Casualties of Progress : Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive [Paperback]

Alison Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2000

This collection contains reports from 57 people whose lives have been severely impacted by the condition known as multiple chemical sensitivity, which overlaps with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, Gulf War syndrome, sick building syndrome, and asthma. These personal histories are told in each person's own words and voice; contributors cover a wide range of occupations from a painter on offshore oil rigs to an intensive care unit nurse to a college English professor. While most stories reveal simply quiet desperation, the collection includes reports of a suicide and a murder.

Editorial Reviews

Review

There are those who will dismiss Casualties of Progress as just a collection of anecdotes. But what anecdotes! So compelling that the book is next to impossible to put down, these chronicles of courage, caring, injustice, suffering, persistence, and triumph are told in such depth and with such honesty that their truth is unmistakable. They are truly tales to open eyes and hearts. -- Lynn Lawson, Author of Staying Well in a Toxic World

From the Publisher

Alison Johnson is a leading national advocate for persons with multiple chemical sensitivity. She has produced three videos on the subject and has also conducted a survey of 351 persons with MCS to evaluate their experience with 160 different therapies.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: M C S Information Exchange (January 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967561906
• ISBN-13: 978-0967561905
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,629,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for ALL medical professionals, April 2, 2000

By 

Kelly Seibert (Hillsborough, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casualties of Progress : Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive (Paperback)

CASUALTIES OF PROGRESS: Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive. Editor Alison Johnson included over 50 stories written by people whose lives have drastically been changed due to an overload of chemicals in their lives. When you read the book, you will find a "connection" and hopefully learn from it and change your own life before the damage is done to you. We live in a chemical world now...from the synthetic perfumes we use to the spraying of insecticides in our homes to rid of bugs. The stories in the book (which are real) will give one with an open mind the picture that maybe we are all slowly poisoning ourselves. The proof? Well, don't rely on the medical books just yet...they are not that far advanced (notice they haven't found the cause of gulf war illness yet?). In Alison Johnson's book you will read about symptoms coming from those now chemically sensitive (in most cases because of a known chemical over-exposure). It doesn't take a medical degree to see how these people react from the same chemicals (perfumes, cleaning agents, diesel exhaust, magic markers, pesticides, fabric softeners, etc.). It can't be a "coincidence" that these people all suffer the same similiar type of symptoms (headaches, shortness of breath, blurred vision, experience unsteady gait, chest pain, confusion, etc.) Yet the medical profession claims multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) to be a "controversial" illness. Or at these they have in the past. But as more and more become sensitive to every day chemicals that didn't bother them before, more and more research is being done. This is an excellent, informative book with personal stories being shared so that YOU, the reader, will become better educated about the chemicals you expose yourself daily not realizing how in the long-term they can cause problems. It'll be the best $14 investment you've ever made!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars just the beginning ..., September 13, 2000

By 

K. (Massachusetts, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casualties of Progress : Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive (Paperback)

Incredible book, incredible research, incredible stories, incredible people. The suffering these people have endured is well communicated in this simple book. It seems that no reader could walk away from this book without understanding the kind of hell that persons with MCS endure. Indeed, the social discomfort of people not understanding can be worse than the physical issues. Besides allowing the reader to bear necessary witness to the souls presented, this book can help those with similar problems feel less alone. It showed me that what I have been through with sensitivities is not unique, and that I am part of a larger picture; one that I believe will, sadly, only get bigger. Maybe some more eyes can be opened in time. If I had read these stories before I became so sensitized, I might have been able to avoid it. At least I would have had knowledge. (How? The patterns are fairly recognizable. In hindsight, it seems that with awareness and action, my path could easily have been altered.) In many people's reality, ignorance did not bring bliss, but MCS. Thank god for the work of Alison Johnson. May the knowledge spread, not the pain.