multiple chemical sensitivity

(redirected from Environmental Illness)
Also found in: Medical, Acronyms.

multiple chemical sensitivity

(MCS), adverse physical reaction to certain chemicals in susceptible persons. When exposed to the chemicals, people with MCS react with symptoms such as nausea, headache, dizziness, fatigue, impaired memory, rash, and respiratory difficulty. A wide range of household and industrial chemicals, including cleaning products, tobacco smoke, perfumes, inks, and pesticides, have been implicated as triggers for MCS.

Many researchers do not regard multiple chemical sensitivity as a medically valid syndrome, believing that the depression that frequently accompanies it is an indication that the symptoms are psychological in origin. Others note that descriptions of the syndrome are largely anecdotal and not proven scientifically, or that the imprecisely defined syndrome is easily abused as a diagnosis, pointing to what they feel is an exaggerated number of worker's compensation cases involving MCS. Nevertheless, many sufferers do seem to improve when they eliminate contact with the chemicals known to trigger their condition; in extreme cases this may mean confinement to specially treated living quarters.

References in periodicals archive ?
Our study also found that the hotspots of the research area were mainly on environmental pollution, environmental health hazards, vulnerable groups, environmental illness, and so on.
An expanding and shifting focus in recent environmental health literature: a quantitative Bibliometric study
That's because the symptoms of environmental illness are not included in either medical school curricula or residency training.
Women's Health is environmental health: the dangers of toxic exposures
Environmental illness and misdiagnosis--a growing problem.
Managing environmental sensitivity: an overview illustrated with a case report
American Academy of Environmental Medicine 2006 Instructional Courses--Pearls to Easily Recognize and Treat Environmental Illness in All Age Groups.
Calendar
I was 26 and in a long recovery from years of debilitating environmental illness and chemical sensitivities.
Letter from the editor
Your September/October 2004 cover story includes recommendations for women to be smart consumers and prevent environmental illness.
Mercury is fishy business
majority of those identified with environmental illness are women
'Safe space' as counter-space: women, environmental illness and 'corporeal chaos'
They may be able to refer you to an environmental illness specialist or support group in your area.
Environmental allergies
The American College of Physicians, 1989: "The existence of an environmental illness as presented in clinical ecology theory must be questioned because of the lack of clinical definition.
Sick of it all
Chemicals, fabrics and toxic emissions are the invisible menaces in this suburban horror movie, which the filmmaker based on real-life cases of a syndrome called environmental illness.
ON LOCATION IN THE VALLEY\A look at the way movies have portrayed our real estate battles,\hormonally hyper teens and visiting space aliens
In 1977, Mary Oetzel was diagnosed with an environmental illness, resulting from "multiple chemical sensitivities.
Radon: it can kill you
Abba Terr of Stanford University evaluated a group of 50 people who had applied for Workmen's Compensation on grounds of environmental illness, as diagnosied and treated by clinical ecologists.
Allergic to everything?
Encyclopedia browser ?
Full browser ?