Life Extension Magazine  LE Magazine July 2000   One Man's Wake-
Up Call Feeling what it is to be healthy for the first time
For most of his life, Ed Thrall didn't know what it was like to
feel good. As a child, he suffered from sleep apnea, snoring so
loudly as a 12-year-old that he could wake the entire household-
never mind that his own sleep was so erratic that he was
perpetually tired. Then there were the allergies-a host of
seasonal-related bouts of sneezing and sinus problems that
forced him inside when most of his friends were out celebrating
the arrival of spring in Northern Maine. And when Ed did join in
on the games that were popular at the time, such as riding his
bike behind the trucks that sprayed DDT along the backroads to
keep mosquitoes at bay, he became plagued by a host of
mysterious maladies. Once his tongue even split down the middle.
Today, he believes the early exposure to DDT compromised his
immune system, making him vulnerable to chronic bouts of strep
throat.  Ed, who's now 48 and li