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One characteristic of the brain-fag problem is an acute loss of memory. Norma Tolliver came to me for this problem. A year earlier, she had been pursuing a promising career as a buyer for a large manufacturing concern. Her forte was her outstanding memory. She knew the sizes, colors, weights, and other specifications of the company’s products, as well as the names and phone numbers of the shipping lines, manufacturers, and other colleagues by heart. Her employers called her the “walking encyclopedia” and relied upon her to have information at the tips of her fingers.

She never failed to supply the information they sought. Then, without warning, her memory began to fade. A succession of doctors analyzed her problem as psychological in origin and offered a number of imaginative explanations. Tolliver tried desperately to hold onto her position, surrounding herself with thick notebooks filled with data of all sorts. This was a transparent device, and her employers became disillusioned, suspecting her of having tricked them all along. Eventually, she was fired.

Testing in a hospital setting revealed serious susceptibility to corn and wheat. Ingestion of these two foods had led to mental cloudiness, memory impairment, and other signs of brain-fag.

Her reaction to the oat test was most dramatic, however. This was her last food test in the hospital, made necessary by the fact (initially overlooked) that she ate oats in some form almost every day: oatmeal porridge, oatmeal cookies, and so forth. After twenty minutes, the test seemed to be negative, and I left the hospital. Miss Tolliver, however, went into a severe reaction to the oats, as was revealed when a nurse’s assistant came into her room and made an innocent comment. Miss Tolliver misinterpreted the comment and became very annoyed; she insisted that the nurse apologize and angrily started calling all over the hospital, demanding to be discharged and cursing out the administrators. It was only in retrospect that she realized that her reaction was, indeed, a cerebral reaction to a common food eaten with addictive regularity—the oats. In fact, this sort of violent moodiness was familiar to her from previous reactions. Avoidance of her incriminated foods, particularly the three grains mentioned, led to an increase in her mental acuity. She eventually found and kept another job.

When brain-fag was first diagnosed, it was believed that food allergy was the sole cause. After 1950, clinical ecologists became aware of the importance of the chemical environment to health. Cases began to be seen which were primarily caused by exposure to common environmental chemicals.

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In the preceding section, the basic concepts of food and chemical susceptibility were presented. In this section, we shall examine how such reactions actually affect patients with a variety of illnesses which are rarely helped by conventional medicine.

The chapters in this section are rather arbitrarily organized around particular diseases. This is, of course, the way conventional medicine, and most patients, think of their ailments. In actuality, however, most susceptible patients have a constellation of diseases, with few clear-cut distinctions between them. The headache patient, if questioned, may turn out to have many localized problems, on the one hand, and a tendency toward depression on the other. Or he may vacillate between periods of exuberance and energy and subsequent “hangovers.”

It is the orthodox, overly analytical medical system which insists on pigeonholing patients into disease categories, and, particularly, separating physical from “mental” or “emotional” problems. Whatever the practical benefits of such a scheme, it fails to describe these various complaints as part of an overall continuum of ill-health in the life of each individual patient.

What is meant by “headache” or “arthritis” below, then, is a stage of illness in which arthritis or headache is the principal, but rarely the sole, complaint. These levels of reaction were first described in 1956.1

The bulk of the cases presented here fall either into the plus-two, the minus-two, or the minus-three categories. In other words, they are intermediate between the least and the most extreme cases of both stimulation and withdrawal. The reasons for my emphasis on these conditions are as follows.

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Funnel chest is a condition in which the breastbone is depressed or sunken in. The breastbone (sternum) connects the front end of the ribs. The diaphragm (a band of muscle separating the chest and abdominal cavities) attaches in front to the lower ribs and to the bottom of the breastbone. In children, the ribs are made of tough elastic tissue called cartilage; this cartilage gradually hardens into bone as the child grows. Since cartilage is not as strong as bone, the ribs of a baby are delicate, but the diaphragm is relatively strong. When some babies breathe in, the diaphragm pulls in the lower half of the breastbone, causing a hollow in the center of the chest. This hollow is exaggerated when the child makes a greater effort to breathe, as with bronchitis, pneumonia, and choking. This condition, called retracting, is a sign of breathing difficulty. If retracting occurs only when the child has difficulty breathing, it is not considered to be a true funnel chest.

A true funnel chest exists if the breastbone is depressed when the child breathes out, even while the child is at rest and is having no difficulty breathing. If mild or moderate, a funnel chest will cause no harm and will gradually correct itself over the years as the child’s ribs grow heavier and stronger. If funnel chest is severe, it may not correct itself and may interfere with breathing. Rarely is it severe enough to affect the position or functioning of the heart.

Signs and symptoms

A funnel chest can be seen by observing the chest of a well child. The breastbone appears to be sunken in, forming a hollow in the center of the chest. If this hollow appears whenever the child breathes out, this may be a sign of true funnel chest.

If a child has not previously shown signs of a funnel chest, retractions of the lower breastbone are an important sign of breathing difficulty.

Home care

A fixed deformity (true funnel chest) cannot be treated at home. Bring it to the attention of your doctor.

If retractions of the breastbone begin in a child with no earlier signs of funnel chest, look for other signs of breathing difficulty. Then treat the disease that is causing the breathing problems.

Precautions

• Don’t be alarmed by persistent mild to moderate depression of the breastbone in an infant or young child.

• Do not restrict your child’s activities.

Medical treatment

The doctor will determine if the child has a true funnel chest or if the child is having temporary difficulty breathing. In marked cases of funnel chest, the severity and effect on heart and lungs is judged by X ray and other test results.

If funnel chest is severe and persists without gradual improvement, the condition may require surgery. Surgery may be performed if there are signs of limited heart or lung function or for cosmetic reasons. Your doctor may order X rays, an electrocardiogram, and measurements of the lung capacity.

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