Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Enzyme Related Toxic Overdose

Categories

Environment

Health

More than 200 diseases have been linked to pollution by a recent study, according to an article published in The Independent. Although it has been known for some time that increased cancer incidence is linked to pollution, it is seldom we see an open acknowledgement in the mainstream press that we are actively poisoning ourselves with chemicals and other pollutants released freely into the environment. Those substances are so ubiquitous that most people have a toxic cocktail mixed in with their blood.

Although some tentative steps in the right direction are being taken - there is the recent announcement of a National Institutes of Health study that recommends Doctors and nurses be given more environmental health training to prevent, recognize, and treat diseases caused by environmental exposures, we are still a far way from really understanding just what we are doing to ourselves.

Unfortunately there is much politics involved and the sufferers from pollution are having a hard time to get their illness recognized, much less to be treated with anything but psychiatric medications, as the going explanation is that "it's all in your head". Martin Walker, author of "Dirty Medicine", has researched the pressures brought to bear against patients and physicians by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in his latest book "Skewed". The book is revealing, although it does not attempt to explain causes or possible cures for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and related illnesses. It lays out what the politics are and gives us a good idea of the players involved.

There is an effort to attain global recognition of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and related illnesses as real and caused by pollution, not by the imagination of those suffering. The Global Recognition Campaign site is run by Diana Buckland, a representative of the Australian Chemical Trauma Alliance.

Another Chemical Sensitivity campaign is located in Washington State, in the US. Don Richard Paladin of Bellingham, Washington State, gives us a succinct overview in his article which links chemical sensitivity to a deficiency in detoxification enzymes...

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Chemical Intolerance - Overcoming Psychogenic Psychobabble

There have been attempts to help explain why one person may have a low tolerance for a chemical and others may not.[1] Very recent research from Canada may demonstrate a relationship between deficiencies of enzymes and chemical intolerance.[2] The American Academy of Family Physicians, The American Medical Association and other medical associations need to review and become current on their positions on Environmental Intolerance (aka Multiple Chemical Sensitivity).

There is much literature sponsored by advocates for industry which attempts to minimize the consequences of synthetic toxic chemicals by suggesting that those who report symptoms from these chemicals have psychosomatic disorders. [3], [4] There are likely relationships between environmental triggers and psychological as well as other symptoms. Symptoms, however, are not causes.

Dr. Robert Haley has reported a relationship between Gulf War Syndrome and a deficiency of the enzyme serum paraoxonase (Pon-Q) that detoxifies organophosphates. He has concluded that a deficiency of this enzyme
can explain why one soldier may tolerate a higher dose of an organophosphate exposure and another may be damaged and become ill. [5]

A report in the New York Times explains, "Citing new scientific research on the effects of exposure to low levels of neurotoxins, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses concludes in its draft report that "a substantial proportion of Gulf War veterans are ill with multisymptom conditions not explained by wartime stress or psychiatric illness. It says a growing body of research suggests that many veterans' symptoms have a neurological cause and that there is a "probable link" to exposure to neurotoxins." [6], [7]

Recent research by Ella H. Sklan et al may help explain the Panic Attack and anxiety connection to exposures to stimuli that may be toxic (like pesticides). "Serum AChE and PON enzyme activities were both found to be affected by demographic parameters, and showed inverse, reciprocal associations with anxiety measures." [8]

If one has a much lower level than normal of the enzymes involved in detoxification of any given stimuli (Pon-Q and organophosphates are the example being used), then one will have a lower TOLERANCE to the stimuli than those with a normal tolerance. It is interesting that a lower level of PON-Q and AChE may also be implicated in the precipitation of anxiety. This suggests the lower level of enzymes and other biochemicals may be responsible for symptoms of anxiety and panic disorders.

It is time we move away from a psychological explanation of the cause of chemical intolerance and try to understand the rudimentary biochemistry behind the illness. Not only will this information help those with antibody mediated allergies but also greatly help those with intolerance to environmental stimuli.

Since MCS (Chemical Intolerance, Environmental Intolerance) is not an antibody mediated allergy, allergy specialists and others should acknowledge they do NOT understand the mechanism of the disorder and quit trying to discount it with a "psychogenic" canard. Anyone with any knowledge of medical history knows that both antibody mediated allergies and asthma were once considered to be psychosomatic. There is a great deal we all don't understand. A little humility by the medical community would go a long way.

References:

1. Understanding Chemical Intolerance, an investigation by Don Richard Paladin,

2.Gail McKeown-Eyssen, Cornelia Baines, David E. C. Cole, Nicole Riley, Rachel F. Tyndale, Case-control study of genotypes in multiple chemical sensitivity: CYP2D6, NAT1, NAT2, PON1, PON2 and MTHFR , International Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/ije/dyh251 ,

3. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Under Siege by Ann MacCampbell, M.D.,Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, January 2001, #210, p. 20 - 27 in which she writes. "When confronted by the harm they have caused, corporations typically blame the victims, deny the problem, and try to avoid responsibility for the harm caused. The corporate response to MCS has been no different."

4.THE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL ILLNESS BRIEFING PAPER, 1990 , in which they state: "Because it has the potential to impact many segments of society, many groups have an interest in placing environmental illness in its proper perspective. ... Because environmental illness is a health issue, the only people who can legitimize it are physicians, and they have not. Should environmental illness arise as an issue, a coalition with the state medical association is absolutely necessary."

5. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, .UT Southwestern researcher finds genetic cause for Gulf War syndrome

6. Shane, Scott, Chemicals Sickened '91 Gulf War Veterans, Latest Study Finds, The New York Times, October 15, 2004

7. Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans‚ Illnesses, Scientific Progress in Understanding Gulf War Veterans‚ Illnesses: Report and Recommendations, September 2004, [The complete report may be downloaded in pdf format from this site.]

8. Ella H. Sklan, Alexander Lowenthal, Mira Korner, Ya'acov Ritov, Daniel M. Landers, Tuomo Rankinen, Claude Bouchard, Arthur S. Leon, Treva Rice, D. C. Rao, Jack H. Wilmore, James S. Skinner and Hermona Soreq , Acetylcholinesterase/paraoxonase genotype and expression predict anxiety scores in Health, Risk Factors, Exercise Training, and Genetics study Biochemistry., April 13, 2004 | vol. 101 | no. 15 | 5512-5517
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content

Don Richard Paladin
Washington State Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Network
P.O Box 29722
Bellingham, WA 98228-1722

See also related:

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... this is one of the most important handouts I have ever produced in terms of my understanding of CFS and what to do in order to recover! So please read this very carefully and several times over because for many sufferers it contains the keys to unlock their illness!

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
By Ronald J. Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - Causes, Treatments and the Links to Nitrites

Satori-5 - UK chapter of Global MCS recognition campaign
Satori-5 seeks to offer a variety of perspectives on the illnesses commonly referred to as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) or Environmental Illness (EI), and a whole range of illnesses created by a range of physically toxic energy emissions such as microwaves, radio waves, electromagnetic fields, geopathic stress and so on, to which I have given the collective umbrella term of Hazardous Radiations Sickness - or HRS for short.

An interview with Martin Walker - and a way to get his book "SKEWED"

MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES UNDER SIEGE
by Ann McCampbell, MD - Chair, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Task Force of New Mexico.
Movies like Erin Brockovich and A Civil Action depict the true stories of communities whose members became ill from drinking water contaminated with industrial waste. Their struggles clearly show how difficult it is for people to hold corporations responsible for the harm they have caused. Whether individuals are injured by exposures to contaminated air or water, silicone breast implants, cigarettes, or other chemicals, their quest for justice is usually a David versus Goliath battle that pits average citizens against giant corporations.

The Globe and Mail - I am polluted
... Besides my breath, researchers at Harvard's School of Public Health examined my blood, hair, urine,