Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCS)--suggestions for an extension of the U.S. MCS-case definition.

 Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2005;208(3):141-51. Links

Multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCS)--suggestions for an extension of the U.S. MCS-case definition.

Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Freiburg University Hospital, Hauptstrasse 8, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.

PURPOSE: To validate and extend the US case definition for the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome (MCS) from 1999 by a systematic literature-review. DATA SOURCE: MEDLINE-research from 1997 to August 2003, research in the Cochrane-Library in August 2003, earlier reviews since 1997. STUDY SELECTION: Headings and abstracts were screened by one reviewer. All references dealing with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) which covered topics of interest such as symptom-profiles, differential diagnostic procedures, etc. were included in the analysis. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Topic-specific data extraction and synthesis was done by one reviewer. Data interpretation was discussed by all other authors. RESULTS: Out of 1429 references 36 publications proved to be suitable for the review. The results can be summarized as follows: exposure-related symptoms associated with self-reported multiple chemical sensitivities can be divided into non-specific complaints of the central nervous system--CNS (main characteristics) and functional disturbances in other organ systems (optional complaints). There is a significant overlap of MCS, CFS and fibromyalgie. At present no standards for a diagnostic procedure based on the criteria outlined above are existing CONCLUSIONS: MCS should only be diagnosed in patients who are mainly suffering from exposure-related non-specific complaints of the Central nervous system. The suggested diagnostic procedure follows the guidelines for CFS which are extended by diagnostic clarification of functional disturbances in other organ systems.

PMID: 15971853 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=15971853&ordinalpos=12&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

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