Environmental Project, 988 – Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, MCS

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, MCS

Annex C

Main proposals from the NIEHS conference on experimental research in MCS 1996 (Interagency report, 1998)

Key Recommendations:

Studies should be initiated to test hypotheses in the domain of non-neurogenic inflammation, determining whether inflammation is present in symptomatic tissues of patients who have MCS and if it is associated with a heightened neurosensory response.
Conduct longitudinal studies to test hypotheses:

(1)
A psychoneuroimmunological component is correlatively or causally associated with development of MCS, and

(2)
Stress is associated with MCS as a chronic disabling disease.
Conduct double-blind placebo-controlled challenge studies performed in an environmentally controlled hospital facility coupled with rigorous documentation of both objective and subjective responses.
Conduct interviews with MCS patients to ascertain episodes consistent with a learning interpretation of their symptoms.
Conduct balanced placebo-controlled studies to separate the effects of chemical expectation from chemical effects in MCS.
Evaluate the possibility of olfactory hypersensitivity in MCS patients through further research.
Systematically evaluate the efficacy of systematic desensitisation as a treatment for MCS disorders.
Consider single-case designs as an alternative to group comparisons, given the heterogeneity of subjects, symptoms, and chemical exposures.
Develop a generally accepted structured interview that is based on common patterns of patient symptoms.
One design for protocols to initiate and test for sensitisation in MCS patients could involve the same sensitisation procedures but compare outcomes under conditions of masking and unmasking.
Test the hypothesis that MCS patients are more susceptible to initiation of context-dependent sensitisation than are control subjects.
Longitudinal studies with repeated measures would enable evaluation of fluctuations over time.
Conduct laboratory animal studies to assess neural time-dependent sensitisation mechanisms.