Below (and continually updated) are the -itis (Greek for "inflammation") and other problems I have experienced, and their year of first appearance (as well as I can remember):
- Bronchitis (c. 1957, age 13), many episodes until about age 25.
- Pneumothoraces, cause unknown (18 episodes, c. 1962-2009).
- Dermatitis: eczema, rosacea, and/or seborrhea (c. 1962); and subcutaneous acne (c. 2000).
- Pollen allergy in spring, early summer (c. 1970), gone about two years after starting anti-itis diet.
- Heart disease (clogged arteries) symptoms (c. 1972 - 1974, ended by very low-fat, omnivorous but mostly whole plant-food, Pritikin diet).
- Iritis and conjunctivitis (c. 1974), gone about five years after starting anti-itis diet.
- Tendonitis (c. 1989), gone about a year after starting anti-itis diet and doing daily posture exercises.
- Bursitis (c. 1994), gone about a year after starting anti-itis diet and doing daily posture exercises.
- Tachycardia and arrhythmia, cause unknown, in four episodes: (1) c. Dec. 1997, age 53, stopped chemically in ER; (2) with atrial fibrillation, Dec. 2010, age 66, stopped with e-cardioversion; (3) with afib, March 2012, age 67, stopped spontaneously in July; (4) with atrial flutter, March 2013, age 68, stopped spontaneously after 9 months (3 months after starting Vitamin D3).
- Emphysema discovered (1995), but probably started 25 years earlier (smoking).
- Emphysema discovered (1995), but probably started 25 years earlier (smoking).
- Gout-like pains in right foot (1997), gone a year after starting anti-itis diet.
- Gum inflammation (1997), gone several years after starting anti-itis diet.
- Arthritis (c. 1998), gone about a year after starting anti-itis diet and doing daily posture exercises.
- Acid reflux (c. 1998), gone a few months after starting anti-itis diet.
- Colitis (c. 1999), gone a month after starting anti-itis diet.
- Gum inflammation (1997), gone several years after starting anti-itis diet.
- Arthritis (c. 1998), gone about a year after starting anti-itis diet and doing daily posture exercises.
- Acid reflux (c. 1998), gone a few months after starting anti-itis diet.
- Colitis (c. 1999), gone a month after starting anti-itis diet.
[Began an evolving anti-itis diet, c. 2002]
- Hemoptysis (June 2014), probably caused by coughing (from mild spring allergy symptoms) that ruptured an artery in my left lung, the one most damaged by emphysema.
Some of the -itis problems were episodic (for example, the iritis appeared every year or two in one eye or the other). Some were continuous (for example, the dermatitis). As the years passed, the problems accumulated in number and intensity. By the year 2000, I felt like I was living in a nightmare of -itis problems. In that year, I had arthritis, bursitis, colitis, dermatitis, iritis, and tendonitis. I was shopping for a wheelchair and trying to decide whether to buy a manual or an electric model.
Two physicians (out of five I consulted) have identified most of the symptoms as fitting a leaky-gut syndrome. Apparently the speculation is that holes in the intestine (perhaps caused by antibiotics taken when I was 18, following my first lung surgery) allow substances to leak into the blood stream; the immune system reacts to those substances as if they were viruses; and, while the immune system tries to kill the supposed "viruses," it also inflames various tissues and organs (skin, eyes, tendons, muscles, joints, and colon).
Burgess Laughlin
Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, www.reasonversusmysticism.com/
- Hemoptysis (June 2014), probably caused by coughing (from mild spring allergy symptoms) that ruptured an artery in my left lung, the one most damaged by emphysema.
Some of the -itis problems were episodic (for example, the iritis appeared every year or two in one eye or the other). Some were continuous (for example, the dermatitis). As the years passed, the problems accumulated in number and intensity. By the year 2000, I felt like I was living in a nightmare of -itis problems. In that year, I had arthritis, bursitis, colitis, dermatitis, iritis, and tendonitis. I was shopping for a wheelchair and trying to decide whether to buy a manual or an electric model.
Two physicians (out of five I consulted) have identified most of the symptoms as fitting a leaky-gut syndrome. Apparently the speculation is that holes in the intestine (perhaps caused by antibiotics taken when I was 18, following my first lung surgery) allow substances to leak into the blood stream; the immune system reacts to those substances as if they were viruses; and, while the immune system tries to kill the supposed "viruses," it also inflames various tissues and organs (skin, eyes, tendons, muscles, joints, and colon).
Burgess Laughlin
Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, www.reasonversusmysticism.com/
