Dr. Neil Nathan’s new book, “TOXIC: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and Chronic Environmental Illness,” is a must read for anyone wanting to unlock the mysteries of complex chronic illnesses.

When Dr. Nathan started treating patients 47 years ago, the model for medicine was much simpler—a standard diagnosis followed by a standard treatment. Now he says, “The patients who come to see me today are a quantum leap (or two) sicker than the ones who came to me in the late 1980s.”

Today’s patients are sicker, for longer, with a multitude of chronic ailments that weren’t known to exist years ago. From autism to fibromyalgia to myalgic encephalomyelitis to mold toxicity–gone are the days of “take two aspirin and call me in the morning.”

As Professor Robert Naviaux, MD, a world-renowned biomedical/genetics researcher, explains in his introduction, “These new chronic illnesses have both genetic and environmental causes. They are ‘ecogenetic’ diseases that occur because the chemistry of the environment is changing faster than our genes can adapt.”

Dr. Nathan recounts the evolution of his own medical practice, progressively taking on more and more patients whom no one else knew what to do with. Now, 70% or more of his patients are classified as “ultrasensitive”—meaning they react intensely to even minuscule exposure to medications and supplements.

The topics covered in the book are straight out of Dr. Nathan’s real-world experience. While reading the book, I felt like someone was sharing with me all their family’s secret recipes. This book is full of hard-earned knowledge. It’s a clear road map that combines the art and science of treating the sickest of the sick.

The book is organized in a way that makes it easy to return to, time and time again. For instance, Chapters 8-20 provide a step-by-step guide on how to “reboot” every system of the body, arranged in the order they occur most frequently. So, whether you need to reset anything from your brain to your gut, it’s in there.

Understanding mold toxicity

“Toxic” also provides one of the easiest to understand and simplest methods for identifying and treating mold toxicity that I have ever read. Dr. Nathan explains how to identify the different types of mycotoxin (mold), and then clearly lays out a four-step process for treating.

There is also an appendix devoted to trouble shooting mold toxicity issues for highly sensitive patients, and a supplement guide.

I was especially interested in the contributions by Dr. Lawrence Afrin, one of the pioneers in mast cell research. I am forever grateful for his guidance and connecting me to the right specialists that led to my own child’s diagnosis of mast cell activations syndrom. Dr. Nathan estimates that 50% of his ultra-sensitive patients have a mast cell activation component to their illness.

The chapters on “The Cell Danger Response” and genetics are incredibly detailed and precise and serve as proof of the science behind these complex illnesses. In fact, Bob Miller, one of the contributors to the chapter on “How Your Genetic Makeup May Affect Your Ability to Detoxify” won the poster presentation at this year’s ILADS conference in Chicago.

Methylation

And the chapter on methylation is a gift. Believe me! This is one of the most poorly understood concepts in functional medicine today. No one understands this better than Dr. Nathan—he pioneered the first study on using a “simplified methylation protocol” in 2007. If taking vitamin B12 or folate makes you feel worse, you need to read this chapter!

If you’ve tried conventional treatment for Lyme disease, Bartonella or mold yet continue to suffer from poor concentration, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, pain, ringing in the ears, strange sensations, and increasing allergies, medication or food intolerance and/or sensitivity to chemicals, you will find useful information in this book.

Dr. Nathan has been practicing medicine for 47 years. He has been Board Certified in Family Practice and Pain Management and is a Founding Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine and a board member of the International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness (ISEAI).

For many years, he has worked primarily with patients who had not received a diagnosis from conventional medical sources, and especially with patients whose illness has made them unusually sensitive and toxic (hence difficult to treat). This book has grown out of his experience in this field, and it is his hope that it will enable many patients, currently suffering and without a diagnosis, to begin to find their way toward health.

Dr. Nathan has lectured to medical audiences both nationally and internationally. He has written several books and has hosted an internationally syndicated radio program/podcast The Cutting Edge of Health and Wellness Today. 

Dr. Nathan can be contacted through his website, www.neilnathanmd.com.

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org .