MCS syndrome

In addition to the proteins discussed above, a large number of reactive chemicals used in industry can cause asthma and rhinitis. Hypersensitivity pneumonias have also been described. Isocyanates and acid anhydrides are industrial chemicals that cause occupational asthma. Acid anhydrides, such as phthalic anhydride, seem to cause mainly type I reactions, whereas the IgE-mediated mechanism explains only a part of the sensitizations to isocyanates. Several mechanisms have been suggested, but despite intensive research no models have been generally accepted. The situation is even more obscure for other sensitizing chemicals therefore, the term specific chemical hypersensitivity is often used for chemical allergies. This term should not be confused with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) syndrome, which is a controversial term referring to hypersusceptibility to very low levels of environmental chemicals. ... 

The multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) syndrome is a term that has been used to describe a constellation of non-specific systemic symptoms occurring after exposure to a wide variety of irritating agents. Patients present with headaches, food intolerance, fatigue, lack of concentration and depression which they attribute to their work environments. These symptoms subside... 

Many of the assumptions under which she was working have now been refuted. Her mechanism of action for the adverse effects of pesticides was that continuous exposure slowly damaged our cell s metabolic machinery. This is fundamentally wrong and has no serious scientific proponents today. Curiously, similar arguments and even Silent Spring itself are invoked today by people suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) syndrome (this topic to be dealt with in more detail later in this book). 

Hopkins RL, Leinung MC. Exogenous Cushing s syndrome and glucocorticoid withdrawal. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am 2005 34 371-384. 

I d like to see more people becoming active writing letters, because I think that does help. I sent forty copies of my book to famous people—legislators, senators, celebrities, media people. In my cover letter I focused on the Gulf War Syndrome, which many of us see as a variation of EI/MCS. 

If I m having a bad day I sometimes still write, unless a reaction to a chemical is affecting my brain. When I can t think clearly, I can t write. And sometimes I feel so apathetic that I can t write. But I m thankful that I have the skill. I think education is so important to prevent others from getting this illness. I believe that chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sick building syndrome and similar conditions with other names are all forms of MCS. They ll find that out with more studies. People just don t know what s wrong with them. They think they ve got asthma, depression, attention deficit disorder and a lot of other problems that can be related to chemical exposures. 

Frequently, MCS involves imbalances in one s nervous, immune, and endocrine systems, and impaired detoxification abilities. Conditions such as CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome), fibromyalgia, and Candida Syndrome are frequently found in people with MCS. It is not yet known whether these are separate diseases or whether they represent different manifestations of a common underlying problem. 

The most recent SPECT scan (single photon computed tomography of the brain) studies, by a Harvard School of Public Health physician and researcher, have shown that people with MCS have blood flow patterns in the brain that are different from those of healthy controls and from people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.4... 

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Dr. Martin Pall of Washington State University uncovered the neurological biochemical processes that underlie MCS, and demonstrated a link to processes that are also relevant to chronic fatigue syndrome. He described the increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier as a result of exposure to certain substances and as a result of increased peroxynitrite level. The more this barrier disintegrates, the more chemical substances are able to directly enter the brain and the more sensitive a person becomes. Increased levels of nitric oxide in the body in turn influence the enzymes responsible for breaking down chemical substances (P450 enzyme). He published an article about his model, tide Elevated Nitric Oxide/Per-oxynitrite Theory of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Central Role of N-Methyl-d-Aspartate Receptors in the Sensitivity Mechanism, in Environmental Health Perspectives. It can be read online at www.ehponline.org/members/ 2003/5935/5935.html. 

Besides research into the physical causes and mechanisms of MCS, research has also been conducted into the mental aspects of MCS. Almost everyone (including those who argue that MCS is a physiological syndrome) agrees that people with MCS may also suffer from mental, cognitive and emotional ailments such as depression, confusion, etc. 

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University examined studies on MCS which describe the syndrome as psychogenic. They concluded that these studies often contain methodological errors, thus rendering the results questionable at best.5... 

People with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity become ill as soon as they are exposed to specific chemicals (smoke, perfume, cleaning products, et cetera). This is often caused by a problem in their detoxification system (sometimes caused by DNA defects) and/or for example short and long time chemical (over) exposure (think of the many firefighters who got ill after September 11 or of soldiers with Gulf War syndrome). Reiki cannot solve this problem, but it can support both the physical and mental processes and the energy deficiency that often occurs in this syndrome. A combination of remedies is best to try and improve the condition avoid the chemical stimuli, eat biological food, use food supplements to support detoxification, exercise, meditate and use Reiki (see www.the-abc-of-mcs.com for more information about this disease). 

This book is about subjects including sick building syndrome, Gulf War syndrome and MCS and is filled with patients stories, conversations with doctors, scientists, and skeptics. It is very readable (not a textbook). Available on Amazon.com and elsewhere. 

Biomarkers of MCS and Muses Syndrome. MCS Referral Resources. May 11, 2006. www.mcsrr.org/resources/bio markers.html. 

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