SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

Somatic complaints disproportionately contribute to Beck Depression Inventory estimates of depression severity in individuals with multiple chemical sensitivity.

A number of individuals with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are also diagnosed with depression. However, there is content overlap in MCS and symptoms of depression with respect to somatic complaints. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to document severity of depressive symptomatology in 42 individuals with MCS. The purpose was to determine the extent to which somatic complaints contributed to the total BDI score. Analysis of cognitive-affective and somatic-performance complaints subscale indicated a significantly higher mean item score on somatic-performance items, relative to cognitive-affective items (t = 6.43, P < 0.05). Consequently, the total BDI score classified a greater percentage (43%) of the sample as moderately depressed than did the cognitive-affective subscale score (29%). An item analysis of the BDI revealed that individuals with MCS tended to endorse more somatic-performance items than did a sample of depressed outpatients. Two alternative interpretations are possible: (a) the BDI total score overestimated severity of depressive symptomatology in this sample, and/or (b) individuals with MCS tended to express depressive symptomatology in terms of somatic complaints. It was recommended that until the etiology of MCS is better understood, caution be used when estimating severity of depressive symptomatology in individuals with MCS when measures include somatic items.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Potential role of stress and sensitization in the development and expression of multiple chemical sensitivity.

Chemical sensitivity in humans may be an acquired disorder in which individuals become increasingly sensitive to chemicals in the environment. It is hypothesized that in individuals with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), a sensitization process has occurred that is akin to behavioral sensitization and kindling observed in rodents. In the rodent sensitization model, repeated exposure to stress or drugs of abuse enhances behavioral and neurochemical responses to subsequent stimuli (stress or drugs of abuse). Kindling is a form of sensitization in which repeated application of electrical stimuli applied to the brain at low levels culminates in the induction of full-blown seizures when the same stimulus is applied at a later time. A similar sensitization of specific limbic pathways in the brain may occur in individuals with MCS. The time-dependent nature of sensitization and kindling and the role of stress in the development of sensitization are discussed in the context of rodent models, with an emphasis on application of these models to human studies of MCS.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

[Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) -- scientific and health policy aspects].

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is characterized by an increased sensitivity towards chemicals. Many patients with severed unspecific symptoms ascribe these to MCS. At present there is neither a generally accepted diagnosis nor a therapeutic concept. The ENT doctor should look at the nasal airflow resistance, nasal mucosa and olfactory system.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

PubMed1997

Experimental strategies for research on multiple chemical sensitivity.

Skepticism about the validity of the multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) syndrome stems in part from the lack of supporting experimental data. Performing the relevant experiments requires investigators to take account of broad variations in sensitivity and the need to establish reproducibility. The research approach best suited for MCS studies is the single-subject design. In contrast with conventional group designs, such designs emphasize repeated observations on individual subjects. Repeated observations of this kind constitute a time series in which successive measurements are serially or autocorrelated. One statistical method that bypasses the serial correlation problem is randomization tests. Explicit time series analyses take account of this aspect and can correct for it to determine the impact of an intervention such as a chemical exposure.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed2000

Odor perception: multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue, and asthma.

Patients with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) often report heightened sensitivity to odors. Odor detection thresholds to phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) and pyridine (PYR) were evaluated as a measure of odor sensitivity for 33 MCS subjects, 13 chronic fatigue syndrome subjects, 16 asthmatic subjects, and 27 healthy controls. Odor identification ability (based on University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test results) and ratings in response to four suprathreshold levels of PEA and PYR were also assessed. Odor detection thresholds for PEA and PYR and odor identification ability were equivalent for all groups; however, when exposed to suprathreshold concentrations of PEA, MCS subjects reported significantly more trigeminal symptoms and lower esthetic ratings of PEA. No group differences were found in response to suprathreshold concentrations of PYR. In summary, MCS subjects did not demonstrate lower olfactory threshold sensitivity or enhanced ability to identify odors accurately. Furthermore, they were differentiated from the other groups in their symptomatic and esthetic ratings of PEA, but not PYR.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

[The problems of multiple-chemical sensitivity patients in using medicinal drugs].

Multiple-chemical sensitivity (MCS) patients are presumed to be compelled to lead inconvenient and difficult lives, because unpleasant and multiorgan symptoms are caused by very small amounts of various chemicals in the living environment. Therefore we conducted a questionnaire survey of MCS patients who are members of support groups to elucidate the problems of MCS patients in using medicinal drugs. In this report, we selected 205 persons who stated that they had been "diagnosed with MCS by a physician" or "a physician suspected a diagnosis of MCS" on the questionnaire as the reason they judged themselves to have MCS. The questionnaire results showed that about 60% of MCS patients have difficulty in using medicinal drugs and that the difficulties are more likely to occur in women, in people 40-59 years old, and in patients who developed MCS in reaction to pesticides or medicinal drugs. The prescribed drugs and OTC drugs noted as usable or unusable by patients in the questionnaire were analyzed from the viewpoint of their medicinal constituents. The results indicated that lidocaine is likely to be unusable by MCS patients. In addition, caffeine, aspirin, chlorphenylamine maleate, minocycline hydrochloride, levofloxacin, etc. were also likely to be unusable by MCS patients. Many patients who recorded drugs containing the above-mentioned remedies as unusable had a past history of allergy, suggesting that allergy is involved in the difficulties of MCS patients in using medicinal drugs.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Multiple chemical sensitivities: the social construction of an illness.

Multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) has emerged as an important and highly controversial issue in occupational health. Debate centers on whether the illness is "physical" or "psychological." A strong corporate-backed campaign has framed the debate and has pushed MCS advocates into a strategy of "proving the physical" nature of MCS. Proponents of both positions, however, share key assumptions that impede long-term efforts to benefit MCS sufferers, including acceptance of the physical/psychological dichotomy as a paradigm for the illness, a desire to rid the debate of "politics" to allow "objective scientific" data to be amassed, and a view of MCS as unique without links to other occupational illnesses. While a grassroots movement has benefited MCS sufferers in a number of important ways, the shared assumptions have impeded development of a more complex model for the illness that is reflective of a complex reality, reproduced mainstream expert/non-expert relationships, and failed to connect with the broader occupational health and safety movement. The author outlines an alternative theory and practice to begin addressing these issues, beginning with a recognition of MCS as a problem of developing knowledge within a context of class power.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

Elevated nitric oxide/peroxynitrite theory of multiple chemical sensitivity: central role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the sensitivity mechanism.

The elevated nitric oxide/peroxynitrite and the neural sensitization theories of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are extended here to propose a central mechanism for the exquisite sensitivity to organic solvents apparently induced by previous chemical exposure in MCS. This mechanism is centered on the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors by organic solvents producing elevated nitric oxide and peroxynitrite, leading in turn to increased stimulating of and hypersensitivity of NMDA receptors. In this way, organic solvent exposure may produce progressive sensitivity to organic solvents. Pesticides such as organophosphates and carbamates may act via muscarinic stimulation to produce a similar biochemical and sensitivity response. Accessory mechanisms of sensitivity may involve both increased blood-brain barrier permeability, induced by peroxynitrite, and cytochrome P450 inhibition by nitric oxide. The NMDA hyperactivity/hypersensitivity and excessive nitric oxide/peroxynitrite view of MCS provides answers to many of the most puzzling aspects of MCS while building on previous studies and views of this condition.

Free Radical Scavengers↗

PubMed1996

Clinically relevant EEG studies and psychophysiological findings: possible neural mechanisms for multiple chemical sensitivity.

This paper addresses the evidence for the face, construct, and criterion-related validity of the olfactory-limbic/neural sensitization model for multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). MCS is a poorly-understood, controversial condition in which low levels of environmental chemicals are reported to trigger disabling levels of illness in certain individuals. Neural sensitization processes could generate an endogenous amplification of responsivity to exogenous substances, thereby providing a plausible explanation for the apparent lack of a classical toxicological dose-response relationship in MCS. Convergent data from both survey and psychophysiological studies of MCS patients and of persons from the community without MCS, but who report elevated frequency of illness from chemical odors (cacosmics), support the involvement of the limbic system and the sensitizability of cacosmics, as predicted by the model. Recent studies show that cacosmics do sensitize their heart rate, blood pressure, and plasma beta-endorphin responses to repeated exposures to a novel laboratory procedure involving dietary manipulations over time. Cacosmia may represent a pathological form of neural plasticity. Taken together, the model and the available evidence suggest the need for more intensive investigation of MCS from the standpoint of possible neurobiological mechanisms affecting cognitive, emotional, and somatic functions.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Multiple chemical sensitivities--syndrome and solution.

After describing two patients seen by the author, we define multiple chemical sensitivities and discuss the scope of the problem and the epidemiology. Although the incidence of multiple chemical sensitivities is not known, the demographics are similar to that of agoraphobia. The classical conditioning model is proposed as a useful description of multiple chemical sensitivities. The desensitization approach to the diagnosis and treatment is proposed. Results with three patients were encouraging and the approach seems worthy of further evaluation and refinement.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Symptoms and health status in individuals with multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome from four reported sensitizing exposures and a general population comparison group.

Self-reported information about health and mental health status and history on (a) three diverse samples of individuals who reported multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome (n = 60) and (b) one sample of the general population (n = 60) was collected by telephone interview. Subjects from the general population were selected randomly from the telephone directory and were matched for age, gender, and socioeconomic status with index subjects. Data on an additional 10 subjects with multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome were also available for comparison on many of the variables of interest. The four diverse groups of patients with multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome had very similar general and specific indices of illness and sensitivity to chemicals. Members of the general population reported mild sensitivity to chemicals, and even those with more sensitivity differed from the multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome groups with respect to number and types of symptoms reported, duration and frequency of response, and associated features. Multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome was associated consistently with only one psychiatric variable, elevated negative affect scores, which were correlated significantly with the presence of illness. Patients with multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome from the diverse samples had very similar characteristic features, despite whether they had or had not received treatment by clinical ecologists.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Patients with multiple chemical sensitivities in an occupational health clinic: presentation and follow-up.

Thirty-five people with work-related Multiple Chemical Sensitivities were studied to learn about the onset and progression of illness. The subjects were selected from patients at an occupational health clinic. Individuals were identified as subjects if they fulfilled a seven-point case definition for Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and if onset of symptoms was related to workplace exposures. Three occupational exposures to solvents, poor indoor-air quality, and remodeling were associated with onset of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities in 63% of the subjects. Symptoms indicative of a nervous-system disorder topped the list of the most frequently reported symptoms. Commonalities in exposures and symptoms suggest that Multiple Chemical Sensitivities represents a distinct diagnostic category. Even with an incomplete understanding of etiology, it may be possible to limit the onset of work-related Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Olfactory sensitivity, nasal resistance, and autonomic function in patients with multiple chemical sensitivities.

A frequent, if not predominant, complaint of persons reporting symptoms of multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) is that of heightened sensitivity to smells. In this study odor detection thresholds for phenyl ethyl alcohol (a major component of rose oil) and methyl ethyl ketone (a common solvent) were measured in 18 persons exhibiting symptoms of MCS and in 18 matched normal controls. In addition, nasal resistance, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration rate were determined before and after the olfactory tests. Scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were obtained prior to testing. Although olfactory thresholds were equivalent in the two study groups, the MCS group evidenced significantly higher nasal resistances, respiration rates and Beck Depression Inventory scores. Decreases in systolic blood pressure and pulse were noted in both groups across the test sessions. These results do not support the hypothesis that MCS is associated with greater olfactory threshold sensitivity (at least to the two target chemicals), but do suggest that MCS is associated with depression, increased respiration rate, and decreased nasal airway patency.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Successful use of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in a patient with multiple chemical sensitivities.

A 53-year-old man with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) received the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram for treatment of depression. The treatment was successful and, in parallel to the remission of the depressive symptoms, all MCS symptoms vanished. This suggests that a subgroup of MCS patients may have an atypical depression, that they should be psychiatrically evaluated, and that antidepressive pharmacological treatment may be considered in cases of MCS.

Aerosols↗

PubMed2006

University of Toronto case-control study of multiple chemical sensitivity-3: intra-erythrocytic mineral levels.

BACKGROUND: Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) has an estimated American prevalence of 15%, and no consistently abnormal laboratory tests are available to assist in its diagnosis. Some physicians treating MCS patients have observed changes in intra-erythrocytic minerals (IEMs). As co-factors, minerals could influence detoxication of xenobiotics. AIM: To test whether IEM differed comparing MCS cases with controls. METHODS: A total of 408 women meeting validated inclusion and exclusion criteria for MCS participated in this case-control study. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were observed. However, for copper, chromium, magnesium, molybdenum, sulphur and zinc, mean detectable levels were all lower in cases. No dose-response relationships were found. CONCLUSION: IEM measurements do not appear to provide useful diagnostic markers for MCS.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Multiple chemical sensitivities: distinguishing between psychogenic and toxicodynamic.

The fundamental issue in the multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) debate is whether this phenomenon is primarily a psychogenic or toxicodynamic disorder, that is, whether symptoms are due to an emotional response to perceived chemical toxicity or to a pathological interaction between chemical agents and organ systems. The distinction between psychogenic or toxicodynamic is essential to the medical management of an MCS patient. A behavioral origin leads to a behavioral therapy, whereas a toxicodynamic etiology may necessitate avoidance and exposure control methodologies. Regulatory, legislative, judicial, and occupational control responses are also dependent upon the critical distinction between psychogenic and organic etiologies. If people are being poisoned by low levels of chemicals, one set of responses follows. If, on the other hand, MCS sufferers are symptomatic for emotional reasons, the response is different. Everything that is known about MCS to date strongly suggests behavioral and psychogenic explanations for symptoms. The premature use of the term multiple chemical sensitivities has hampered effective exploration of and response to this phenomenon, because it suggests, to the lay person, a physiological explanation. It is time that this disorder be properly characterized so that sufferers receive the care they need and so that new "victims" are not recruited.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

PubMed1995

Multiple chemical sensitivities--chemical sensitivity as a symptom of airway inflammation.

The term multiple chemical sensitivity confuses etiology with diagnosis. Chemical sensitivity is a symptom expressed by patients. The symptoms complex is also expressed by the majority of patients with asthma reactive airway dysfunction syndrome or rhinitis following a single acute exposure, called reactive upper airway dysfunction syndrome. The chemically sensitivity patient merits evaluation for upper airway and bronchial reactivity that may cause extra-airway symptomatology.

Humans↗

PubMed1995

Multiple chemical sensitivities--a syndrome of pseudotoxicity manifest as exposure perceived symptoms.

The history of and nomenclature of the multiple chemical sensitivities are reviewed. The author's definition of multiple chemical sensitivity is a symptom complex 1) triggered by odor or a perceived exposure; 2) occurring at exposure levels below those of allergic sensitivity or irritation; 3) analogous to the symptoms of panic disorder as defined by DSM-IV-R; 4) lacking objective clinic pathologic criteria; and 5) responsive to panic disorder management.

Humans↗