chronic diseases involving immune memory distortion resulting in auto-immune diseases displaying symptoms of the brain, nerves, joints, and skin, as well as the respiratory, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and vascular systems.

I appreciate your feedback and criticism.

Contact me at:
Tel 415-677-0829 | Fax 415-677-9745 | E-mail brenn@sfo.com

Lew Brenneman, MD, PhD © 1998