Victory in six-year fight to recognise ES condition

 
Sutton Coldfield News Friday 14th 2006
by Steve Bradley
Victory in six-year fight to recognise condition
Anti-mast campaigner Lynn Insley is finally getting sick notes from her
doctor telling her and others what she has known for six years - that she suffers
from electrosensitivity.
Former Further Education lecturer Lynn, 53, has long described herself as
"virtually unemployable" but has faced a hard battle to convince the medical
profession that her condition is anywhere other than in the mind.
The former Riland Bedford pupil is now hoping to find work on her own terms
- based at home in Wishaw in her carefully controlled environment, away from
mobile phones, wireless computers and a certain type of fluorescent lighting.
All of the above send her off balance, impair her concentration and
coherence, and give her electric shocks, tingling sensations and numbness.They sap
all of her energy and up until recently, allowed her to set off shop alarms
simply by walking into shops.  
Now, after facing years of scepticism and even ridicule from "experts", Lynn
and fellow sufferers have belatedly won the backing of the UN's World Health
Organisation.
The WHO has recognised "electronic smog" as a new form of pollution, added
to by countless household gadgets.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer - part of the WHO - classes
the smog as a "possible human carcinogen".
One part of the smog comes from electrical fields, created by wiring. All
electrical equipment, from toasters and hairdryers to electric blankets and
clock radios, gives off another component of the smog - magnetic fields.
Radio frequency fields - a third component - come from microwave ovens, TV
transmitters, mobile phone masts and phones themselves.
The WHO said that the smog could interfere with the tiny natural electrical
currents that help to drive the human body.
It added that "everyone in the world" was exposed to the smog and that
"levels will continue to increase as technology advances". Items close to people's
beds produce the strongest dose due to the long-term exposure during sleep.
Both the WHO and the domestic Health Protection Agency have now accepted
that an allergy to electricity - electrosensitivity - exists, although they
remain uncertain precisely as to how it is caused.
Sufferers' symptoms vary, with others reporting nausea, pain and depression.
Up to three per cent of the population may be affected, the WHO claims.
Mother of two Lynn said: "In July 2000, I was forced to give up a full-time
job. I ran a health and social care NVQ programme for a college of further
education, which at its peak had 15 assessors on the team.
"At the point of leaving I was hardly able to function. My capacity to think
and make decisions was virtually non existent. I began to call things by the
wrong name: paper clips one day became "sausages" and students "soldiers",
when the mistake was pointed out, I could not recall their correct name
without a huge effort.  
"I had difficulty remembering colleagues' names, and confused people and
situations. I could not manage to dial my own or office number without careful
thought.
"I developed symptoms of extreme fatigue, experienced pins and needles and
numbness throughout my entire body and clicking sensations in my head.  
"My GP in Erdington dismissed this at first, then called it stress, implying
that it was psychosomatic. He told me and my husband during my last visit to
his surgery, that we all get tired, he did too, and when he does, he goes to
bed early; he also pointed out that he was very busy and must move on to the
next appointment.
"I changed doctors. My new GP at Walmley was more supportive: he had been my
aunt's and my father's GP, and knew them both quite well. My aunt came along
with me on the initial visit to endorse what I was saying, and to confirm
that, although the symptoms may seem bizarre, would he please take me
seriously, because she had known me from the day I was born, and that I was not an ‘ill
’ person, that I was usually very level-headed - and that clearly something
was happening, because when I said that I was tired, I was actually
describing the inability to stand or communicate.
My new doctor actively listened, he referred me on to a Consultant
Neurologist, who referred me on to a specialist who would investigate whether or not I
had damaged my nerve ends. The specialist found my nerve ends to be fine,
and suggested it may be stress (all in the mind).
"I went back to my GP who referred me on to a Teaching Hospital for a bone
density scan. Again no problem was found, and MS tests also proved negative. I
went on to another Consultant to investigate the possibility of
Fibromyalgia, but the symptoms didn’t really ring true, so again there was no conclusion.
"My symptoms worsened, I kept falling over, my speech and vision were
affected and I became touch sensitive - in other words, if I touched my skin on
occasions a sharp pain would shoot through my body. My GP prescribed HRT, I had
gone through the menopause at 47, my immune systems were not working
properly, I had had a cough for four years and x-rays showed nothing. My neutrophils
(white blood cells) were hovering just above zero."
The following year, eight of Lynn's neighbours also found they had low
neutrophil counts, with an alarming number developing similar symptoms to hers,
plus skin rashes and cancers.
The erection of a mobile phone mast in Bulls Lane was blamed by the
villagers for the sudden onset of their illnesses.
Sutton Coldfield Residents Against Masts (SCRAM) was formed, a small
upstairs room in Lynn's house, with protective, foil-lined wallpaper and coated
glass deflecting any beams from the mast, serving as its nerve centre.
She and husband Steve moved into a back bedroom further away from the
antennae.
Lynn found that she was becoming something of a hermit, as most social
situations made her feel uncomfortable.
"A huge amount of investigations took place and it was then that I
discovered that I had become electrosensitive," said Lynn, who visited private
consultant Dr David Dowson - an early advocate of the existence of ChronicFatigue
Syndrome (ME).
"With this newly-found knowledge I was able to research my illness and
protect myself and my home. I began to recover. However I only remain wellif I
avoid excessive electromagnetic fields, which is easier said than done.
"By meeting other electrosensitive sufferers, I realise that our symptoms
can differ, it's all about what actually caused the exposure in the first
place. My symptoms are triggered off by some fluorescent lighting, computers,
mobile phones, mobile phone masts, and microwave and wireless technology. I can
only tolerate exposure on a short-term basis, when in contact with this
technology for longer periods my symptoms return.
"I now preserve exceptionally good health because I limit my exposure to
electromagnetic fields.  
"Going out to shop or to bank is a living nightmare as is travelling on
public transport, because every other person, if not talking drivel on a mobile
phone, has got one on standby. "If phones don’t zap me, lighting does. I’ve
lost count with how many shops I have to run in and out of quickly if I want
to remain well.  
"I am virtually unemployable; a modern workplace is the worst place for me
to be, at home I have a purpose-built office with protected screening, butmy
profession is not easily worked in the home environment.
"It is estimated that over two million people in Britain are
electrosensitive. This has immense implications for the economy, considering extra pressure
being put on the health service, coupled with a reduction in pensionable
earnings and tax."
Lynn, whose belated sick-note coincided with the publication of the WHO
report, said campaigners like those in SCRAM and the Radiation Research Trust had
helped to persuade the medical authorities to recognise her condition.
"I've got mixed emotions. I'm delighted that they have at long last
acknowledged that electrosensitivity exists, because we can now use that as our
bolster against people who are being dismissive, like employers and other medical
practitioners.
"We have tirelessly spoon-fed them with information and I don't think they
were able to avoid it any longer. They've finally had the courage to speakout
after years of sarcasm and stonewalling."
For more information contact Sutton Coldfield ElectroSensitives on 0121 308
1549 (www.sces.info). National support group ElectroSensitivity-UK can be
contacted on 01353 778151 (www.electrosensitivity.org.uk)




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