Archive for 'Research'

MCS activists in Denmark report their alarm about the Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities

Posted on Aug 24, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Research

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Alert! The Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities is striving to clearly influence the international science of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Among its activities, the Centre is on the lookout for “psychological factors” in MCS patients.

By guestblogger Silvia K. Müller, Chemical Sensitivity Network, Germany.

Artist's rendering of Dänemark flagge.

Dear Friends,

Silvia Müller

In January 2006, at the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment, a Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities was founded in Denmark. The Center was designed to offer treatments to those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and research fragrance sensitivities in more detail. The initial hope that originally flowed through this center, funded by the Ministry, was to benefit MCS sufferers and to delve into medical science for those affected. Unfortunately, this hope has been shattered by recent publications from the Centre.

Environmental health professionals and organizations must be well informed about the events in other countries and it appears that the Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities is striving to clearly influence the international science of MCS.

The following series is written by Danish MCS Activists.

“The Danish MCS Research Centre in the International Field of Vision”

Part I: MCS – Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Report from Denmark.

The Danish Research Center for Chemical Sensitivities is on the lookout for “psychological factors” in MCS patients:

In 2006, The Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities was established on the initiative of the Danish Ministry of the Environment. It soon became evident that the purpose of this research center was to have the environment acquitted, so to speak, of the charge of causing MCS. Time and again patients heard the then Head of Research Jesper Elberling, MD, PhD, announce that the environment should probably not be blamed for the problems.

The Research Center has no experts of toxicology or environmental medicine among its staff. Instead, the new Head of Research Sine Skovbjerg, MSc, PhD, a former nurse, and her staff, focus on counting and documenting various “psychological factors” among patients. Her view is that MCS should be studied as a somatoform disorder and that MCS can be cured by so-called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Part II: Changes of the international science of chemical sensitivity at the Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities?

In April 2010, an independent group of Italian scientists (De Luca et al.) published their research results, “Biological definition of multiple chemical sensitivity from redox state and cytokine profiling and not from polymorphisms of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes.”

In July 2010, the Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities and Fragrance Sensitivity reported on their website, (which in the opinion of many Danish MCS sufferers is very questionable research, with the main emphasis on mental health):

“As the Italian findings are the first of their kind, it is necessary to verify the results in other studies before drawing a conclusion on immunological factors in MCS.

“The Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities therefore plans to study levels of transmitter substances in patients with MCS, independent of contact allergy” (emphasis added).

Part III: Paradox – Danish MCS sufferers are denied help because of the lack of scientific documentation – which nobody wants to obtain!

Until 2008, it was a common practice in Denmark for local authorities to grant severe MCS sufferers free aid under the service law, section 122, by giving them half mask respirators with activated charcoal filters. In 2008, a severe female MCS sufferer had her application rejected by the local authorities for this respirator. This case ended at the Danish appeals board.

To the MCS sufferer’s great astonishment and despair, the MCS Research Center, however, published on its homepage that they were not going to research the effects of half mask respirators with activated charcoal filters on the MCS population. Their arguments, were among others, was that an investigation into the effects of mask respirators on MCS sufferers would require a clinically controlled study, and such a study must be both placebo-controlled and double-blind in order for the results to become reliable and useful.

Instead, the Research Center regards electroconvulsive therapy of MCS sufferers as interesting.

Best regards from Germany,

Silvia K. Müller

CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network

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Ask the Canary

Posted on Jul 08, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

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Does Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have anything to do with the sense of smell?

What role does the sense of smell play in MCS?

Q:

What role does our sense of smell and the olfactory system play in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity? Do people with MCS have a heightened sense of smell?

Thank you,
A Nosy Canary

A:

Aloha Nosy!

I am often asked these questions. The first point I always clarify is that MCS does not center on our sense of smell or an olfactory response. To understand this better, let’s review the cause of MCS.

Current research shows that MCS is initiated by a previous toxic chemical exposure from one or more of seven classes of chemicals, notably organic solvents (volatile organic compounds or VOCs), three classes of pesticides, mercury, and/or carbon monoxide. Toxic mold exposure also is reported to initiate MCS, and we find this cause most often in people with MCS who have lived or worked in “sick buildings” that have a toxic mold infestation (Pall, 2009).

So the first thing to understand is that despite many descriptions of MCS that you may find on the Web and elsewhere saying that the olfactory system has a central role in MCS, there is no evidence supporting that claim and in fact, there is considerable evidence against such a role. There are cases of MCS in people with no sense of smell– in fact we have several members of our community who have no sense of smell and also have severe cases of MCS.

Many people with MCS report symptoms of a chemical exposure without any chemical odor. I personally have had this happen: while sitting in my livingroom one day I was overcome with feeling ill, dizzy with loss of cognitive ability, only to discover the neighbor was spraying some sort of herbicide that had no odor.

There are three studies of MCS patients where a nose clip was used to block off access of odors and the MCS patients still reacted to toxic chemicals (Joffres et al, 2005; Millqvist and Lowhagan, 1996; Millqvist et al, 1999).

This is not to say that the olfactory system is never impacted in people with MCS, but rather that it does not play a central role in cause.

To explain this, I’d like to refer to the work of MCS researcher Martin Pall, professor emeritus of biochemistry and basic medical sciences at Washington State University. Pall’s research on MCS is widely published in books and articles, the most recent of which is a chapter in the authoritative international reference manual for professional toxicologists, General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd Edition, 2009.

Pall’s review of the literature and other research he’s conducted over the past eleven years show the probable cause of MCS is a biochemical mechanism involving nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), what Pall calls the NO/ONOO- cycle. Pall describes MCS, also known as chemical sensitivity and toxicant-induced loss of tolerance (TILT), as a disease initiated by toxic chemical exposure, leading to brain injury that produces high level sensitivity to the same set of chemicals that cause the disease. To get a little deeper into the science: all seven classes of chemicals mentioned at the top of my answer are thought to act indirectly to increase the activity of NMDA receptors, which are glutamate receptors for controlling synaptic plasticity and memory function. This activity, in turn, leads to rapid increases in intracellular calcium (Ca2+), nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), acting to greatly stimulate the NO/ONOO- cycle. That cycle is what causes our myriad symptoms.

So how does this impact our olfactory system? Do people with MCS have a heightened sense of smell? Let’s ask Martin Pall.

“MCS is not primarily a defect in the olfactory system,” Pall says. “But when the olfactory system is impacted by the NO/ONOO- cycle it will impact the sense of smell. This is because both the NMDA receptors and nitric oxide have roles in the olfactory mechanism. However what impact the cycle has, varies from person to person, possibly depending on the severity of the cycle in that region of the body. Some people report being much more sensitive to odors but others are anosmic, completely devoid of the sense of smell.”

Aloha,
Susie

Photo credit.

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Predictions of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity mechanism confirmed by Roman study

Posted on Jul 05, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

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A recent study conducted by a research group in Rome is significant in regard to Martin Pall’s NO/ONOO- cycle theory on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity because it shows that three elements of the cycle are elevated in MCS patients.

Martin L. Pall, Ph.D.

Portland, OR – July 5, 2010 – The physiological mechanism for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity proposed by biochemist Martin L. Pall has been confirmed with the recent findings of an independent research group in Rome.

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also known as chemical sensitivity and toxicant-induced loss of tolerance (TILT), is a disease initiated by toxic chemical exposure, leading to toxic brain injury that produces high level sensitivity to the same set of chemicals that are implicated in initiation of the disease. Sensitivity responses in other areas of the body are also often seen.

“Epidemiological studies show that MCS is a stunningly common disease, even more common than diabetes,” said Pall, professor emeritus of biochemistry and basic medical sciences at Washington State University. “My review of the literature and other research I’ve conducted over the past eleven years shows the probable central mechanism of MCS is a biochemical vicious mechanism, known as the NO/ONOO- cycle.”

Pall’s work is widely published in books and articles, the most recent of which is a chapter in the authoritative international reference manual for professional toxicologists, General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd Edition, 2009 (chapter 92).

The NO/ONOO- cycle, pronounced no-oh-no, is named for the chemical structures of nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-). This biochemical vicious cycle mechanism predicts that each of the elements linked together in the cycle are elevated in patients suffering from MCS and related diseases. Most of the elements of the cycle have been shown to be elevated in such related diseases as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia and also in animal models of MCS. However, several cycle elements have never been measured in MCS patients.

The recent study conducted by the research group in Rome is significant in regard to the NO/ONOO- cycle theory because it shows that three elements of the cycle are elevated in MCS patients (De Luca et al, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2010, April 27 Epub ahead of print). Those elements are the inflammatory cytokines, nitric oxide, and oxidative stress. Each of these measurements provides important confirmation of the disease mechanism proposed by Pall.

The inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide elevation have never before been measured in MCS patients, although they have been shown to be elevated in animal models of MCS. Oxidative stress has been reported in two earlier studies of MCS patients, but the data provided in the De Luca et al study are much more extensive than are the earlier data. Consequently, these new data all provide important confirmation of the NO/ONOO- cycle as the central disease mechanism in MCS.

The NO/ONOO- cycle also is useful in understanding the role of toxic chemicals in MCS and the role of treatment. Each of the seven classes of chemicals implicated are thought to act indirectly to increase the activity of the NMDA receptors, which are glutamate receptors for controlling synaptic plasticity and memory function. This activity, in turn, leads to rapid increases in intracellular calcium (Ca2+), nitric oxide and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), acting to greatly stimulate the NO/ONOO- cycle.

“Many of the agents used by environmental medicine physicians to treat MCS patients can be viewed as lowering different parts of the cycle, and thus are validated in part by this mechanism,” Pall said. “Consequently, the NO/ONOO- cycle mechanism can be viewed as validating therapeutic approaches used in environmental medicine in the U.S., in Germany and some other areas of Europe and in some other countries.”

Contact:
Martin L. Pall, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences
Washington State University
503-232-3883
martin_pall@wsu.edu
thetenthparadigm.org

###

Here is the abstract of the Roman study:

PMID: 20430047 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

1: Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2010 Apr 26; [Epub ahead of print]

Biological definition of multiple chemical sensitivity from redox state and cytokine profiling and not from polymorphisms of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes.

De Luca C, Scordo MG, Cesareo E, Pastore S, Mariani S, Maiani G, Stancato A, Loreti B, Valacchi G, Lubrano C, Raskovic D, De Padova L, Genovesi G, Korkina LG.

Laboratory of Tissue Engineering & Skin Pathophysiology, Dermatology Institute (IDI IRCCS), Rome, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a poorly clinically and biologically defined environment-associated syndrome. Although dysfunctions of phase I / phase II metabolizing enzymes and redox imbalance have been hypothesized, corresponding genetic and metabolic parameters in MCS have not been systematically examined.

OBJECTIVES: We sought for genetic, immunological, and metabolic markers in MCS.

METHODS: We genotyped patients with diagnosis of MCS, suspected MCS and Italian healthy control&n bsp;s for allelic variants of cytochrome P450 isoforms (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A5), UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT1A1), and glutathione S-transferases (GSTP1, GSTM1, and GSTT1). Erythrocyte membrane fatty acids, antioxidant (catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD)) and glutathione metabolizing (GST, glutathione peroxidase (Gpx)) enzymes, whole blood chemiluminescence, total antioxidant capacity, levels of nitrites/nitrates, glutathione, HNE-protein adducts, and a wide spectrum of cytokines in the plasma were determined.

RESULTS: Allele and genotype frequencies of CYPs, UGT, GSTM, GSTT, and GSTP were similar in the Italian MCS patients and in the control populations. The activities of erythrocyte catalase and GST were lower, whereas Gpx was higher than normal. Both reduced and oxidised glutathione were decreased, whereas nitrites/nitrates were increased in the MCS groups. The MCS fatty acid profile was shifted to saturated compartment and IFNgamma, IL-8, IL-10, MCP-1, PDGFbb, and VEGF were increased.

CONCLUSIONS: Altered redox and cytokine patterns suggest inhibition of expression/activity of metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes in MCS. Metabolic parameters indicating accelerated lipid oxidation, increased nitric oxide production and glutathione depletion in combination with increased plasma inflammatory cytokines should be considered in biological definition and diagnosis of MCS. Copyright (c) 2010.
Published by Elsevier Inc.

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The President’s Cancer Panel releases report: We must eliminate environmental carcinogens from our workplaces, schools, and homes.

Posted on May 06, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Government Regulation, Policy, Research, Susie Collins

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Report to the President concludes that the nation needs a comprehensive, cohesive policy agenda regarding environmental contaminants and protection of human health. The main problem they say? Toxic chemicals in the environment.

The President's Cancer Panel releases their 2008-2009 report, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now." The report emphasizes prevention rather than after-the-fact intervention.

The U.S. President’s Cancer Panel released their 2008-2009 report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now. As a person with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity who has survived breast cancer, I’m pleased to see the panel addressed myriad health problems associated with toxic chemicals in the marketplace; the panel extended it’s opinion beyond carcinogens to include “other toxins” as well such as endocrine disruptors.

From the report’s introduction:

The Administration’s commitment to the cancer community and recent focus on critically needed reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act is praiseworthy. However, our Nation still has much work ahead to identify the many existing but unrecognized environmental carcinogens and eliminate those that are known from our workplaces, schools, and homes [emphasis added]. [...]

The Panel was particularly concerned to find that the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated. With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread. [...]

The American people—even before they are born—are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures. The Panel urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our Nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.

I’m really impressed with the report’s emphasis on prevention rather than after-the-fact intervention. The report also emphasizes the fact that most people are unaware “that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than adults.” They recommend that this perpetual state of ignorance be corrected by increasing efforts “to inform the public of such harmful exposures and how to prevent them.” Doesn’t that sound just like what most of us with MCS do on a regular basis? It’s so nice to see this prestigious panel catch up with us!

I also was very impressed with their conclusion, where they end with an emphasis on prevention:

The Nation Needs a Comprehensive, Cohesive Policy Agenda Regarding Environmental Contaminants and Protection of Human Health.

Environmental health, including cancer risk, has been largely excluded from overall national policy on protecting and improving the health of Americans. It is more effective to prevent disease than to treat it, but cancer prevention efforts have focused narrowly on smoking, other lifestyle behaviors, and chemopreventive interventions. Scientific evidence on individual and multiple environmental exposure effects on disease initiation and outcomes, and consequent health system and societal costs are not being adequately integrated into national policy decisions and strategies for disease prevention, health care access, and health system reform.

Use this document to your full advantage. Share it with employers, family, friends, members of your church, administrators at your kid’s schools, and other people that need an education about the risks of toxic chemicals in everyday life.

What do I keep telling you? Trends are moving in our direction.

Here’s the link to the full report.

Here’s a link to an article about the report from Environmental Health News. Thanks, Roslyn!

Here’s a link to column about the report by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times.

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MCS researcher Martin Pall published at The Townsend

Posted on Feb 25, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

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Multiple Chemical Sensitivity researcher Martin L. Pall’s paper, “How Can We Cure NO/ONOO− Cycle Diseases? Approaches to Curing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Gulf War Syndrome and Possibly Many Others,” is published in the February/March 2010 issue of The Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine. Pall is Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Science at Washington State University.

The entire essay is published at the Townsend, here’s an excerpt:

Feb/March 2010 cover of The Townsend Letter

The NO/ONOO− cycle is a biochemical vicious cycle that is thought to cause such diseases as chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), fibromyalgia (FM), and possibly a large number of other chronic inflammatory diseases. The chemistry/biochemistry of the cycle predicts that the primary mechanism is local such the depending on where it is localized in the body, it may cause a variety of different diseases.

Previous studies have shown that agents that lower such cycle elements as oxidative stress, nitric oxide, inflammatory responses, mitochondrial dysfunction, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) depletion and NMDA activity produce clinical improvements in CFS/ME and FM patients, consistent with the predictions of the cycle mechanism. Multiagent protocols lowering several aspects of the cycle appear to be the most promising approaches to therapy. These include an entirely over-the-counter nutritional support protocol developed by the author in conjunction with the Allergy Research Group.

However, such mulitagent protocols to date have not produced any substantial numbers of cures of these presumed NO/ONOO− cycle disease. Why is that? This paper argues that what is called the central couplet of the cycle, the reciprocal relation between peroxynitrite elevation and BH4 depletion, is not being adequately downregulated by these multiagent protocols. Ten agents/classes of agents are available, each of which downregulates one or the other end of this central couplet. It is suggested, then, that treatments that simultaneously effectively downregulate both ends to the central couplet, when used along with multiagent protocols lowering other aspects of the cycle and avoidance of stressors that otherwise upregulate the cycle, will lead to substantial numbers of cures of these chronic diseases.

Martin L. Pall, PhD

It’s very exciting to see Pall published at The Townsend. I think he’s on the leading edge of MCS research, and I urge you to learn more about his findings.

A major paper on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity by Pall (at left) was published last year as chapter XX 92 in a prestigious reference work for professional toxicologists,  General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd Edition (2009, John Wiley & Sons). Pall’s paper, entitled “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Toxicological Questions and Mechanisms,” establishes five important facts about MCS: 1) MCS is common; 2) MCS is caused by toxic chemical exposure; 3) the role of chemicals acting as toxicants in MCS has been confirmed by genetic studies; 4) there is a detailed and generally well supported mechanism for MCS, the NO/ONOO- cycle; and 5) MCS is a physiological disease initiated by toxic chemical exposure that has been falsely claimed to be psychogenic.

Pall is located on Pacific time in the U.S. and can be contacted at: 503-232-3883 and at martin_pall@wsu.edu. His web site is: thetenthparadigm.org.

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MCS researcher Martin Pall to speak in five European countries

Posted on Feb 01, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

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Martin Pall announces speaking tour in five European countries starting April 10.

Guest post by Martin L. Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences, Washington State University and Research Director, the Tenth Paradigm Research Group.

I will be giving 11 talks in five countries in Europe, starting on the tenth of April, all on the NO/ONOO cycle. Nine of these are being scheduled to correspond with my trip to Europe, including several entire meetings. The talks are as follows:

I will start with an all day workshop in Berlin, to be presented by me and also Dr. Peter Ohnsorge. My presentation will be simultaneously translated into German. I will speak on multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and on therapy and may discuss other topics that will be covered in my talk in London which follows.

In London, I will be presenting three 90 minute talks, for a total of 4 1/2 hours, all at the Royal Society of Medicine, one of the most prestigious locations in the world. The first talk will focus on the NO/ONOO-cycle mechanism and how it plays out in the etiology of CFS/ME and also fibromyalgia. The second talk will focus on how that same mechanism explains MCS and also the three classic neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. The three neurodegenerative diseases were also discussed as apparent NO/ONOO-cycle diseases in my book, “Explaining ‘Unexplained Illnesses’”, but there is substantial new evidence that further buttresses the case. Specifically, there is compelling evidence, that the four specific features, the formation of amyloid beta protein (A-beta) aggregates in Alzheimer’s, the formation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein aggregates leading to neurofibrillary tangles (also Alzheimer’s), the formation of Lewy bodies (Parkinson’s) and the formation of neurofilament aggregates (ALS) are all formed under the influence of NO/ONOO-cycle elements of which peroxynitrite is the most important but several others have roles as well. What is interesting is that both A-beta aggregates and neurofilament aggregates act, in turn, to increased NO/ONOO-cycle elements, acting therefore as tissue-specific elements of the cycle. Recent studies of the A-beta aggregates have elucidated the mechanism by which this occurs.

The third talk at the Royal Society of Medicine will be entirely on therapy– how we can be down-regulate the NO/ONOO cycle.

I then fly on to Rome for a presentation on the morning of April 17, flying later that day to Catania, Sicily for a meeting on MCS. That meeting is again being scheduled to correspond to my European trip and is the first meeting ever to be held in Italy on MCS. I then return to Rome for an informal meeting with people at the National Institute of Health to discuss the mechanism of MCS. The situation in Italy is an amazing turn around compared with the situation when I visited there in November 2008. At that time, and I gave talks at the medical school in Brescia in Northern Italy and also in Rome, I was told that the situation regarding MCS in Italy was positively barbaric, with physicians being prosecuted and thrown in jail for treating their patients for MCS. Maybe, just maybe, I will have turned the situation around in that country within 1 1/2 years? We can only hope.

From Rome, I fly to Paris to talk at a meeting on MCS. That meeting is the first meeting ever to be held on MCS in France and was again scheduled to correspond to my European trip. It follows a talk that I gave at the Environmental Medicine meeting in Aix-en-Provence last April. The latter talk was the first talk ever given on MCS at the French Environmental Medicine meeting, a meeting that in the past, was largely dominated by environmental carcinogenesis. The situation in France has change dramatically in other ways. My web page paper on MCS has been translated into German and French and the response in both countries have been impressive. The French professional society of allergists has asked for and been given permission to post that French translation on their web site. Both French and German translations have been placed on several web sites.

After the Paris meeting, I go to Wurzburg for another meeting– an already scheduled one. I have been asked explicitly to give two talks– one on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS as NO/ONOO-cycle diseases– this will follow much of the material I outlined above on this topic for the London meeting. I have also been asked to give a talk on therapy– how we can down-regulate the NO/ONOO cycle.

After the Wurzburg meeting, it’s on to Madrid for the last meeting of the trip. I am not completely sure what I will be speaking on at that meeting, but am leaning towards talking about excessive NMDA activity as a common “end point” of large numbers of environmental toxicants. This is, in some ways, the most important new understanding that came out of my recently published big MCS review– that large numbers of environmental toxicants all produce increases in NMDA activity and have been shown to have their toxic responses greatly lowered by NMDA antagonists. Previously, there have been two major toxicant end points– what has been called genotoxicity for many carcinogens– and a second, endocrine disruption. So this is a third, and it is almost certainly more important than endocrine disruption in terms of its implications for human health.

I had a wonderful trip to Europe in November 2008, ending up that six-country speaking tour as the only non-European invited to a special session of the Council of Nations (the EU Parliament) on environmental medicine, but this next one promises to be even better.

Martin L. (Marty) Pall
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Science at Washington State University
503-232-3883
martin_pall@wsu.edu
thetenthparadigm.org

~~~

02/04/10 Update: This announcement is now translated into Spanish. Thanks, Cathy!

~~~

Related posts:

Interview with Martin Pall

Research shows toxic chemicals initiate Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity now recognized as a toxicological phenomenon

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity researcher launches website

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Book ties toxic chemicals to rising healthcare costs

Posted on Jan 11, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Home & Garden, Linda Sepp, Media/Videos, Research

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Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA: A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick, by Catherine J. Frompovich (2009, BookSurge Publishing)

Post by Linda Sepp.

I just ran across a reference to this.

From the Industrial revolution and onward, the world has become an environment that is overflowing with dangerous toxins. Mass manufacturing has resulted in thousands of chemical pollutants being released in the atmosphere, water, and soil. As well, there has been a widespread increase of chemicals being added to almost every type of food and retail product. With this overwhelming chemical exposure, there has been an increase in research and studies showing the life threatening impacts on our health and well being. In her book, Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, author Catherine J Frompovich delves into the effects of a chemical laden world on the body at a cellular level.

Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA is an important “wake up call’ about the current and future state of our toxic environment and what will happen if important changes are not made. Not only is it highly educational, the attention to detail makes the book a handy health resource tool. It is highly recommended to not just mass readers, but also to politicians, manufacturing industry officials, and health professionals.

Link to the author’s website.

Link to Amazon.com and good review.

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Study shows effectiveness of researcher Martin Pall’s approach to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Jan 06, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

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A new pilot study from The Institute for Functional Medicine Clinic in Falun, Sweden, demonstrates the effectiveness of Martin Pall’s approach to explaining the causes of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

The Allergy Research Group reports new research supports Martin Pall’s hypothesis about the cause of MCS.

The group’s newsletter dedicates three articles to the discussion:

  • “New Research Confirms Martin Pall Hypothesis: Pilot Study With Free-Radical Reducing Supplements Improves Treatment-Resistant CFS,” an interview with Ingrid Franzon, N.M. M.S.c.
  • “Evaluation of Quality of Life in Persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Before and After Administration of Food Supplements Designed to Reduce Free Radical Activity,” by Ingrid Franzon, MSc, Bo Jonsson M.D., Ph.D., and Peter Wilhelmsson, N.D.
  • “NO/ONOO: A Brief Summary of the Work of Martin Pall, Ph.D.”

    Pall has assembled an impressive body of data to demonstrate that elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO) and its highly damaging metabolite, peroxynitrite (ONOO-), are at the crux of a runaway cycle of free-radical damage in which inflammatory molecules are chronically elevated, damaging the immune and nervous systems. Peroxynitrite initiates a complex biochemical vicious cycle, known as the NO/ONOO- cycle, which is responsible for multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, Gulf War syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder. The basic concept here is actually quite simple. Stressors act mainly through peroxynitrite-derived free radicals to initiate the cycle and once the cycle is initiated it is the cause of continuing illness.

    By correcting the high levels of NO and ONOO- with a range of natural antioxidants, a puzzling array of symptoms can be ameliorated and sometimes the illness itself can be completely reversed. (See Allergy Research Group® Newsletter Focus, July 2007.)

    Pall suffered from severe chronic fatigue syndrom (CFS) and multiple chemical sensitivy (MCS) for 18 months, and cured himself, then set about dedicating his career to investigating the cause of these disabling conditions. Now his approach has started to garner widespread attention, with publication of an entire chapter by Pall in the upcoming General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd edition by (editors TK), published by John Wiley, Inc. In addition, a new pilot study from The Institute for Functional Medicine Clinic in Falun, Sweden demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach. Pall also has a forthcoming article on CFS in Current Opinion in Psychiatry.

    As Pall points out, the acute stressor(s) that lead to CFS and MCS and the other mystery illnesses range from infections to toxic exposures to physical or mental trauma. But no matter what the initiating cause, the downstream effect is free radical damage mediated by raised levels of NO and ONOO-.

    I believe Martin Pall is at the leading edge of MCS research, and I encourage you to explore his hypothesis as well as his supplement protocol. I think we will start to see more and more research supporting his approach.

    As with all approaches to MCS, what applies to one person with MCS may not apply to another. Always approach MCS therapies and protocols keeping this in mind: MCS symptoms and remedies differ from patient to patient because the tissues impacted differ from one patient to another. Proceed with caution, preferably under an environmental physician’s care and guidance.

    You can learn more about Pall’s research and protocol on his website The Tenth Paradigm.

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    Our feathered friends know: Teflon cookware can be toxic

    Posted on Dec 07, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Products, Research, Susie Collins

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    Dupont wants you to know that overheating their nonstick Teflon cookware could result in the death of your pet bird. The Environmental Working Group says the problems are triggered at much lower heat than Dupont claims, and that it’s not just the pet bird who is feeling the effects.

    TeflonThe wonderful folks at Dupont have a brochure warning bird owners to keep their feathered friends out of the kitchen. Why? Because non-stick Teflon surfaces, when overheated, emit toxic fumes.

    If accidentally overheated, nonstick cookware can emit fumes that may be harmful to pet birds, as any type of cookware preheated with cooking oils, fats, margarine, and butter. This is why you should always move your birds out of the kitchen before cooking.

    The Environmental Working Group thinks the warning about the dangers of nonstick cookware should be expanded to include people, too. The toxic chemical watchdog group reported in 2003 that EWG finds heated Teflon pans can turn toxic faster than DuPont claims.

    In two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

    I stopped using Teflon cookware years ago, I hope you have, too. Stay safe out there!

    Thanks, Linda!

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    Published research shows Multiple Chemical Sensitivity caused by toxic chemical exposure

    Posted on Oct 18, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Research, Susie Collins

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    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.

    martin_l_pallA major paper on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity by Professor Martin L. Pall (at left) is to be published Oct. 23 as chapter 92 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. Pall’s paper, entitled “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Toxicological Questions and Mechanisms,” 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, Parkinson’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@wsu.edu. His web site is: thetenthparadigm.org

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    This post is translated into Spanish at Traducido para Plataforma para la Fibromialgia, Síndrome de Fatiga Crónica y SSQM, Reivindicación de Derechos por Cathy van Riel Octubre 2009.

    Link to an extended excerpt from Pall’s book Explaining “Unexplained Illnesses.”

    RELATED POSTS:

    Interview with Martin Pall

    Research shows toxic chemicals initiate Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

    Multiple Chemical Sensitivity now recognized as a toxicological phenomenon

    Multiple Chemical Sensitivity researcher launches website

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    Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert discusses discovery of retrovirus

    Posted on Oct 17, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Media/Videos, Research, Susie Collins

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    Dr. Nancy Klimas talks about the discovery of XMRV, a retrovirus, in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

    Background: The journal Science recently reported that 68 of 101 patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or 67 percent, were infected with an infectious virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV. Continuing work has found the virus in nearly 98 percent of about 300 patients with CFS. The retrovirus is a member of the same family of viruses as the AIDS virus.

    klimisDr. Nancy Klimas is director at the E.M. Papper Laboratory of Clinical Immunology at the University of Miami. She is board certified in internal medicine and diagnostic laboratory immunology. She also is director of the Allergy and Immunology Clinic, and director of Research for the Clinical AIDS/HIV Research at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A leader in the field of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) research, Dr. Klimas is the current President of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She is the principal investigator of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Center for Multidisciplinary Studies of CFS Pathophysiology at the University of Miami. She’s been appointed to the inter-agency CFS Coordinating Committee, chaired by the Surgeon General of the United States. She is the founding editor of the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

    In other words, she’s a heavy weight in the CFS universe, and gives an excellent over view of the current findings of XMRV.

    This talk was taped Oct. 12, 2009, in Dr. Klimas’s office. She discusses what the discovery means, the importance of replicated studies, what’s next, and what you can do to help.


    Find more videos like this on ME-CFSCommunity.com

    People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome often suffer Multiple Chemical Sensitivity along with other comorbid illnesses. For a related post on this story, see Researchers find virus in people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

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