Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Matt Fisken, a freelance energy adviser and permaculturist who lives in Hartford.
With the governor’s State of the State address in January, Vermont’s opiate problem suddenly became national news and is no longer our little secret. In a sense, Peter Shumlin took a brave first step for us all by admitting how vulnerable we are, as a state, to drug addiction.
What happens next will be critical. Waiting for legislation and funding to battle traffickers and treat addicts could be too little, too late. The media (including the film “The Hungry Heart”) does have the ability to reach people who are suffering and to help them find paths toward recovery. But for many, messages on a screen or in a newspaper will do little to pull them out of their spirals of suffering.
In order to solve this puzzle, we will need to accept the unpleasant fact that thousands of Vermonters are in physical pain and mental anguish and examine how our current medical system has failed to provide effective and sustainable treatment for them. Too many have been over-prescribed medication which has led to addiction to other unprescribed and dangerous street drugs. Underlying an unknown number of ailments and addictive behaviors are two overlooked, confounding factors which affect almost all modern humans: heavy metal toxicity and electromagnetic field exposure.
While lead, mercury, and aluminum are known environmental pollutants, our health care system tends to turn a blind eye towards how these toxic elements accumulate in our food, water, drugs, vaccines, homes and bodies. Over time, they slowly but surely lead to disease. As these metals build up in our bodies and brains, we become more “antenna-like,” responding more dramatically to man-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in our environment, which are increasingly strong and impulsive by the day. Evidence exists showing EMFs can suppress melatonin and weaken the blood brain barrier, leading to a reduction in our natural protection from toxins. These increasingly ubiquitous stressors are resulting in learning disabilities, chronic “modern” diseases, and escalating addiction to drugs and alcohol. After illicit substances add fuel to the fire, the challenge of extinguishing it becomes much greater.
It is tempting to believe that Vermont’s addiction problem is caused by the drugs themselves, but it’s worth considering that the narcotics and alcohol being abused throughout the state are often just Band-aids being applied to lives which are being wounded by avoidable, hidden stressors.
Admittedly, the suggestion that we might address the complexities of prevention, addiction and recovery by avoiding and mitigating heavy metals and EMFs sounds unbelievably simple. This approach would borrow its holistic perspective from ancient wisdom, but it would be anything but traditional medicine. The closest existing practice is probably “Building Biology,” which critically examines the spaces in which we spend most of our time, looking to minimize insidious hazards. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has also offered recent advice regarding EMF exposures and people with medical conditions and disabilities. [1]
As a starting point, Vermont’s schools, hospitals, government buildings, prisons and addiction treatment centers should be checked for elevated levels of electromagnetic pollution. Following that, educational outreach could take place regarding the typical causes of heavy metal toxicity to help people make better choices and detoxify. Individual Vermonters also have the ability to make basic changes in their home environments, which could potentially prevent losing a loved one to the throes of addiction. These are not quick fixes, but they will help anyone with a beating heart.
EMFs come in three main forms:
• Low frequencies. These are produced by power lines and electrical appliances. Reduce them by moving electronics out of bedrooms. Plug-in alarm clocks create strong fields three feet away and should be moved away from the bedside, or replaced with battery-powered models. AC/DC adapters (wall warts) can produce strong fields too. Using a laptop or tablet is another way to expose oneself to these low frequency fields which can be avoided by attaching a USB keyboard. Measuring fields with a Gauss meter will ideally yield results no higher than 2 milliGauss in places you spend a lot of time. Below 0.5 mG is ideal. For a good night’s sleep, you can install demand switches or turn off breakers to eliminate AC electric fields.
• Intermediate frequencies. These are produced by many ballasted, fluorescent lamps, dimmer switches and variable speed motors. The best option is to avoid using these things whenever possible, employing regular switches and incandescent or LED bulbs. Sometimes these “transients” or “harmonics” will come from the grid and you may need to mitigate them by using filtering technology. To find out what levels you have, use a Graham-Stetzer meter. Levels below 50 GS units are preferable.
• High frequencies. These are produced by microwave transmitters like cell phones, Wifi, cordless phones and baby monitors. Today, it is not uncommon for households to have a dozen radio frequency (RF) emitters in them, many of which transmit 24/7, despite being used only a few times a day. By far the greatest invisible threat is Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony (DECT 6.0), however, nearly all cordless phones emit constantly from the base station like miniature cell towers. Use corded phones whenever possible, install ethernet cables for Internet access and disable Wifi on routers to create a safe electromagnetic environment at work or home. Turning off Wifi on computers and setting tablets and phones to airplane mode will further reduce these emissions when not in use. You can also call your utility to opt-out of having wireless “smart” electric meters without charge. Consumer-grade electrosmog meters can be purchased for much less than the price of a smartphone (the Cornet ED78S is highly recommended).
Heavy metal toxicity can arise from:
• Food and cooking. Avoid aluminum cookware and use foil sparingly. Aluminum beverage cans are probably the main contributor to ingested metals. Antiperspirants and antacids often contain aluminum as well. Check your labels. Of course, it is well known that certain fish like tuna can have high levels of mercury.
• Medical procedures. If you have the choice, have porcelain dental fillings instead of amalgam (silver). It is possible to have older fillings which are mostly made of mercury replaced. Ask your doctor about vaccines without mercury (Thimerosal) or aluminum, such as the single-dose flu shot. [2] Some joint replacements have been found to release particles of metal into the body as they wear out.
Detoxifying from heavy metals is complex procedure which should only be done under the guidance of a licensed doctor or nutritionist. With that said, there are a number of websites that can provide good, detailed information about the process so you know what to expect. [3] Drinking clean water, eating cilantro, adding epsom salt to your bath and exercise and are four things I can recommend even though I am not a doctor.
It is tempting to believe that Vermont’s addiction problem is caused by the drugs themselves, but it’s worth considering that the narcotics and alcohol being abused throughout the state are often just Band-aids being applied to lives which are being wounded by avoidable, hidden stressors. If Montpelier is serious about helping Vermonters, it will look at identifying and minimizing these persistent causal agents before throwing money at the symptoms. Identifying communities struggling with addiction and with unhealthy levels of EMFs or toxins should be priority number one. We also need to ensure that there are safe, clean places for those in recovery to go where addiction professionals with knowledge about EMFs and metal toxicity can provide assistance repairing their lives.
[1] http://aaemonline.org/AAEMEMFmedicalconditions.pdf
[2] http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/thimerosal.htm
[3] http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/19/how-to-rid-your-body-of-mercury-and-other-heavy-metals-a-3-step-plan-to-recover-your-health/
