Electrosensitivity

 During man’s existence on this planet three revolutions have taken place, each of which has had a profound influence on the environment, and consequently on our health:

1. Aeons ago was the original agricultural revolution when man developed farming methods and became a cultivator of food, rather than a hunter/gatherer. The dietary changes which resulted, with high dependency on grain and dairy products, formed the basis for food sensitivity.
2. The nineteenth century saw the industrial revolution withconsequent rise in pollution and the development of complex carbon-based chemicals.Human exposure gave rise to chemical sensitivity
3. Over the last one hundred years, but far more so over the last twenty years, we have had the electromagnetic revolution with the harnessing of natural electricity and the generation of electromagnetic energy. This, I believe, has caused the emergence of the relatively rare but increasing electromagnetic sensitivity
4. What is an electromagnetic field? An electromagnetic field is an area of energy which occurs round any electrically conductive or active item. In addition there are natural electromagnetic fields produced by the earth itself. The strength of an electromagnetic field varies considerably with the distance from the source. The current carried through the item is a major factor, but the field falls off by a factor of four for every time the distance from the source is doubled. This explains why sensitivity to a computer screen is common, as we sit near to them, but sensitivity to television sets is less common, as we are usually six or more feet away from them.

All electromagnetic fields oscillate or vary according to time, in that they pulse at a frequency of several times a second(or less commonly once every several seconds).

The Electromagnetic Spectrum
The range of the electromagnetic spectrum is mind bogglingly vast. At one end of the scale are fields with frequencies of several seconds, and at the other frequencies of billions of times a second. The highest frequencies known are 50,000,000,000,000,000,000 Hertz (pulses per second)!
Visible light is an electromagnetic field but covers a very small part of the full spectrum.

To try to visualise the EM spectrum, imagine you are at the end of a long corridor and each pace you take along this corridor increases the frequency tenfold - so one step takes you to 10, two steps takes you to 100, three to 1000 and so on. After two steps you are beyond the the earth's natural magnetic field and into the range of radio, television, telephone, radar and microwaves. Your fourteenth step takes you through the full range of visible light, and then you need six more paces through the ultraviolet, x-ray and gamma ray ranges before you reach the top. When one realises that within the visible light part there are millions of colours, each with it's own frequency, the full enormity of the spectrum becomes clearer. Add on to this that you can also have modulated fields with one frequency 'carried' by another then the potential range becomes almost infinite.

Frequencies within the first two paces and above the fourteenth pace of our imaginary 'corridor' occur naturally. But the explosion of telecommunication in the last few decades has filled the planet with unnatural radiation between our second and fourteenth pace.

Health Effects of E.M. Radiation
In the scientific community it is recognised that EM fields have health effects, but the view varies as to how strong the field has to be. Previous communist countries have the strictest guidelines, but in the U.K. the National Radiation protection Board have, bizarrely, set the limit at a strength required to heat the human body. this appears to assume that we are just lumps of meat and not living beings with electromagnetic communications going on in our brains!

Nevertheless, it is now clear that some people react to very low levels of exposure and that their reactions are often specific to certain frequencies. Common symptoms are headaches, fatigue, and impairment of mental function.Less common are rashes, muscular pain and sensory distrurbance. Often the patient is aware that their symptoms are worse in the vicinity of electrical appliances - and sometimes only specific appliances which produce their 'sensitising' frequency.

Management of EM Sensitivity
This is difficult and needs considering in 3 areas :

1. Avoidance.I have known patients move to remote areas of the UK, such as central Wales or the wilds of Dartmoor where EM pollution is lower. This is impractical if one is of working age.
2. Screening.Theoretically it is possible to build a screened room, to use as a respite area. To do this the entire room needs to be lined with fine wire mesh. The drawback is that this also screens out the natural earth frequencies, which appear to be essential for health.
3. 'Desensitisation'With most patients just as there are specific frequencies which trigger symptoms, there are frequencies which 'switch-off' the same symptoms. Regular exposure to these frequencies by various techniques appears to reduce EM sensitivity.

(c) Dr David Dowson MMIII. Also in 'Allergy-UK'