A healthy home is an essential part of preventive health care for us and our animal companions. A friend and client suggested that I watch this video with Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Myron Wentz, knowing that many of my foundational teachings and belief were encapsulated and visualized so well in this Health and Happiness summit. I could not agree with him more after watching it. These helpful suggestions are truly a foundation for our own preventive health care. Certain cliche’s are cliche’s because they are so true. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is certainly one of these essential truths. Many of the suggestions in this video pertain to our animal friends as well. Though animals are not exposed to mercury in dental fillings, but they are exposed through thimerisol in vaccines.
As Dr. Wentz states regarding fluoride outgassing from frying pans, often times our animal friends are truly the canary in the cage. This is quite evident more often than we might realize. A relative of mine inquired about the sudden onset of asthma in her beloved cat. Their veterinarian made the correct diagnosis and prescribed the correct medications. However, too often, one does not question why the animal developed this condition suddenly in the first place. My first question was what was different in the environment and had them review any changes in the house. When I was visiting them and slept in the guestroom, I actually began to cough as I smelled something that was sickeningly sweet and toxic. It was there new fabric fresheners that they put in the wash. When discussing this with them, her husband actually said that he was coughing ever since that new freshener was used as well. I suggested to stop using them and see how the cat and her husband were doing. That solved the problem and they were able to stop using an inhaler medication and oral medication for the cat and her husband stopped coughing as well. So often, we assume that many of these chemicals that permeate our environment are deemed healthy. Often times, it is the exact opposite. As my readers know, I am a huge proponent of the “Precautionary Principle”. Science cannot possibly keep up with all the new chemicals we are exposed to. Let us try to keep our environments as simple, back to basics and healthy as possible. In the textbook I edited on Complementary and Alternative Medicine back in 1998, I had presented an environmental questionnaire developed by a human physician and one of the founders of the American College of Environmental Medicine that I felt should be part of every veterinarians toolkit. Instead of a life on hazardous pharmaceuticals, my relative’s cat is happy and free of asthma simply by figuring out the environmental cause of the asthma. This is just one small example.
I was also thrilled to see that Dr. Wentz discussed electromagnetic pollution as I have written a number of blog posts about this ever increasing risk. I suggest that you read Dr. Wentz’s book and conduct an evaluation of your home and remove any toxins that can be hazardous to you and your animal companion’s health. We will discuss more of the environmental triggers and potential health concerns in future blog posts.
May you and your kindred spirits live in a healthy, happy, toxin free environment.
