An Alternative Approach to Allergies: The New Field of Clinical Ecology Unravels the Environmental Causes of Mental and Physical Ills

After being plagued with skin problems, headaches, tiredness, hay fever, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), depression, etc., etc., etc. for much of my late teens and all of my adult life, and going to over fifteen regular allergists and M.D.s for much of my forty-five years, I read Randolph's book: An Alternative Approach To Allergies. Realizing that Dr. Randolph had discovered a major piece to the health-puzzle, I finally went to a M.D. in New York who changed the entire basis of his practice from being a "classically trained" allergist to a transformed Clinical Ecologists M.D. After being diagnosed with MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) and delayed food allergies--for which I was tested--I removed all the offending chemicals from my home and work environment; I also eliminated the foods causing delayed allergic reactions: The improvement in my health was rapid and live-changing. Thinking such may be psychosomatic, I went back to eating my delayed allergic foods and returned to using normal household chemical products, e.g., Tide, bleach, Comet, fabric softener, Cling, perfumed soaps, etc., and, within a few days, all my chronic health symptoms returned with a vengeance. I once again eliminated such foods and chemicals from my diet/environment, and with five days I was much better. Today, five months after visiting the NY Clinical Ecologist, I have all the energy of a 20 year old; am sleeping far less and feel more rested; exercise five days a week (I had little to no energy to do this in the past); my headaches are gone; my IBS has improved to a point where I do not even notice it; I am not experiencing hay fever any longer (I can now own a cat which before I could not even enter a room where a cat resided because within minutes I was itching and becoming tired); and my depression is a thing of the past. And since my life-changing experience, I have introduced many others to this new way of treating food and chemical allergies: All have had similar improvements in health as I experience--without exception. I thank the late Dr. Randolph for writing this wonderful book and for establishing the branch of Medicine Clinical Ecology and educating doctors regarding MCS and delayed food allergies...and thank you Dr. W. of NY for your diagnosis, treatment and compassion. I can say from experience--and vastly improved health--the information in Dr. Randolph's book clearly takes the medical field in the area of food and chemical allergies from the Dark Ages into the 21st Century. I only hope more classically trained allergy doctors will read Dr. Randolph's book and make a transition from Dark Age medicine to 21st Century medicine.

This book saved my life....I have MCS from hell and I would never have beaten it without discovering Randolph's sane and elegant approach. The case studies enabled me to understand what was happening with my hyper-reactions to chemicals and foods.... ...AND to see how my mental and physical dysfunctions were related to my environmental exposures.......I am 'almost' well now thanks to Dr Randolph

This book is the first one of its kind to accurately describe the extent of food and environmental allergy symptoms. When I first ran across this book, I already knew about my own food allergies, but it helped me rotate my foods so I wouldn't develop new allergies. After having lost track of the book, I found it again three years later, and it is helping me again to deal with my depression and other problems - all food related. I would recommend this book to everyone. Randolph presents a variety of case studies on just how severly allergies can affect a person. He also gives a good guide to the different levels of symptoms caused by allergies. The breakdown of the food families at the end of the book is invaluable in controlling your allergic symptoms. A definite must-have! It may even save your life. As far as falling prey to a quack, approach clinical ecologists with caution, as you would any other practioner. I personally could say that I was almost killed by a licensed MD because he took out a lymph node thinking it was cancerous, and in its place left an infection, which he ignored until I finally forced him to check it; I went into surgery the same day, and I don't have any trust in his medical judgement anymore. So, it's not always the field you must be wary of, but the practioner. Do your research, read the book, and try it out for yourself first. You might be amazed with the results!

Theron Randolph was primary in going before Congress and getting labels on food, and he defined Chemical Sensitivity as a diagnosis. This book, and the page on the Manic-Depressive cycle, have a place in history as watershed events. We all benefit from his courage and intelligence. In decades of meticulous testing of patients at his clinic in Chicago, eliminating allergens and adding them back one at a time, Dr. Randolph demonstrated and documented the basis of the Manic-Depressive cycle. As a woman Physicist, I found his book intriguing in the careful, methodical approach to physical and mental illness, and surprised that a person's mood changes could be triggered by environmental factors. I tried rotating my foods and adding them back one at a time. I found that wheat and corn gave me arthritis (!), and that my mind would be less clear with certain foods and chemicals. The Rotation Diet can certainly be unbalanced if not managed properly, and people can become allergic cripples by avoiding the modern world; so the insights must be balanced with common sense. My quality and enjoyment of life is much better as a result of reading this book. I have gone beyond Randolph's neutralizing injections, to use Devi Nambudripad's pressure point clearing for allergies, as a permanent treatment. This eliminates the need for injections. However, I continually monitor the well-being of my students, my family and myself using the insights I gained reading this book.

My daughter was at Dr. Randolph's clinic in the early 1980's. I was extremely pleased at the treatment she received. She came home after a month with a formaldehyde antidote which was the best treatment she has ever received, and she has seen many doctors and has volumes of medical history. She is extremely ill with chronic fatigue. If I could only find the antidote again, it would be a blessing!! While taking it, was the only time in her life that she only required eight hours of sleep and her life was normal. Dr. Randolph knew exactly where he was going, but like any scientist, finding the correct road to travel on is a search!!