European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Environmental health problems High tech lows in 1 fuck j pc pc amp a a a. 1 Marge Ciancio feels she a a victim of the workplace a fall the Joy went out of the Job because it was always faster faster go faster by Leslie Dreyfous associated press uth Robin has chronic fatigue syndrome a mysterious and. Debilitating illness that can last months or years. After months of querying doctors it was a Relief finally to have her persistent weariness diagnosed. A but it was Only a Start. She was left to Grope for the Hows and whys. ,. Quot my problem like everybody else a was that i did no to know what to Point a Finger at Quot she  s kind of an eerie feeling to know that something is amiss. And yet nobody can put their Finger on a specific a   a feeling shared by Many. They feel ill in countless ways and in seeking to explain Why turn a Gimlet Eye on a toxic world of possibilities radiation from microwaves and video display terminals. Toxic waste dumps pesticides faulty ventilation systems formaldehyde. Chernobyl a nuclear fallout Asbestos poly chlorinated biphenyl pc birth control devices the Pill fluorescent. Lighting synthetic carpeting food additives smog and water pollution. All these Are environmental realities a Many of which have not  documented or studied. We live today with an estimated 60,000 chemicals that did t exist 25 years ago. Is it too much too fast Quot these Are very thorny questions Quot said Walter j. Gunn epidemiologist at the . Centers for disease control. Quot the environment is capable of poisoning us. But i Don t think at the moment anyone would say it is killing  his prescription Quot More studies need to be done to determine which parts of the environment Are causing health problems for  Chellis Glendinning author of when technology wounds says it is ironic that Quot technologies created to enhance life Are bringing death. And the Vanguard of awareness is among people who. Have already gotten  a. Glendinning a psychologist and environmental activist spent 20 Seafe suffering among other things Pelvic. Inflammatory disease chronic allergies and an immune dysfunction that at one Point landed her in bed for six years. Quot people Are being required to educate themselves because our environment is toxic Quot Glendinning said from Tesuque . Quot but there s a sense of victimization a total outrage that so much damage has already been  Ruth Robin 40, suspects environmental chemicals or stale air circulated at the. Insurance office where she worked May a have triggered her illness. But she can t prove it. Quot it May take years and years of research Quot said Robin head of the chronic fatigue society of Illinois. Quot still just because somebody can t Point to something specific does no to mean it does t exist Quot a a a a a a ,. Medical researchers face a considerable Challenge however in trying to Trace and define technology s physical effects. The variables Are daunting. Try. Separating out the stress of a baby crying at Home from the Strain of waiting for the. Computer at work to blink Quot on line Quot or determining whether today a headache was spurred by the office photocopy fluid recycled air sinus congestion or last night s Glass of wine.  often lags behind in awareness of new disorders Quot said Alan hedge a Cornell University psychologist and professor of Ergon metrics. Quot but it s Clear there Are physical challenges in the environment and that Peoples systems Are being . The modern workplace is the focus of. Much suspicion. Over the last three decades America has watched technological Progress usher billion Dollar databases fax machines and satellites into its hermetically sealed fluorescent by lighted offices. Marge Ciancio feels she is a victim of  Progress. Ciancio loved. Her Job As a directory assistance operator with Illinois Bell Telephone co. Right up until she had to leave it. After 23 years shed finally been outpaced passed up by Ever faster it computers stressed out by on the Job electronic monitoring done in most of All by shooting pains in her arms spine and Necka a Quot. A Quot a a a a. Quot i  sleep nights. I Lay in bed crying Quot mrs. Ciancio said tears starting again. Quot it s awful because of the pain. But what s really painful is people can t see what s wrong with you so they think you re . Ciancio tried giving up Coffee exercising More rigorously buying a new mattress. New pillows even sleeping pills. She tried wrist splints physical therapy ultrasound. And cortisone  the throbbing pain a sometimes. Tingly sometimes Sharp a persisted until she was eventually diagnosed with carpal Tunnel syndrome a degenerated spinal. Disk and neck Strain injuries similar to a severe whiplash. A Quot All the Joy went out of the Job because it was always faster faster go faster until finally you say to yourself my god How much More can i take stress at the office affects so Many people. So Many people Are in pain. A Quot i m 49 years old and i feel like in a about a Hundred Quot said Ciancio whose disability pay runs out in mid february. Quot i feel  the . Bureau of labor statistics found in 1988 that 115,400 office workers a Many of them computer users a suffered painful and potentially crippling symptoms such As massive backaches wrist Arm and neck strains. And then there is chronic fatigue Ruth Robins malady. The cd receives 2,000 Calls a month from people who complain of the disorder it is the fourth most common reason cited when patients visit internists. Quot people Are paying much closer attention to the real medical and behavioural symptoms that come out of work related sources because. They Are not just. Psychosomatic Quot said Frank Landy an. Industrial psychologist at Pennsylvania state University. Quot there s a lot More to it than that Quot he said. Some researchers have linked cos to a family of viruses that disrupts the immune system. Others believe the syndrome May be triggered by environmental toxins or the physiological effects of stress. But As often As not doctors find no physical evidence of cos in patients with related symptoms their malady May be attributed to depression or a Quot Yuppie flu Quot Best treated with improved health habits and stress reduction. Quot people want to identify it As something outside themselves a not just that thing. That grandma used to Call the blues Quot said or. Mark Hroncich who teaches internal Medicine at Loyola University medical Center in suburban  there Are  Are trying to promote a new specially called clinical ecology that As far As i m concerned is pure quackery,&Quot.hroncich said. Quot they Are preying on  the desire for a Pat diagnosis  fix renders Many patients willing to Swallow any cure including pricey evaluations and such phony panaceas As dental procedures nutritional therapy injections of Hydrogen peroxide special diets and colonic irrigation. Quot i see a lot of pop literature and hysterical statements Quot said or. John h Renner president of the consumer health information research Institute in Kansas City to Quot but you can t Analyse the data on an emotional basis Quot tuesday january 29, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13