Customer Reviews

An alternative approach to allergies: The new field of clinical ecology unravels the environmental causes of mental and physical ills

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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.

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!

Dr. Theron Randolph was the foremost pioneer in his day of allergy theory, diagnosis, and treatment. Over the years, much has changed in the world of allergy treatment. Dr. Randolph's theories are still pretty solid, and give the layperson or medical professional a sound foundation for understanding allergy and chemical sensitivity. Everyone should be aware of the facts presented in this book, because everyone in the world is affected by the pollution in our world.

That said, the diagnosis methods Dr. Randolph used, though a vast improvement over what else was available at the time, are nowadays unnecessary. There are very gentle and quick methods for diagnosing allergies, but they are outside the scope of mainstream medicine.

The treatment methods are challenging, to say the least. Avoiding what you are allergic to seems like a no-brainer these days. However, it is far easier said than done, in fact, it borders on the impossible. Strict diets like the rotation diet mentioned in this book are very difficult to maintain, as well as socially isolating and psychologically exhausting.

There are ways for completely transforming allergies without injections or dilutions administered as drops under the tongue. Mainstream medicine, however, will never help you find these methods! Whether or not you are interested in subjecting yourself or your loved ones to the diagnosis and treatment delineated in this book, the understanding of allergies you can find here is invaluable. Highly recommended reading, though the treatment and diagnosis methods are not neccesarily recommended.

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!!

T. Randolph's book is filled with interesting and provocative ideas about food, allergies and addiction, however, his version of the rotation and is just about impossible to implement, even for the most disciplined. Although I anticipated finding a book about how people are affected by and deal with common environmental allergens (dust, mold, cats, etc.) or the odd food allergen (peanuts, etc.) it is mostly a discussion of how we are affected by eating a limited and repetitive diet.

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.

My father who has Multiple Sclerosis, a disease well known for its adverse sensitivity to the chemical environment found in all homes today and who himself is a physician from the Univ. of Michigan, class of 1966, went and was treated in Randolph's Henrotin Hospital, in the late 70's. When he came home nearly a month later, I saw him stand on his toes and ride a bike, things I had never seen him do before, or since. Randolph's theories were proven to me that day; moreover, reviewer number one, I challenge you to show where Randolph recommends this formeldyhyde treatment you received...yes there are quacks out there, but just because some nut calls himself a clinical ecologist and injects you with formeldyhyde does not mean that person is pursuing a treatment recommended by Randolph. Also, it is not so unusual for status quo to resist change, and Randoph's theories want to turn the medical profession on its ear! It's no wonder all his theories are not approved by the establishment. He did have his own hopital in Chicago and goverment funds a plenty. And one more thing, reviewer number one, you speak of Randolphs' theories as though they were one in number. He had many theories, quite a few of which have been proven in double blind experiments, though, certainly, not all of them are. It's a great book!

this book was written by the father of the enviromental and nutritional allergy.it represents the causes of allergy and shows how it began (from enviroment&from wrong nutritional habits as well as from the chemicals in food).there is also a chemical quastionary in this book in order to detect the poisionous chemicals and a rotatory diet plus other explained tips and strategies against allergy.headache/deppresion/arthritis/ are only some of the diseases that are considered symptoms of food and or enviromental allergy. the ways that the author is sujesting in this book are very practical,and eventhough they demmand (at the begining of the plan)a lot of attention,it is very practical for the allergy sufferers=i as a orthomolecular-nutritionist see the resoults with my patients.very highly recommanded!

Decades ago, the medical community decided that allergens would only be defined as such if they provoked an immune system reaction (rash, swelling, throat closing up!). But there was a lot of research showing that many foods cause symptoms in people that mimic the addiction cycle (an "excitement" to the system when first taken, a "struggling" of the body to adjust while building tolerance and, thereby, causing stress to the whole system, and then "withdrawal symptoms" when the food is not taken.) The premise here is that these "addiction-like" symptoms also come from food allergies, even though they are not currently identified as "allergic reactions" by the greater medical community. If you've ever had terrible food cravings, or felt awful until you were able to get the foods you felt your body "needed", (or felt a strange kinship with addicts, even though you don't use addicting drugs!) this book may give you insights that you may not get anywhere else.

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