What is the research on MCS?
Does MCS really exist? Some researchers claim it does, others claim it doesn't and some say it might. Why do they disagree?
To date, most studies of MCS have been anecdotal--isolated case studies of individuals or very small groups of people. These people have come to physicians already experiencing the reactions, so discerning cause is very difficult. Although the number of cases is increasing, there is still not a large enough mass of cases to determine any significance between or among cases. Recognizing that the definition and symptoms are vague, several research projects have identified why there are reasons to question the existence of MCS as a disease:
- There is no consistent pattern of symptoms.
- There are no consistent diagnostic test results.
- There is no known mechanism of illness (specific triggers).
- Many of the patients have psychiatric problems.
- Treatments do not work.
Although each of these factors has validity in the studies in which they were identified, other researchers have been able to address each of these five concerns by suggesting that MCS is not an "allergy" and that comparing MCS to more common allergic patterns, tests, triggers, and treatments will not work. These researchers claim that as this is a distinct type of illness, it must be viewed and managed differently. Some researchers point to Sick Building Syndrome, which, when it was first suggested as a problem, was criticized in a similar way. Other researchers have suggested that the psychiatric problems are not the explanation for the illness, but that people with depression or other problems are more likely to be affected by MCS or that the onset of MCS has created a situation in which the individual becomes psychologically troubled by stress, fear, isolation and other outcomes of having MCS. The result is depression, panic disorder, or paranoia. To determine if MCS is a disease, the real challenge is in trying to find the cause of the physical illness--which came first, the reaction to the chemicals or the emotional problems and did one cause the other, or are they simply related but not causally linked?