Published research shows MultipleChemicalSensitivity caused by toxic chemical +

October 19, 2009

Published research shows Multiple Chemical Sensitivity caused by toxic

chemical exposure

_http://www.thecanaryreport.org/2009/10/18/published-research-shows-multiple

-chemical-sensitivity/_

(http://www.thecanaryreport.org/2009/10/18/published-research-shows-multiple-che\

mical-sensitivity/)

Breakthrough study on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity shows MCS is an

epidemic caused by toxic chemicals; peer-reviewed paper is published in

prestigious toxicology reference work

A major paper on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity by Professor Martin L. Pall

is to be published Oct. 23 as chapter XX in a prestigious reference work

for professional toxicologists, General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd Edition

(2009, John Wiley & Sons). Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is also

known as chemical sensitivity, chemical intolerance, and toxicant-induced loss

of tolerance, with this last name emphasizing the role of chemicals in

initiating cases of this disease. Pallâ€™s paper, entitled â€œMultiple Chemical

Sensitivity: Toxicological Questions and Mechanisms,â€ establishes five

important facts about MCS:

1. MCS is a stunningly common disease, even more common than diabetes.

This has been shown in a series of nine epidemiological studies from the

United States and one study each from Canada, Germany, Sweden and Denmark. In

the U.S., approximately 3.5% of the population is affected by severe MCS,

with much larger numbers, at least 12% of the population, being moderately

affected. MCS is, therefore, a very large international disease epidemic with

major implications in terms of public health.

2. MCS is caused by toxic chemical exposure. Cases of MCS are initiated by

exposure to seven classes of chemicals. These include three classes of

pesticides and the very large class of organic solvents and related compounds.

In addition, published studies implicate mercury, hydrogen sulfide and

carbon monoxide as initiators. All seven of these classes of chemicals have

been shown in animal studies to produce a common response in the body,

excessive activity of a receptor in the body known as the NMDA receptor.

Furthermore animal studies have demonstrated that chemicals belonging to each

of

these seven classes can have their toxic responses greatly lowered by using

drugs that lower this NMDA response. Because excessive NMDA activity is

implicated in MCS from other studies, we now have a compelling common response

that explains how such diverse chemicals can produce the disease that we

call MCS.

3. The role of chemicals acting as toxicants in MCS has been confirmed by

genetic studies. Four such studies have shown that genes that determine the

rate of metabolism of chemicals otherwise implicated in MCS, influence

susceptibility to becoming ill with MCS. These four studies have been

published by three research groups in three countries, the U.S., Canada and

Germany, have collectively implicated six genes in determining susceptibility to

MCS. Each of these six genes has a role in determining the rate of metabolism

of MCS-related chemicals. The German studies by Schnakenberg and

colleagues are particularly convincing on this because of the extremely high

level

of statistical significance of their studies implicating four of these six

genes. There is only one interpretation for the role of these six genes in

determining susceptiblity to MCS. It is that chemicals act as toxicants in

initiating cases of MCS and that metabolizing these chemicals into forms

that are either less or more active in such initiation, influences therefore,

the probability that a person will become ill with MCS. It is clear,

therefore, that MCS is a toxicological phenomenon, with cases being caused by

the

toxic response to chemical exposure.

4. We have, a detailed and generally well supported mechanism for MCS.

This mechanism explains both the high level chemical sensitivity that is the

most characteristic symptom of MCS, as well as many other symptoms and signs

of this disease, can be generated. This mechanism is centered on a

biochemical vicious cycle, known as the NO/ONOO- cycle, which interacts with

other

mechanisms previously implicated in MCS, notably neural sensitization and

neurogenic inflammation. These act locally, in various tissues of the body,

to generate local sensitivity in regions of the brain and in peripheral

tissues including lungs, upper respiratory tract and regions of the skin and

the GI tract. Because of this local nature, different MCS patients differ

from one another in their sensitivity symptoms, because the tissues impacted

differ from one patient to another. In addition to the evidence discussed

above, this general mechanism is supported by various physiological changes

found in MCS and in related illnesses, by studies of MCS animal models, by

objectively measurable responses of MCS patients to low level chemical

exposure and by therapeutic responses reported for MCS and related illnesses.

5. For over 20 years, some have falsely argued that MCS is a psychogenic

disease, being generated in their view by some ill defined psychological

mechanism. However this view is completely incompatible with all of the

evidence discussed earlier in this release. While such incompatibility is more

than sufficient reason to reject these psychogenic claims, the MCS toxicology

paper lists eight additional serious flaws in the psychogenic arguments.

There is a long history of false psychogenic claims in medicine, where such

diseases as asthma, autism, Parkinsonâ€™s disease, ulcers, multiple

sclerosis, lupus, interstitial cystitis, migraine and ulcerative colitis have

been

claimed to be generated by a psychological mechanism. The 2005 Nobel prize

in physiology and medicine was give to Drs. Robin Warren and Barry Marshall

for showing that ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection, and are not of

psychogenic origin. It is clear, now, that MCS is physiological disease

initiated by toxic chemical exposure that has been falsely claimed to be

psychogenic.

Martin L. Pall is Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical

Science at Washington State University.

He is located on Pacific time in the U.S. and can be contacted at:

503-232-3883 and at _martin_pall_ (martin_pall) .

His web site is: thetenthparadigm.org

_http://thetenthparadigm.org/index.html_

(http://thetenthparadigm.org/index.html)

Link to an extended excerpt from Pallâ€™s book Explaining â€œUnexplained

Illnesses.â€

_http://books.google.com/books?id=z7sNIUBkfhAC & pg=PA40 & lpg=PA40 & ots=gyqMx6Sl

um & dq=NMDA+Pall & ie=ISO-8859-1 & output=html_

(http://books.google.com/books?id=z7sNIUBkfhAC & pg=PA40 & lpg=PA40 & ots=gyqMx6Slum & d\

q=NMDA+Pall & ie=ISO-8859-1 & out

put=html)

###

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