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Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association

Yank D. Coble, Jr, MD; E. Harvey Estes, Jr, MD; C. Alvin Head, MD; Mitchell S. Karlan, MD; William R. Kennedy, MD; Patricia Joy Numann, MD; William C. Scott, MD; W. Douglas Skelton, MD; Richard M. Steinhilber, MD; Jack P. Strong, MD; Christine C. Toevs; Henry N. Wagner, Jr, MD; Jerod M. Loeb, PhD; Robert C. Rinaldi, PhD; Steven J. Smith, PhD

JAMA. 1992;268(24):3465-3467.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

PHYSICIANS who practice clinical ecology believe that exposure to low levels of environmental substances present in the air or ingested from food and liquids causes in susceptible individuals a variety of ill-defined symptoms affecting nearly every organ system.

MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY SYNDROME

Most physicians who practice clinical ecology (clinical ecologists) maintain that a number of patients have the multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCSS) (also called clinical ecological illness, environmental illness, chemical AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome], 20th-century disease, environmental hypersensitivity disease, total allergy syndrome, and cerebral allergy).^1-10 Clinical ecology has been defined as the orientation in medicine in which physicians primarily work with patients to uncover the cause-and-effect relationship between their ill health and food or low-level chemical exposure.⁹ Other definitions have been offered and no general agreement exists that clinical ecology and MCSS are synonymous.^8-10 The lack of a clear definition or diagnostic test for MCSS has . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Jacksonville, Fla, Vice-Chairman; Durham, NC, Chairman; Tucker, Ga, Resident Representative; Beverly Hills, Calif; Minneapolis, Minn; Syracuse, NY; Tucson, Ariz; Macon, Ga; Cleveland, Ohio; New Orleans, La; Greenville, NC, Medical Student Representative; Baltimore, Md; Chicago, Ill, Secretary; Chicago, Ill, Assistant Secretary; Chicago, Ill, staff author.

From the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, Chicago, III.

Footnotes
This report was presented to the House of Delegates as Report K of the Council on Scientific Affairs at the American Medical Association's Interim Meeting, December 1991. The recommendation was adopted as amended in lieu of Substitute Resolution 6 (1-90) and the remainder of the report was filed.

This report is not intended to be construed or to serve as a standard of medical care. Standards of medical care are determined on the basis of all the facts and circumstances involved in an individual case and are subject to change as scientific knowledge and technology advance and patterns of practice evolve. This report reflects the views of scientific literature as of December 1991.

Reprint requests to the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610 (Jerod M. Loeb, PhD).

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