Yes, we've had this conversation before, ukxmrv.
From what I've heard of people who have done well with avoidance in the U.S. and then visited or attempted to live in England, the entire country counts as an "environment that's an issue that's preventing them from benefiting."
This sounds absurd, but I can't do anything about that. The world is what it is.
Obviously, not everyone in England who has CFS can move to other countries. And I doubt that environmental cleanup can remedy the problem to the point where people with severe M.E. can feel much better there either, even if huge amounts of money were spent.
What I increasingly do think is that the route for people to get really well from ME/CFS is through effective detox. Pathogen killers can help in some cases (there certainly are a lot of bugs in this disease!), but it's becoming more and more clear to me that the reason that the bugs are such a problem is because our bodies are poisoned to the point where our immune systems don't function. If we can get the toxins out, the pathogens come under control much more easily, in my experience and observation.
So one of my main goals in trying to draw attention to the environmental aspect of the illness is to get to the point where we can get scientists (including drug companies) to help to develop means by which people can detox from this illness more easily. This seems to me like it is not an unreasonable goal -- drug companies can do wondrous things if they put their minds to it. But in order to make that happen, there's going to have to be a basic change in mindset: from "pathogens are the cause" to "toxins are the cause."
The more I learn about this disease, the more I wholeheartedly disagree with the concept that "We're all different." All the people I've observed so far who have tried mold avoidance (rigorously following the "instructions") have reacted in extremely similar ways. I'm open to the idea that there may be exceptions, but I'm not seeing any of them.
If I had tried to get well in England, I'd still be deathly sick. That's a scary thing, but it's important to know.
Here's an article that talks about the mold situation in the UK, and I think it barely scratches the surface of the problem. If we think about reasons that the UK government might have to try to cover up ME/CFS, this would be a really good one -- it would bankrupt the country just to address the blatantly moldy buildings, never mind to try to help people who already have been poisoned by them.
http://www.hvnplus.co.uk/news/camfil-uk-launches-indoor-air-quality-campaign-blog/8622751.article
It's a huge huge problem. Overwhelming and depressing. But not talking about it gets us nowhere, so I doggedly keep bringing it up.....
Best, Lisa
