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Rocky Mountain Environmental Health Association

Members' Notes, January, 2019

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New book - Beating Macular Degeneration With Nutrition

By N. Dumke

When macular degeneration is discovered, the patient is told to take an AREDS™ (Age Related Eye Disease Study) eye supplement, eat salmon, egg yolks and kale or other dark green vegetables, and hope the disease does not progress rapidly. They also hear about the drugs available to treat wet macular degeneration, which can destroy vision quickly. What they do not hear is that these drugs are Band-Aids™ that temporarily delay blindness but do not address the underlying cause of the disease, "starvation of the retina."[1] Dry macular degeneration also destroys central vision slowly, and patients are told that nutrition is the treatment for it. However, the AREDS™ eye supplement is woefully incomplete and slowed progression at only one point (from the intermediate to the advanced stage) in only 25% of study participants.

When the author's husband, Mark, was diagnosed with intermediate stage dry macular degeneration in December, 2017, she remembered hearing, eighteen years previously, an allergy doctor tell her mother that nutrients could "stop macular degeneration in its tracks." If she had not heard that one sentence and if they had not sought expert nutritional advice and implemented the principles in this book, Mark might have experienced the same extremely rapid progression of the disease that his father did. Instead he enjoys greatly improved color vision, ease in working at a computer all day, normal blood pressure, and more.

The diagnosis of macular degeneration does not have to mean a sentence of progressive loss of sight. Beating Macular Degeneration With Nutrition is the story (well-documented from medical sources) of how superior nutrition, avoidance of damaging influences and lifestyle improvements can save your sight.

This book gives nutritional and lifestyle principles for beating macular degeneration. Practical information for implementing these principles includes advice on how to put superior eye nutrition into practice and 95 recipes which are diabetic- and food allergy-friendly; 87 are gluten-free. No sugar is used in this book; recipes are sweetened with a new neutral-tasting stevia extract, pure monk fruit extract or agave. Also included is information about eye-protecting sunglasses, real blood sugar control, helpful lifestyle practices, conventional treatment for AMD, and finding expert nutritional help for implementing and personalizing the treatment of your eyes and health. To learn more about Beating Macular Degeneration With Nutrition, visit this webpage:

It is essential that people know that macular degeneration does not mean you have to go blind. Please help spread the word that there are simple nutritional approaches that can help!

A PDF copy is available on CD rom format. A flash drive copy is available on request, but a $5.00 handling and shipping charge is appreciated. A printed copy of the book is available for $24.95. For your copy, please email contact@healingbasics.life. Or, you can download a *.pdf of the book at -

Please volunteer to talk to your municipal library book buyers and ask them to order a paper copy of the book from Ingram Books or accept and make available a free PDF of this book thus possibly preventing blindness for their library patrons.

Thank you,

  1. [1] Abel, Robert, Jr. MD. The Eye Care Revolution: Prevent and Reverse, Common Vision Problems.
  2. (New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp., 1999, 2014), 170.


Medical Support for Mold Toxicity

A local Boulder(, Colorado) mold expert is;

The Denver address is:

Dr. Kehoe reports that he has treated 3-4,000 people for mold toxicity, including himself. He is based in Louisville but is in the Denver office on Thursdays to see patients there.


6th Edition of Disease Prevention and Treatment

The Life Extension Foundation has released the Sixth edition of their "Disease Prevention and Treatment" textbook. This is a large, 8 1/2 by 11 inch printing, 1,600 page compilation of current and developing medical information that covers more than 130 sections of health concern. It is oriented toward helping the elder population living a well and productive life.

The information for each section is, first, a description of our current medical knowledge about the health condition, then coverage of the typical "establishment" treatment, then coverage of the alternative medicine approach. The section concludes with a summary of current, both establishment and alternative, treatments which include dosages. Each section is documented by citations to many published studies throughout the worldwide medical literature.

The regular price is $99.95. During their introductory period, until April 18, 2019, the price is $39.00 which includes free shipping. Specify Item number DPT06 when ordering. Life Extension's telephone number is 800/544-4440. The web address is -


Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Pain Relief

The March 2019 issue of the Life Extension journal presents information about a recently-available fatty acid product, palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) that relieves pain. PEA does not activate the opoid receptor, but reduces inflammatory stimuli which cause pain at the site of the pain and also targets the underlying perception of pain. It is reported to be as effective as the over-the-counter NSAIDS, such as acetaminophen (an immunosuppresive drug which is best avoided by people with environmental illnesses), or naproxen, but without the dangerous side-effects.

The title of the article is "Turn Off the Pain Signal, A Safe Approach to Pain." This product is available as a chewable tablet taken once a day. A bottle of 60 tablets costs $25.50. Item #02393. Life Extension's telephone number is 800/544-4440. Also available at -

The following is a direct link to the full article.


CoQ10 for Migraine Relief

The March 2019 Life Extension journal also presents information about recent research on CoQ10 that reports it being effective in reducing the frequency and duration of migraine headache pain by as much as 50 percent.

CoQ10 is commonly available in most health stores, but it is also available from Life Extension for a prices beginning about $25.00. Life Extension's telephone number is 800/544-4440. Also available at

Item #01426 for one example.

The following is a direct link to the full article.


Mr. Trump's Unsafe Neighborhood.

The Public Citizen group has released a report, "Mr. Trump's Unsafe Neighborhood." This report is a compilation of 33 Trump administration policies and actions that explicitly put children at risk. Although the article does not mention it, those actions also puts many other members of our society, such as the elderly or disabled, at risk contrary to many public statutes. Very ominously, these actions mean that our society is becoming a more and more an intolerant and dangerous place for many people with environmental or chemical sensitivities. Also serious is the problem of biasing our social response to ignore scientifically documented health hazards which can have impacts for many decades to come.

Here are excerpts from the report of these many policies and actions -

"Mr. Trump's Unsafe Neighborhood: 33 Ways Trump's Cruel Policies Are Bad for America's Kids; Corporate Influence in Government, Trump's Threat to Democracy. by Alan Zibel

1) The Trump administration has rolled back the Obama administration's efforts to serve more nutritious foods to students, allowing chocolate milk and other sugary, salty, fatty foods that lead to obesity and poor health. Trump's agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, said that it "doesn't do any good to serve nutritious meals if they wind up in the trash can." but nutrition experts say the rules put children's health at risk.

2) Only a month after taking office, Trump rescinded an Obama-era position that transgender students can use bathrooms that correspond with students' gender identity. A year later, the U.S. Department of Education said it no longer would investigate complaints filed by transgender students who are denied access to bathrooms. Most recently, the Trump administration has explored defining gender as an unchangeable biological condition, a change that would exclude transgender people from civil rights protections.

3) Trump did nothing after 17 high school students were gunned down in Parkland, Fla. Instead of action that would actually make schools safer, Trump proposed to arm teachers, and his administration set up a sham commission to study school safety issues that intentionally chose to ignore the role of guns in school violence.

4) Early in the administration, Trump signed measures getting rid of standards for teacher-training programs and accountability rules designed to ensure that schools serve poor and minority students.

5) The Education Department, under pressure from conservative groups, is dismissing large numbers of civil rights complaints and evaluating whether to eliminate Obama administration's 2014 school discipline guidance, which requires school officials to address the large number of students of color who are suspended and expelled, and even jailed.

6) Trump's cruel and unnecessary family separation policy resulted in thousands of kids being separated from their parents, placed in cages, held in a tent city in Texas and appearing alone in court. The Trump administration then took months to reunify families and gave out inaccurate data about how many children had been reunified. Most recently, the Associated Press reported that workers at a tent city detention camp holding 2,300 teenagers in the Texas desert did not use FBI fingerprint background checks for its workers, increasing the risk that people with criminal histories could have contact with the boys and girls between 13 and 17 years old.

7) After U.S. agents used tear gas in a confrontation with a crowd of migrants at the border with Mexico, Trump claimed that "the tear gas is a very minor form of the tear gas itself" and then denied it was used on children despite photos of children running away from tear gas used by federal agents.

8) Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has curbed enforcement of immigration laws against undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. Trump claimed he supported a "bill of love" to protect the Dreamers, but didn't support actual legislation. Instead, Trump demanded strict anti-immigrant measures such as his unnecessary border wall proposal. As a result, the issue remains unresolved, and about 800,000 Dreamers remain in limbo.

9) The Trump administration wants to deny green cards and visas to legal immigrants who use federal benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance. This cruel proposal could cause fear and uncertainty for immigrant families and result in millions of eligible children going without food assistance, health coverage and more. Immigration officials would have latitude to to reject immigrants' applications due to low incomes, deterring immigrants from legal paths to citizenship and causing immigrants and their family members to forego critical benefits for fear of the consequences.

10) Trump said he would issue an executive order ending the right to U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States. This unconstitutional move was even dismissed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

11) Enduring patterns of residential segregation in the U.S. have made it difficult for low-income children to climb the economic ladder, but the Trump administration is considering getting rid of a rule requiring local governments to combat residential segregation or lose federal funding. This rule, enacted by the Obama administration in 2015, is designed to promote low-income housing in wealthier areas that have long resisted such housing. Without this regulation, housing segregation and discriminatory practices will persist, making it far harder for low- income children to advance in American society.

12) Just two months after being sworn in, Trump signed legislation getting rid of regulations banning internet companies from selling customers' browsing histories without their permission. Without this rule, internet companies will be able to target children with ads. Federal rules already prohibit data collection from children under 13 without parental consent, but teenagers are ripe targets for invasive advertising.

13) Trump and Congressional Republicans did the bidding of big donors by enacting massive tax cuts for large corporations and wealthy individuals. After passing these irresponsible cuts, Republican lawmakers and Trump's top economic adviser pivoted to talk of cutting back on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and other programs claiming that the government can't afford them.

14) The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened, but failed to enact, draconian cuts to federal programs that benefit kids. After lawmakers reached a bipartisan compromise budget deal that provided a huge spending boost to the military as well as social programs, Trump quickly got grumpy about the deal he had just signed. He pushed for brutal cuts to children's health insurance, and other spending that lawmakers already approved. This plan failed.

15) The Trump administration's first budget proposed to eliminate two federal programs that aim to reduce children's risk of exposure to lead paint, which impedes brain development. It then took a court order to get the administration to revise federal standards for lead paint and lead dust exposure. These new proposed rules include tighter standards for lead dust on floors and window sills but still put children at risk by failing to include tighter standards for lead in paint and soil.

16) The Trump administration placed Dr. Ruth Etzel, director of the EPA's Office of Children's Health Protection, on administrative leave in September 2018. Etzel, a pediatrician and renowned child health expert, told CNN she wondered if the administration objected to a major lead poisoning report nearing completion. "Maybe saving children doesn't matter anymore," Etzel told CNN. "If you watch their actions and not just listen to their words, you find out they're not walking the walk that they would be walking if they really wanted to eliminate childhood lead poisoning."

17) The Trump administration has delayed new federals standards for lead and copper in drinking water. After several delays, the EPA now says it plans to release these proposed standards next year. Meanwhile, more cities are facing public health crises over lead levels in their tap water.

18) Trump's EPA refused to ban chlorpyrifos, a brain-damaging pesticide sold by Dow Chemical Co., which contributed $1 million to Trump's inauguration and whose CEO met with Trump several times. Though a federal appeals court has now ordered the Trump EPA to ban the pesticide, the Trump administration hasn't stopped carrying water for chemical companies and agriculture giants. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue even asserted that banning the dangerous chemical would prevent farmers from using and "effective and economical crop protection tool."

19) The Trump administration has solicited public comment on whether to repeal an Obama-era requirement barring children under 18 from handling pesticides on farms. This limitation, enacted in 2015, is one of the few national regulations on child farm labor and is especially important because early exposure to pesticides can cause cancer and neurological damage.

20) One in three kids attends school close to a dangerous chemical facility. But the Trump administration tried to delay enforcement of rules designed to ensure communities are prepared for chemical plant disasters. Trump's EPA even proposed to delete important accident- prevention regulations. But a federal appeals court ruled against the Trump EPA, saying it could no longer delay disaster-prevention and safety measures to promote emergency preparedness measures and sharing of information about chemical threats.

21) A group of young people between 10 and 25 sued the federal government in 2015 for failing to stop climate change, arguing that they have the right to live in a safe climate. The Trump administration tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the case before the scheduled trial date, complaining about the cost of the litigation, but the court allowed the case to proceed.

22) Trump's EPA deleted warnings about climate change from rules on power plant carbon emissions. Another Trump EPA regulation on greenhouse gases in cooling units eliminated language noting that children, the elderly and the poor are "most vulnerable to climate-related health effects."

23) The Trump administration is reviewing whether to undermine protections that reduce mercury, arsenic, lead and other air pollutants from power plant emissions. Mercury pollution is particularly hazardous to kids, damaging the nervous system of children and fetuses.

24) The Trump argument has argued that the government shouldn't even consider health benefits - such as curbing soot in the air - when deciding whether to go ahead with federal rules, arguing that these benefits are an unintended effect of the rule. Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, seemed oblivious to the real public benefits to the health of vulnerable populations like children and the elderly, calling such benefits "fuzzy math."

25) The EPA closed the National Center for Environmental Research, which provides millions of dollars in grants each year and runs fellowships to study the effects of chemicals on children's health. Though EPA officials claimed the research grants would still be funded, staffers at the center were reassigned.

26) The Trump administration defunded a program that uses evidence-based initiatives to reduce teen pregnancy rates, but then was blocked from doing so by a federal judge.

27) The White House and Republican lawmakers spent months trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The 2010 health care law benefited low-income children tremendously, spurring parents who were newly eligible for health care to sign up their children for existing health care programs and use more preventive care. The Trump administration failed in its effort to repeal Obamacare, but has still worked to harm children and families by slashing spending on advertising for Obamacare signups and trying to sabotage Obamacare by getting rid of the mandate that Americans carry health insurance. Under Trump, the Justice Department even declined to defend the law's ban on denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions or charging them higher rates.

28) Children and families will be harmed by the Trump administration's decision to allow health insurance companies to sell junk health care plans that lack coverage for such essentials as prescriptions and quality maternity care. Those with these plans may find themselves responsible for significant expenses, forcing them to go into debt and even bankruptcy. While these inexpensive plans could target healthy young adults who use little healthcare, but children and families tend to use healthcare more often and would be harmed.

29) Despite the consensus recommendation of public health experts and doctors, the Trump administration sought to dilute a World Health Organization resolution favoring breastfeeding over the use of infant formula, helping out the infant formula industry.

30) The new North American trade deal's includes restraints on domestic food safety and inspection programs and requires the U.S. to accept food imports that do not meet U.S. safety or inspection standards. The trade pact also maintains limits on food inspection at the border and adds new rules limiting audits of countries' food safety programs. It also fails to fix rollbacks of U.S. food labeling policies that previously were challenged by Canada and Mexico, including country-of-origin labels for meat and dolphin-safe labels for tuna.

31) Trump's acting head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Anne Marie Buerkle, is a former right-wing congresswoman with a record of opposing strong mandatory health and safety regulations. Another CPSC commissioner, Dana Baiocco, spent her professional career defending corporations in product safety cases.

32) The CPSC sued a maker of jogging strollers over reports that the front wheel could detach suddenly and injure parents and kids. The agency reached a settlement requiring the stroller manufacturer, Britax, to repair defective strollers but still avoid calling these repairs a recall. Two Democratic commissioners were highly critical of this arrangement, writing that "an agreement that provides relief without anyone being fully alerted to the nature of the relief is pretty much no relief at all" and expressed concerns that other companies will seek similar treatment.

33) The Trump administration has proposed to repeal a policy that protects 16 and 17-year-old nursing assistants from getting injured in nursing homes and health care jobs. Trump's Labor Department apparently has no problem with young workers operating dangerous patient lifts on their own, without training or assistance from an adult worker. However, occupational safety experts have concluded that most youths do not have the ability to properly assess the risks of using this equipment.

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Revised '20-Feb-2019,14:54:42'