Books

Chemical Brain Injury

Chemical Brain Injury

 by Kaye H. Kilburn M.D. 1998

The idea that the brain is the most susceptible of body organs to the adverse effects of chemicals seemed a remote possibility a decade or two ago. Among the skeptics was Dr. Kaye H. Kilburn. Well-known in Environmental Medicine and Occupational Health, he had demonstrated that airways-obstruction caused the Monday-morning asthma from cotton dust in textile workers that led to the Cotton Dust Standard. He showed how asbestos scarred the lungs’ small airways to trap air and reduce vital capacity and that welding fumes, aluminum refining, diesel exhaust and formaldehyde caused asthma by narrowing small airways. These workers complaints of memory loss, inability to concentrate, dizziness, lightheadedness and loss of balance led Dr. Kilburn to consider how to measure brain functions.

He borrowed and adapted tests and built devices to measure key brain activities, and learned to find out how symptoms predicted losses of balance, quickness, and strength, and loss of vision for color and form. Nearly 300 patients who had been exposed to chemicals were evaluated for diagnosis and nearly 4,000 people who had been exposed in groups were evaluated for chemical effects. Statistical analysis of patients gathered from individuals and groups in cities, towns, and rural areas provided complementary insights into the effects of chemicals.

Chemical Brain Injury focuses on how common and abundant chemicals affect the brain. It synthesizes endeavors to assess the effects of chemicals that were gathered over 15 years and published in 30 widely-scattered papers. Included are effects of chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, chlordane, arsenic, trichloroethylene, PCBs, hydrochloric acid and diesel exhaust. To understand how individuals and populations respond to chemicals, it considers the effects of aging, of years of school completed and of sex, height, weight and other factors.

The book addresses such issues as:

• The infrequency of chemically unaffected populations in the United States
• Mechanisms of brain damage from chemicals
• Prognosis and therapy

The last section examines the social context and discusses such matters as:

• The future of neurotoxicology, including needs and responsibility
• Legal proceedings
• Social changes

Chemical Brain Injury is the definitive volume on adverse effects of chemical exposure on the human brain.

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Endangered Brains

ENDANGERED BRAINS

 by Kaye H. Kilburn M.D. April 2004

A “dirty dozen” chemicals cause brain damage.  Everyone should know how to recognize them.  Most of them are familiar, many are found at home and they hurt people. The damage they do is measurable and progressive.  This damage resembles that from trauma to the brain, but the key differences are more generalized and usually permanent.  Another crucial difference is: nothing reverses it, it does not go away. This is sudden aging, premature by 20 or more years!  Therefore, one must prevent damage by avoiding exposure.  The theme gathers patient stories that sadden but enliven my journey, the steps I took and thoughts I have had about this problem. Patients’ tears, fears and fates are the substance of this account freed of the numbers and statistics, (which can be found in my other book: Chemical Brain Injury, See Above). 

Over the years, I have measured brain damage from chemicals and saw deaths from problems many physicians had dismissed as, “it’s all in you head.”  My search for the cause led to chemicals, to the conveniences of modern life found at home, carried in insecticides, cleaning agents, carpets, and drapes-chemicals that cause brain damage.  The newest problems from mold exposures at home result from moisture between walls.

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Kaye Kilburn M.D.

Endangered Brains

PO Box 5374

Pasadena, CA 91117

Molds and Mycotoxins

Molds and Mycotoxins

Papers from an International Symposium

Edited by Kaye H. Kilburn, M.D. 2004

Are illnesses associated with exposures to indoor mold growth real, or the result of a conspiracy fueled by media hype and greedy lawyers?

This book is a compilation of 18 current, scientific, peer reviewed papers presented in 2003 - a veritable mountain of evidence that many mold-exposed people are indeed sick, with significant brain function impairment. The published investigations collected here are based on measurements of single patients and groups, studied systematically. Physiological functions and brain scans (single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and quantitative electroencephalograms) were abnormal. Mechanisms of mold damage to brain cells resemble those for Gulf War Syndrome, chemical intolerance, and exposure to chlorine, ammonia, or hydrogen sulfide ("rotten egg") gases. Clear evidence of brain impairment in several hundred people controverts questions and charges of malingering and secondary gain.

Exposures are invariably to mixtures of molds. Attempts to define exposure in terms of specific molds and toxins, or by searching for biomarkers in body fluids, are inconclusive. Often homes and other buildings are poorly designed, so that rather than "breathing" they collect moisture. Cold temperatures and air conditioning condense this moisture on indoor surfaces, between walls, and in ductwork. Molds grow opportunistically on wet paper, such as the cellulose present in drywall, on wooden studs and floors, carpets and pads, wallpaper, and other organic materials. Because much of the physiological damage suffered by victims of mold-related illnesses is irreversible, avoidance of mold is the key. Buildings must be designed to prevent mold growth.

These papers summarize the preliminary conclusions from studies of several hundred patients. Evidence is presented for severe neurobehavioral impairment, nasal sinus and lung dysfunctions, and immunological disturbance.

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Price: $35 plus $5 shipping prepaid - $40 total

Send check to:

Kaye Kilburn M.D.

Molds and Mycotoxins

PO Box 5374

Pasadena, CA 91117

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