-
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Aug 2023Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a complex medical condition associated with low dose chemical exposures. MCS is characterized by diverse features and common... (Review)
Review
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a complex medical condition associated with low dose chemical exposures. MCS is characterized by diverse features and common comorbidities, including fibromyalgia, cough hypersensitivity, asthma, and migraine, and stress/anxiety, with which the syndrome shares numerous neurobiological processes and altered functioning within diverse brain regions. Predictive factors linked to MCS comprise genetic influences, gene-environment interactions, oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, cell dysfunction, and psychosocial influences. The development of MCS may be attributed to the sensitization of transient receptor potential (TRP) receptors, notably TRPV1 and TRPA1. Capsaicin inhalation challenge studies demonstrated that TRPV1 sensitization is manifested in MCS, and functional brain imaging studies revealed that TRPV1 and TRPA1 agonists promote brain-region specific neuronal variations. Unfortunately, MCS has often been inappropriately viewed as stemming exclusively from psychological disturbances, which has fostered patients being stigmatized and ostracized, and often being denied accommodation for their disability. Evidence-based education is essential to provide appropriate support and advocacy. Greater recognition of receptor-mediated biological mechanisms should be incorporated in laws, and regulation of environmental exposures.
Topics: Humans; Transient Receptor Potential Channels; TRPV Cation Channels; TRPA1 Cation Channel; Multiple Chemical Sensitivity; Cough
PubMed: 37172924
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105227 -
Mitochondrion Mar 2020This paper is written for non-specialists in mitochondrial biology to provide access to an important area of science that has broad implications for all people. The cell... (Review)
Review
This paper is written for non-specialists in mitochondrial biology to provide access to an important area of science that has broad implications for all people. The cell danger response (CDR) is a universal response to environmental threat or injury. Once triggered, healing cannot be completed until the choreographed stages of the CDR are returned to an updated state of readiness. Although the CDR is a cellular response, it has the power to change human thought and behavior, child development, physical fitness and resilience, fertility, and the susceptibility of entire populations to disease. Mitochondria regulate the CDR by monitoring and responding to the physical, chemical, and microbial conditions within and around the cell. In this way, mitochondria connect cellular health to environmental health. Over 7,000 chemicals are now made or imported to the US for industrial, agricultural, and personal care use in amounts ranging from 25,000 to over 1 million pounds each year, and plastic waste now exceeds 83 billion pounds/year. This chemical load creates a rising tide of manmade pollutants in the oceans, air, water, and food chain. Fewer than 5% of these chemicals have been tested for developmental toxicity. In the 1980s, 5-10% of children lived with a chronic illness. As of 2018, 40% of children, 50% of teens, 60% of adults under age 65, and 90% of adults over 65 live with a chronic illness. Several studies now report the presence of dozens to hundreds of manmade chemicals and pollutants in placenta, umbilical cord blood, and newborn blood spots. New methods in metabolomics and exposomics allow scientists to measure thousands of chemicals in blood, air, water, soil, and the food chain. Systematic measurements of environmental chemicals can now be correlated with annual and regional patterns of childhood illness. These data can be used to prepare a prioritized list of molecules for congressional action, ranked according to their impact on human health.
Topics: Cell Biology; Chronic Disease; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Health; Environmental Pollutants; Humans; Metabolomics; Mitochondria
PubMed: 31877376
DOI: 10.1016/j.mito.2019.12.005 -
Reviews on Environmental Health Sep 2016Chronic diseases and illnesses associated with non-specific symptoms are on the rise. In addition to chronic stress in social and work environments, physical and... (Review)
Review
Chronic diseases and illnesses associated with non-specific symptoms are on the rise. In addition to chronic stress in social and work environments, physical and chemical exposures at home, at work, and during leisure activities are causal or contributing environmental stressors that deserve attention by the general practitioner as well as by all other members of the health care community. It seems necessary now to take "new exposures" like electromagnetic fields (EMF) into account. Physicians are increasingly confronted with health problems from unidentified causes. Studies, empirical observations, and patient reports clearly indicate interactions between EMF exposure and health problems. Individual susceptibility and environmental factors are frequently neglected. New wireless technologies and applications have been introduced without any certainty about their health effects, raising new challenges for medicine and society. For instance, the issue of so-called non-thermal effects and potential long-term effects of low-dose exposure were scarcely investigated prior to the introduction of these technologies. Common electromagnetic field or EMF sources: Radio-frequency radiation (RF) (3 MHz to 300 GHz) is emitted from radio and TV broadcast antennas, Wi-Fi access points, routers, and clients (e.g. smartphones, tablets), cordless and mobile phones including their base stations, and Bluetooth devices. Extremely low frequency electric (ELF EF) and magnetic fields (ELF MF) (3 Hz to 3 kHz) are emitted from electrical wiring, lamps, and appliances. Very low frequency electric (VLF EF) and magnetic fields (VLF MF) (3 kHz to 3 MHz) are emitted, due to harmonic voltage and current distortions, from electrical wiring, lamps (e.g. compact fluorescent lamps), and electronic devices. On the one hand, there is strong evidence that long-term exposure to certain EMFs is a risk factor for diseases such as certain cancers, Alzheimer's disease, and male infertility. On the other hand, the emerging electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is more and more recognized by health authorities, disability administrators and case workers, politicians, as well as courts of law. We recommend treating EHS clinically as part of the group of chronic multisystem illnesses (CMI), but still recognizing that the underlying cause remains the environment. In the beginning, EHS symptoms occur only occasionally, but over time they may increase in frequency and severity. Common EHS symptoms include headaches, concentration difficulties, sleep problems, depression, a lack of energy, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms. A comprehensive medical history, which should include all symptoms and their occurrences in spatial and temporal terms and in the context of EMF exposures, is the key to making the diagnosis. The EMF exposure is usually assessed by EMF measurements at home and at work. Certain types of EMF exposure can be assessed by asking about common EMF sources. It is very important to take the individual susceptibility into account. The primary method of treatment should mainly focus on the prevention or reduction of EMF exposure, that is, reducing or eliminating all sources of high EMF exposure at home and at the workplace. The reduction of EMF exposure should also be extended to public spaces such as schools, hospitals, public transport, and libraries to enable persons with EHS an unhindered use (accessibility measure). If a detrimental EMF exposure is reduced sufficiently, the body has a chance to recover and EHS symptoms will be reduced or even disappear. Many examples have shown that such measures can prove effective. To increase the effectiveness of the treatment, the broad range of other environmental factors that contribute to the total body burden should also be addressed. Anything that supports homeostasis will increase a person's resilience against disease and thus against the adverse effects of EMF exposure. There is increasing evidence that EMF exposure has a major impact on the oxidative and nitrosative regulation capacity in affected individuals. This concept also may explain why the level of susceptibility to EMF can change and why the range of symptoms reported in the context of EMF exposures is so large. Based on our current understanding, a treatment approach that minimizes the adverse effects of peroxynitrite - as has been increasingly used in the treatment of multisystem illnesses - works best. This EMF Guideline gives an overview of the current knowledge regarding EMF-related health risks and provides recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment and accessibility measures of EHS to improve and restore individual health outcomes as well as for the development of strategies for prevention.
Topics: Behavioral Symptoms; Biomarkers; Blood-Brain Barrier; Chronic Disease; DNA Damage; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Electromagnetic Fields; Electromagnetic Phenomena; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Illness; Environmental Monitoring; European Union; Exercise; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Infertility; Neoplasms; Nervous System Diseases; Oxygen; Phototherapy; Physical Examination; Sleep; Steam Bath; World Health Organization
PubMed: 27454111
DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2016-0011 -
Brain and Neuroscience Advances 2020Exposure to adverse experiences during development increases the risk of psychiatric illness later in life. Growing evidence suggests a role for the neuroimmune system... (Review)
Review
Exposure to adverse experiences during development increases the risk of psychiatric illness later in life. Growing evidence suggests a role for the neuroimmune system in this relationship. There is now substantial evidence that the immune system is critical for normal brain development and behaviour, and responds to environmental perturbations experienced early in life. Severe or chronic stress results in dysregulated neuroimmune function, concomitant with abnormal brain morphology and function. Positive experiences including environmental enrichment and exercise exert the opposite effect, promoting normal brain and immune function even in the face of early life stress. The neuroimmune system may therefore provide a viable target for prevention and treatment of psychiatric illness. This review will briefly summarise the neuroimmune system in brain development and function, and review the effects of stress and positive environmental experiences during development on neuroimmune function. There are also significant sex differences in how the neuroimmune system responds to environmental experiences early in life, which we will briefly review.
PubMed: 33015371
DOI: 10.1177/2398212820953706 -
Current Environmental Health Reports Sep 2015Green building design is becoming broadly adopted, with one green building standard reporting over 3.5 billion square feet certified to date. By definition, green... (Review)
Review
Green building design is becoming broadly adopted, with one green building standard reporting over 3.5 billion square feet certified to date. By definition, green buildings focus on minimizing impacts to the environment through reductions in energy usage, water usage, and minimizing environmental disturbances from the building site. Also by definition, but perhaps less widely recognized, green buildings aim to improve human health through design of healthy indoor environments. The benefits related to reduced energy and water consumption are well-documented, but the potential human health benefits of green buildings are only recently being investigated. The objective of our review was to examine the state of evidence on green building design as it specifically relates to indoor environmental quality and human health. Overall, the initial scientific evidence indicates better indoor environmental quality in green buildings versus non-green buildings, with direct benefits to human health for occupants of those buildings. A limitation of much of the research to date is the reliance on indirect, lagging and subjective measures of health. To address this, we propose a framework for identifying direct, objective and leading "Health Performance Indicators" for use in future studies of buildings and health.
Topics: Air Pollution, Indoor; Conservation of Energy Resources; Environment; Facility Design and Construction; Health Status; Humans; Sick Building Syndrome
PubMed: 26231502
DOI: 10.1007/s40572-015-0063-y -
Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Jun 2018Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds that alter the structure and function of the endocrine system and may be contributing to disorders of the... (Review)
Review
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds that alter the structure and function of the endocrine system and may be contributing to disorders of the reproductive, metabolic, neuroendocrine and other complex systems. Typically, these outcomes cannot be modeled in cell-based or other simple systems necessitating the use of animal testing. Appropriate animal model selection is required to effectively recapitulate the human experience, including relevant dosing and windows of exposure, and ensure translational utility and reproducibility. While classical toxicology heavily relies on inbred rats and mice, and focuses on apical endpoints such as tumor formation or birth defects, EDC researchers have used a greater diversity of species to effectively model more subtle but significant outcomes such as changes in pubertal timing, mammary gland development, and social behaviors. Advances in genomics, neuroimaging and other tools are making a wider range of animal models more widely available to EDC researchers.
Topics: Animals; Disease Models, Animal; Endocrine Disruptors; Endocrine System; Endocrine System Diseases; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Illness; Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Reproduction
PubMed: 29779582
DOI: 10.1016/j.beem.2018.03.011 -
Reviews on Environmental Health Sep 2016Histories of mold, pollen, dust, food, chemicals, and electromagnetic field (EMF) sensitivities are the major categories of triggers for chemical sensitivity. They are... (Review)
Review
Histories of mold, pollen, dust, food, chemicals, and electromagnetic field (EMF) sensitivities are the major categories of triggers for chemical sensitivity. They are tied together by the coherence phenomenon, where each has its own frequencies and identifiable EMF; therefore, they can be correlated. The diagnosis of chemical sensitivity can be done accurately in a less-polluted, controlled environment, as was done in these studies. The principles of diagnosis and treatment depend on total environmental and total body pollutant loads, masking or adaptation, bipolarity of response, and biochemical individuality, among others. These principles make less-polluted, controlled conditions necessary. The clinician has to use less-polluted water and organic food with individual challenges for testing, including dust, mold, pesticide, natural gas, formaldehyde, particulates, and EMF testing, which needs to be performed in less-polluted copper-screened rooms. The challenge tests for proof of chemical sensitivity include inhaled toxics within a clean booth that is chemical- and particulate-free at ambient doses in parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb). Individual foods, both organic and commercial (that are contaminated with herbicides and pesticides), are used orally. Water testing and intradermal testing are performed in a less-polluted, controlled environment. These include specific dose injections of molds, dust, and pollen that are preservative-free, individual organic foods, and individual chemicals, i.e. methane, ethane, propane, butane, hexane, formaldehyde, ethanol, car exhaust, jet fuel exhaust, and prosthetic implants (metal plates, pacemakers, mesh, etc.). Normal saline is used as a placebo. EMF testing is performed in a copper-screened room using a frequency generator. In our experience, 80% of the EMF-sensitive patients had chemical sensitivity when studied under less-polluted conditions for particulates, controlled natural gas, pesticides, and chemicals like formaldehyde.
Topics: Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Dust; Electromagnetic Fields; Environmental Illness; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollution; Formaldehyde; Fungi; Humans; Natural Gas; Particulate Matter; Pesticides
PubMed: 27383867
DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2015-0021 -
Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Oct 2015Identifying possible environmental or infectious etiologic factors for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) may offer insight into opportunities for disease prevention and... (Review)
Review
Identifying possible environmental or infectious etiologic factors for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) may offer insight into opportunities for disease prevention and treatment. We reviewed the current literature to assess environmental and infectious factors evaluated in EoE. Few studies have been conducted, however a consistent inverse association between EoE and H. pylori has been described. Several studies suggest a weak association between season and EoE diagnosis, but the evidence is inconclusive. EoE has also been associated with early life factors, including Cesarean delivery and antibiotic use. Larger studies are needed to evaluate these associations more thoroughly. Several papers have speculated the potential for anti-secretory agents to contribute to EoE. This has not been formerly evaluated. In summary, there is significant opportunity in the future to advance our understanding of possible environmental etiologic factors for EoE.
Topics: Communicable Diseases; Environmental Illness; Eosinophilic Esophagitis; Humans
PubMed: 26552771
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpg.2015.06.008 -
Soins; La Revue de Reference Infirmiere Mar 2018
Topics: Air Pollution, Indoor; Awareness; Chronic Disease; Environmental Health; Environmental Illness; Hospitals; Humans
PubMed: 29571319
DOI: 10.1016/j.soin.2018.01.013 -
The British Journal of Radiology Sep 2019Psychiatric disease is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Despite the global burden and need for accurate diagnosis and treatment of mental illness,... (Review)
Review
Psychiatric disease is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Despite the global burden and need for accurate diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, psychiatric diagnosis remains largely based on patient-reported symptoms, allowing for immense symptomatic heterogeneity within a single disease. In renewed efforts towards improved diagnostic specificity and subsequent evaluation of treatment response, a greater understanding of the underlying of the neuropathology and neurobiology of neuropsychiatric disease is needed. However, dissecting these mechanisms of neuropsychiatric illness in clinical populations are problematic with numerous experimental hurdles limiting hypothesis-driven studies including genetic confounds, variable life experiences, different environmental exposures, therapeutic histories, as well as the inability to investigate deeper molecular changes . Preclinical models, where many of these confounding factors can be controlled, can serve as a crucial experimental bridge for studying the neurobiological origins of mental illness. Furthermore, although behavioral studies and molecular studies are relatively common in these model systems, focused neuroimaging studies are very rare and represent an opportunity to link the molecular changes in psychiatric illness with advanced quantitative neuroimaging studies. In this review, we present an overview of well-validated genetic and environmental models of psychiatric illness, discuss gene-environment interactions, and examine the potential role of neuroimaging towards understanding genetic, environmental, and gene-environmental contributions to psychiatric illness.
Topics: Brain; Gene-Environment Interaction; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mental Disorders; Neuroimaging
PubMed: 30982323
DOI: 10.1259/bjr.20180885