Multiple chemical sensitivity, also known as chemical damage syndrome or environmental sensitivity, is a chronic condition caused by low-level chemical exposure in people who are sensitive to environmental toxins. Diagnosis requires meeting six criteria, including reproducible symptoms and sensitivity to different types of chemicals. While some medical experts do not recognize the condition, recent research suggests a genetic mutation may play a role. Symptoms involve multiple organ systems and may include nausea, heart palpitations, joint pain, headaches, and itchy eyes.
Multiple chemical sensitivity has many alternative names, including chemical damage syndrome, twentieth century syndrome, toxic damage, environmental disease, environmental sensitivity, and idiopathic environmental intolerance. All of these different terms describe a chronic condition characterized by symptoms such as nausea, heart palpitations, joint pain, headaches, and itchy eyes. These symptoms are thought to be the result of low-level chemical exposure in people who have an increased sensitivity to environmental toxins such as cigarette smoke, perfume, industrial chemicals, petroleum products, and pesticides.
For an individual to be diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity, they must have symptoms that meet six diagnostic criteria. First, the individual must have had the condition for some time. His symptoms must be reproducible, which means that exposure to chemicals on different occasions produces similar symptoms. Additionally, symptoms must be reproducible at low levels of exposure, and symptoms must cease or decrease when exposure to the chemicals ceases. For the condition to be diagnosed, the individual must also be sensitive to different types of chemicals.
The final diagnostic criterion for multiple chemical sensitivity is the range of symptoms the individual experiences. Symptoms must involve multiple organ systems; for example, the digestive system and the respiratory system. Possible symptoms may include headache, earache, itchy eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, drowsiness, drowsiness or confusion, extreme anxiety, panic attacks, heart palpitations, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach ache.
While most people with multiple chemical sensitivity attribute their symptoms to chemical intolerance and hypersensitivity, some medical experts believe this is not a valid diagnosis. In one research study, half of the participants experienced other ailments, such as depression or panic disorder, than suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity. In blind trials of chemical activation, many people were found to be activated not by chemicals, but by smells, suggesting that their symptoms may be partially psychosomatic.
Because of findings like these, the World Health Organization and many other global and regional associations do not recognize environmental sensitivity as a real condition. In addition to theories of physiological causes and misdiagnoses, some experts believe that the so-called 20th century syndrome may be a type of allergy rather than a chemical intolerance. To date, critics of the diagnosis argue that there is no scientifically sound theory to explain the disease.
More recent research to suggest a cause has shown that some people with the disease have a specific genetic mutation that may play a role. The mutation is in a protein involved in the metabolic pathways that break down toxins, and research suggests that the mutated protein may metabolize some toxins differently. This type of mutation may explain some types of chemical sensitivity and may also play a role in diseases such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
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