Environmental illness. Bad chemistry

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Description

Perfumes, aerosols, plastic on television sets-for some people, these everyday chemicals may create health problems ranging from headaches, to breathing difficulties, to loss of consciousness. This program examines the medical and political dimensions of Environmental Illness (EI)-the controversial and mysterious condition whose victims cannot tolerate common chemicals of modern life. Clinical ecologists, a new breed of doctors specializing in EI, believe the condition may result from damage to the immune system caused by exposure to the chemicals that saturate our environment and by overuse of antibiotics. But other physicians do not recognize EI as a medical condition and condemn those who treat it as "cult practitioners. The dispute has given rise to political action, involving government agencies at the city, state, and federal level, and heated in-fighting in the medical profession. EI sufferers are caught in the middle.