Protect Yourself

Read my new 32-page booklet, “TILT - A New Class of Diseases: How Exposures to Chemicals Are Undermining Our Mental and Physical Health,” which describes chemical intolerance, Toxicant-induced Loss of Tolerance, and the dangers of certain chemicals in the environment.

Back to School May Spell Health Problems for Your Child

Here are 7 early warning signs of Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance (TILT):

1. Did your child’s health problem start or increase upon entering school? Are symptoms better on weekends, nights away from school or outdoors?
2. Do symptoms appear to change unpredictably, for example, “Jekyll and Hyde” mood shifts?
3. Does your child complain of fatigue or flu-like symptoms or symptoms involving more than one organ system, for example, headaches, stomach aches, and breathing difficulties?
4. Has your child experienced unusual or adverse reactions to any prescription or over-the-counter medications since returning to school, especially ones formerly tolerated?
5. Does your child frequently feel worse after meals or report feeling ill after eating particular foods that never caused symptoms before?
6. Does your child crave and eat “addictively” particular foods, especially those containing caffeine and sugar, such as sodas but also chips, pasta or bread, and milk?
7. Is your child hypersensitive to loud noise, bright light, touch or certain odors?

Click HERE to read entire blog post.

Are You TILTed? An Insidious Disease Process Emerges

We live amid a vast array of synthetic organic chemicals — in the air we breathe, in our food and water, and in products we apply to our skin. These chemicals are derived from oil, coal and gas. Most are new since World War II. Over this same time, a new disease process has emerged that is as novel as these modern chemical compounds. “TILT,” or “Toxicant-induced Loss of Tolerance,” is a process that starts with a chemical exposure, such as in a “sick building,” after a chemical spill, or a pesticide exposure. These exposures can cause susceptible individuals to lose their tolerance for many substances that never bothered them previously and do not bother most people.

A recent example took place in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Clean-up workers reported chronic health problems associated with TILT, including multi-system symptoms (fatigue, sleep problems, headaches, digestive difficulties, and problems with memory and concentration) as well as new intolerances for common chemicals, foods and medications they formerly tolerated. As in earlier petrochemical exposures, e.g., to the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, to Gulf War chemicals and oil well fires, and persons exposed to the World Trade Center disaster on 9-11, those affected may suddenly feel dizzy or nauseated around engine exhaust, cleaning chemicals, fragrances, or feel ill after meals, after eating foods they formerly enjoyed, or even drinking a single beer or a glass of wine. These new intolerances are the hallmark symptom of the TILT disease process, just as fever is a hallmark symptom of infectious disease. TILT is difficult to treat, but it can be prevented.

To find out whether you may be susceptible to TILT or to track your symptoms, take the QEESI — a validated and published questionnaire developed by Dr. Claudia Miller that is used by researchers and doctors internationally. Download the QEESI and the professionally acclaimed book Chemical Exposures: Low Levels and High Stakes as well as other publications by Dr. Miller at no charge under the Publications & Presentations tab on this site. These are provided as a public service to help prevent others from becoming ill.

Interview about household chemicals, KSAT-TV, San Antonio Full Story

What is TILT?

Dr. Miller explains Toxicant-induced Loss of Tolerance in this narrated presentation.

Take the QEESI quiz

Download Printed Test

The Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory, known as QEESI, is a published validated screening questionnaire for chemical intolerance available for personal use in printed form.

Book Reviews

“A stimulating review of the controversy. Clinicians and policy-makers would do well to read and heed the advice of this book.”

-Journal of the American Medical Association

“A milestone”

-Chemical and Engineering News

“Well-designed to introduce [Chemical Intolerance] to a wider audience and to expand understanding beyond its pioneers.”

-Archives of Environmental Health

Chemical Exposures: Low Levels and High Stakes describes how everyday, low-level chemical exposures may cause fatigue, cognitive impairment, headaches, mood changes, breathing difficulties, digestive problems, and a host of chronic illnesses.

by Nicholas A. Ashford and Claudia S. Miller