As the editor of this magazine I could certainly find a few more or less far-fetched connections between health and culture: body culture, dance as therapy, the literary narrative as a model for medical anamnesis or psychoanalytical discourse. The reason is, however, much simpler.

Since 1993 I suffer from a chronic illness, fibromyalgia, which in my case probably is a result of mercury poisoning from dental amalgams. If I had not known it before, my own predicament, together with the changes in society as a whole, with frequent alerts about environmental and health hazards, certainly has made me realize that this must be one of the most important questions to discuss today. I have a magazine at my disposal. Therefore, I devote the current issue to this topic. But it is not about health in general but foremost about such health problems that are not considered quite appropriate, health problems that sometimes are not recognized by doctors and subject to dispute among scientists. The epistemological and political matter, how one should relate to possible but yet not proven hazards, is a cardinal problem here.

Unfortunately this issue has been long in coming. It has taken around two and a half years to compile. Had I been healthy, I would have made it in four or five months. On the other hand, had I been healthy, I wouldn't have come up with the idea.

Karl-Erik Tallmo
editor