Clinical characteristics of chemical sensitivity: an illustrative case history of asthma and MCS

Environmental Health Perspectives
G H Ross

Abstract

A case history of the induction of asthma and chemical sensitivity in a 42-year-old registered nurse illustrates several of the characteristic features of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). This patient's problems started shortly after moving into a new home under construction, with associated chemical exposures. Other MCS patients report the onset of the condition with other chemical exposures such as those encountered at their places of work or use of pesticides at their residences. Patients often describe a spreading phenomenon of increasing intolerance to commonly encountered chemicals at concentrations well tolerated by other people. Symptoms usually wax and wane with exposures, and are more likely to occur in patients or families with preexisting histories of migraine or with classical allergies. Idiosyncratic medication reactions (especially to preservative chemicals) are common in MCS patients, as are dysautonomia symptoms (such as vascular instability) and poor temperature regulation. Myalgia and joint pains and food intolerance are common features as well. Contamination with xenobiotic chemicals is frequently found in these patients when they are tested. Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome is a recently identified...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 1, 1997·Environmental Health Perspectives·H Kipen, N Fiedler
Mar 1, 1997·Environmental Health Perspectives·N Fiedler, H Kipen
Mar 1, 1997·Environmental Health Perspectives·H R Kehrl
Jan 1, 2003·Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine·Mitsuyasu WatanabeYoshiharu Aizawa
Jan 1, 2003·Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine·Mitsuyasu WatanabeYoshiharu Aizawa
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Oct 24, 2019·Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine·Kenichi AzumaKou Sakabe
Apr 20, 2018·Drug Safety - Case Reports·Allan Lieberman, Luke Curtis
Mar 1, 2002·Toxicology Letters·Chris Winder

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