The chronic, neurotoxin-mediated human illness that results from acquisition of toxins made by the fish killing dinoflagellate Pfiesteria piscicida - and all its many relatives - was the first to be successfully diagnosed by VCS and successfully treated with toxin binding medications. This web site shows how the syndrome, termed Possible Estuary Associated Syndrome (PEAS) by the US CDC, and many others that are similar in mechanism of toxin action and similar in the diversity of systemic symptoms can be successfully treated with similar protocols.
Pfiesteria is present in estuaries from New Jersey to Texas (and recently discovered in Norway) where the downstream flow of rivers, loaded with agricultural chemicals, meets the incoming tide. Attack zones, sites where people repeatedly can get sick, are found in the loamy silt sediments of the deposition sides of slowly flushing rivers. Seemingly minor exposure to these attack zones, with or without the presence of dead fish or fish with lesions, can result in prolonged difficulty with short term memory, muscle aches, diarrhea, abdominal pain, shortness of breath and many more symptoms. Many patients incorrectly blame their PEAS illness on alternative diagnoses such as irritable bowel syndrome, environmental allergies, fibromyalgia, depression, age associated memory loss and other unproven entities.
PEAS became a major political issue in 1997 in the Chesapeake Bay (read Pfiesteria: Crossing Dark Water for the true story) when thousands of dead fish in many creeks and rivers were associated with illness in many humans. To read newspaper accounts though, the fear of Pfiesteria , which caused many people to stop eating seafood, was based on a few fish with lesions in a few creeks that might have made a few fishermen sick. To listen to the politicians and corporate environmental groups talk about the problem of nutrients causing Pfiesteria to bloom adds nausea to the list of symptoms of PEAS.
Nutrients, especially urea, have been shown to enhance Pfiesteria growth and toxin production. Cases of human illness occur only in areas where particular agricultural chemicals are present with the extra nutrients. Some fish kills and sick patients are found in estuaries with extremely low nutrient levels but high chemical levels. We don't know exactly why these small organisms turn to making toxin but we do know how to treat the commonly acquired illness that results from exposure to the toxin. A great concern (see "Why Johnny Can't Read, "chapter 11 in Desperation Medicine) is due to the effect of Pfiesteria toxins on the ability of children to learn.
The official CDC response to the problem of the human health threat from Pfiesteria has at times been inaccurate, misleading, unduly conservative and slow to keep pace with the science. If you have an unusual illness that appeared following exposure to an attack zone in an Eastern Seaboard estuary, especially from the Chesapeake Bay to West Palm Beach Florida, take the VCS test. Proper therapy shows improvement in vision and symptoms beginning in 36 hours.