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Chemical Brain Injury
Chemical Brain Injury, By Dr. Kaye Kilburn
Book Description
chemical brain injury Kaye H. Kilburn, M.D. The idea that the brain is
the most susceptible body organ 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, trichoroethylene, 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...
Why is Chemical Brain Injury Ignored? Pondering Causes and Risks Editorial By Dr. Kaye Kilburn NEARLY A DECADE AGO, I was persuaded that the brain was more sensitive to chemicals than were other organs. (1) Evidence originated from studies conducted by myself and others; we investigated the possible association between human brain damage and exposure to various chemicals contained in gases, organic solvents, and pesticides. My earlier resistance to this possibility originated from a lingering personal doubt and a sincere hope that it was not true. Growing support from the study of individuals--alone and in groups (i.e., clinical epidemiology)--has challenged the belief that epidemiology cannot prove causation. (2,3) Repeated strong associations that establish cause and effect in clinical medicine are considered only suggestive, but this is not sufficient in epidemiology....
Brain-injury rehabilitation depends on acetylcholine circuitry Article By James Conner and Mark Tuszynski in the Neural repair Group at UCSD ....They also concluded that drugs that inhibit breakdown of acetylcholine or those that encourage brain wiring growth "may enhance cortical plasticity and improve functional recovery following nervous system injury."
The researchers also noted that brain circuitry that depends on other types of neurotransmitters such as noradrenalin, dopamine, or serotonin have also been implicated in cortical plasticity and may also be manipulated to aid recovery after such injury.