This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Clinical Review of 50 Cases

Abba I. Terr, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1986;146(1):145-149.

Abstract
A review of 50 patients with a clinical ecology diagnosis of environmentally induced illness is reported. Histories were extremely heterogenous. Eight patients had no symptoms or disease, 11 had symptoms caused by preexisting nonenvironmental disease, and 31 had multiple subjective symptoms. No consistent physical findings or laboratory abnormalities were found. Serum levels of immunoglobulins and complement, and circulating lymphocyte, B-cell, T-cell, and T-cell subset counts were not significantly abnormal. The diagnostic provocationneutralization procedure, environmental restrictions, and dietary advice of clinical ecology produced further symptoms and fear of environmental and food contaminants. The patients with chronic multisystem complaints had characteristic symptoms of psychosomatic illness, but this study does not support the clinical ecology theory that psychosomatic illness may be an expression of food and chemical sensitivities induced by the toxic effect of environmental chemicals on the immune system.

(Arch Intern Med 1986;146:145-149)

Author Affiliations
From the Division of Immunology, Department of Medicine, Stanford (Calif) University Medical Center.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication April 3, 1985.

Reprint requests to Division of Immunology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA 94305 (Dr Terr).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Reproducibility of Immunological Tests Used To Assess Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome
Hoover et al.
CVI 2003;10:1029-1036.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Nine-Year Follow-up of People Diagnosed With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
Black et al.
Psychosomatics 2000;41:253-261.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities: Psychogenic or Toxicodynamic Origins
Gots and Pirages
International Journal of Toxicology 1999;18:393-400.
ABSTRACT  

Functional Somatic Syndromes
Barsky and Borus
ANN INTERN MED 1999;130:910-921.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Mechanisms of allergy and chemical sensitivity
Meggs
Toxicol Ind Health 1999;15:331-338.
ABSTRACT  

Behavioral sensitization after repeated formaldehyde exposure in rats
Sorg and Hochstatter
Toxicol Ind Health 1999;15:346-355.
ABSTRACT  

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome and Porphyria: A Note of Caution and Concern
Hahn and Bonkovsky
Arch Intern Med 1997;157:281-285.
ABSTRACT  

Assessing Beliefs about 'Environmental Illness/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity'
Gomez et al.
J Health Psychol 1996;1:107-123.
ABSTRACT  

Outcome of 48 Pediatric Patients With Chronic Fatigue: A Clinical Experience
Feder et al.
Arch Fam Med 1994;3:1049-1055.
ABSTRACT  

Comparison of Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
Buchwald and Garrity
Arch Intern Med 1994;154:2049-2053.
ABSTRACT  

Clinical ecology
Pearson
BMJ 1994;308:202-202.
FULL TEXT  

Clinical Ecology: Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association
Coble et al.
JAMA 1992;268:3465-3467.
ABSTRACT  

Environmental Illness: A Controlled Study of 26 Subjects With '20th Century Disease'
Black et al.
JAMA 1990;264:3166-3170.
ABSTRACT  

Clinical Ecology: Environmental Medicine or Unsubstantiated Theory?
Kahn and Letz
ANN INTERN MED 1989;111:104-106.
ABSTRACT  

Clinical Ecology
ANN INTERN MED 1989;111:168-178.
ABSTRACT  

Olfactory Sensitivity, Nasal Resistance, and Autonomic Function in Patients With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
Doty et al.
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1988;114:1422-1427.
ABSTRACT  

Environmental Illness
Honsinger
Arch Intern Med 1986;146:2411-2411.
ABSTRACT  

Environmental Illness and Patients With Multiple Unexplained Symptoms
Stewart
Arch Intern Med 1986;146:1447-1447.
ABSTRACT  

Environmental Illness
Markovitz
Arch Intern Med 1986;146:1244-1244.
ABSTRACT