Casualties of Progress : Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive

by Alison Johnson

This collection contains reports from 57 people whose lives have been severely impacted by the condition known as multiple chemical sensitivity, which overlaps with chronic fatigue syndrome,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0967561906
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: M C S Information Exchange
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

just the beginning ...

Incredible book, incredible research, incredible stories, incredible people. The suffering these people have endured is well communicated in this simple book. It seems that no reader could walk away from this book without understanding the kind of hell that persons with MCS endure. Indeed, the social discomfort of people not understanding can be worse than the physical issues. Besides allowing the reader to bear necessary witness to the souls presented, this book can help those with similar problems feel less alone. It showed me that what I have been through with sensitivities is not unique, and that I am part of a larger picture; one that I believe will, sadly, only get bigger. Maybe some more eyes can be opened in time. If I had read these stories before I became so sensitized, I might have been able to avoid it. At least I would have had knowledge. (How? The patterns are fairly recognizable. In hindsight, it seems that with awareness and action, my path could easily have been altered.) In many people's reality, ignorance did not bring bliss, but MCS. Thank god for the work of Alison Johnson. May the knowledge spread, not the pain.

A must read for ALL medical professionals

CASUALTIES OF PROGRESS: Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive. Editor Alison Johnson included over 50 stories written by people whose lives have drastically been changed due to an overload of chemicals in their lives. When you read the book, you will find a "connection" and hopefully learn from it and change your own life before the damage is done to you. We live in a chemical world now...from the synthetic perfumes we use to the spraying of insecticides in our homes to rid of bugs. The stories in the book (which are real) will give one with an open mind the picture that maybe we are all slowly poisoning ourselves. The proof? Well, don't rely on the medical books just yet...they are not that far advanced (notice they haven't found the cause of gulf war illness yet?). In Alison Johnson's book you will read about symptoms coming from those now chemically sensitive (in most cases because of a known chemical over-exposure). It doesn't take a medical degree to see how these people react from the same chemicals (perfumes, cleaning agents, diesel exhaust, magic markers, pesticides, fabric softeners, etc.). It can't be a "coincidence" that these people all suffer the same similiar type of symptoms (headaches, shortness of breath, blurred vision, experience unsteady gait, chest pain, confusion, etc.) Yet the medical profession claims multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) to be a "controversial" illness. Or at these they have in the past. But as more and more become sensitive to every day chemicals that didn't bother them before, more and more research is being done. This is an excellent, informative book with personal stories being shared so that YOU, the reader, will become better educated about the chemicals you expose yourself daily not realizing how in the long-term they can cause problems. It'll be the best $14 investment you've ever made!