Would desert living make a substantial improvement?
Would be very much appreciated to have some experiential, anecdotal or even a scientific evidence evidence for this
In short , there is not much scientific evidence beyond speculation. I have covered this problem in much of my videos, because it is frustrating that me/cfs researchers have ignored something that has affected our lives so much. It is a catch 22. There is no research, so people consider it a long shot partially because there is no research , and so they don't research it, and there's never any research.
There is speculation though, about why molds in civilization might be worse, backed up by a few papers. You can search this forum for "nanoparticles" and "mold" to see some of the discussion we've already had. I guess the thing is, I wish there was more than anecdote, and I believe research would strongly back up an environmental connection, but this area of research has been substantially neglected
I can explain the volume of anecdotes though and why I came to believe in the environmental theory despite at first only valuing that which has been demonstrated in the scientific literature.
When I first watched Unrest I was mildly or moderately Ill and I had more faith in the scientific process to self correct and lead to a cure for me/cfs, not realizing the lack 0f funding, etc. And how scant the replicable research was. So I scoured the literature, taught myself cell biology, went to an me/cfs specialist who was highly regarded. and tried supplements and treatments both recommended by that doctor, and gleaned from ideas I found in research. When I saw the mold avoidance part of unrest I was so unconvinced that it would be hard for you 5o believe I'm the same person who is evangelizing about it today. I wish that I'd known more about it and not dismissed it back then as I strongly believe it's far eeasier to do and start and get momentum when you're less sick. (For example, I don't think mold avoidance can usually heal severe cci, even though mold can cause the inflammation that can lead to having it, it's hard to undo once you have it).
Eventually I learned that with the literature being so scant, going based on anecdotes 5hat I found plausible (eg real recovery stories from real people, not like these weird anonymous ones that the lightning provess people post), and also ones that don't downplay the downsides or difficulties , were really more valuable than trying to glean treatments from the existing literature. Like julie rehmeyer points out, the people conducting mold sabbatical experiments were sort of like the "guerillas" of the scientific method, they were working in unofficial ways and not backed up by institutions but were able to work ahead of and faster than the slow pace of the current science. And while anecdotes on their own aren't science per se, they were building a body of anecdata and general observations that was huge , and trying to get scientists to study it
I feel the same ways about cci, despite not having a single paper in the me/cfs literature supporting its connection to me/cfs, the anecdotes were plausible enough I figured it would be worth investigating. And again, the preference toward good anecdotes is because the existing scientific literature is in such a state of shambles that it's basically impossible to glean much from it at all, beyond that me/cfs probably involves some hypometabolism and hypo perfusion of the brain.
I can go into more detail later. Right now I'm tired, not really bc mold avoidance has failed necessarily, but covid is a whole other beast, that even messes with your body even if you're in pristine air, and I've been dealing with that for two months, on top of craniocervical instability etc. Dm me if you want to see any of 5he videos where I discuss the science, my journey and all of these topics. We're not suposorf to post videos here bc they're harder for mod teams to vet. I don't underplay the difficulties or overhype the benefits of this lifestyle, but it produces results even in patients as severe as me that have other comorbidities like cci, by virtue of good air having such a profound anti inflammatory effect