WEB POSTED 07-09-2002

You are what you eat, drink and breathe

There are those among us, and/or around us, who feel that we are too "choosey" about the food we choose to eat. If, however, they ever stop to give some real thought to the saying, "You are what you eat," they, too, would become more circumspect about what they wrap their coffee-coolers around.

But it is even worse than that!

The July 1 issues of both TIME and U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT carry warnings of poisons to which we may fall victim without having the luxury to choose whether or not to ingest them. The TIME article, entitled "What�s in Your Pipes?" begins with a case of a Florida woman who was being told by doctors that spots on her lung were probably cancer, another that her bouts with pneumonia were simply "bad luck," and one in Louisiana whose ailment was diagnosed as tuberculosis.

There was only one problem�all three diagnoses were proven wrong! Equally disturbing is the fact that "they could have developed the ailment simply by stepping into a shower." The story subhead reads, "A mysterious TB-like bug called NTM is turning up in shower stalls across the South." NTM stands for "non-TB mycobacterial," and is described by the writer as "hard to get rid of." Unlike TB, however, it is said to be noncontagious. That is, you cannot catch it from another person, but only from the source. Dr. Michael Lauzardo, deputy TB controller of Florida says, "It takes three times as long to treat as conventional TB and relapses are commom." Drug costs alone run a year, and a full course can last 18 months. Described as being "everywhere," the germs thrive in what scientists call biofilms�pond scum and the slime inside faucets and showerheads.

U.S. NEWS carried an article in the Health & Medicine section entitled "DON�T BREATHE THE AIR." The sub-head reads, "The outdoors was once a simple prescription for good health. No longer."

The chief reasons for this change are identified as two types of air pollution�ozone and fine particles. According to doctors, current levels of particle pollution are increasing the risk of death from lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Some primary sources of said pollution are identified as sulfur and some nitrogen oxides emitted by older electrical generating plants, diesel engines and other sources.

A Harvard University Health authority is quoted as describing the heart and the lungs as "actually a single unit," because of the way they interact. Breathing in particles can eventually interfere with the body�s total engine operation. If the arteries get clogged up by inhaled particles, the heart�s ability to adjust its rate in response to exercise or stress is affected, and the result will almost certainly be disastrous.

One of the main sources of current alarm is the fact that, from 1980 to 1994, asthma cases increased by 75 per cent. In children under age 4, asthma incidence jumped by 160 per cent.

The alarming thing, to those doing the studying, is that there appears to be no end in sight. If we are waiting, as we usually do, for "Boss" to save us, we are gone!