Posted below is a list of objective medical findings entered into the
records of chemically sensitive patients and research documenta-
tion. It appears after an introduction and a narration of a recent
case study. The introduction shows how objective medical find-
ings can be entirely missed during initial examines, while the case
study confirms that, simply because insurance company attorneys
allege something in a workman's comp case, it doesn't mean it's
true.
Not Detected by the Standard Chest CT Scan.
Yet Detected via the End-expiratory CT Scan.
A January 2002 article that remains posted on the Fox News web-
site declared it "junk science." It was/is the emergent illness which
afflicted persons exposed to the debris of the World Trade Center
collapse. Unofficially called "World Trade Center Syndrome," its
distinctive feature is the "the WTC Cough," and its symptoms in-
clude shortness of breath.
The article attributed the ills of the afflicted WTC cleanup crew
members to the 2002 "flu season." It furthermore attributed the
ills of Manhattan residents to "anxiety salted with hypochondria."
Its conclusion was that only "minor and transient health effects
from the site" were to be expected. The conclusion was wrong.
A newly emerged illness had just made the scene, and just as quick-
ly on the scene was a political operative ridiculing people's notice of
it. Then came November 30, 2004, when it was officially disclosed
that some of the afflicted crew members of the ground zero cleanup
operation were actually suffering from the trapping of air. They had
Small Airways Disease, and it was the end-expiratory CT scan that
confirmed it. The standard chest CT scan entirely overlooked it.
The Fiberoptic Rhinolaryngoscopy Detects that
which the Garden Variety Cursory Exam Overlooks
The upper airway endoscopy is recognized by mainstream medical
science as an effective means by which pathologies of the septum,
turbinates, mucosa, nasopharynx, adenoids, eustachian tube orifice,
tonsils, posterior tongue, epiglottis, glottis, and vocal cords can be
easily seen. It was the fiberoptic rhinolaryngoscopic exam which re-
sulted in researchers realizing (in the early 1990s) that the Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome which was presumed to involve no
objective medical findings showed signs of a physical pathology.
In addition, the golden rule for diagnosing Irritant-associated Vocal
Cord Dysfunction came to be that of a flexible fiberoptic rhinolaryn-
goscopic exam performed upon a patient while the patient is symp-
tomatic.
The human body is regarded as exceptionally complex. Therefore,
the reasonably minded person should understand that the cursory
physical exam and garden variety testing do not detect everything.
This understanding, in addition to the preceding paragraphs, offers
insight as to why a number of chemically sensitive persons have
been declared to have no objective medical findings. The narra-
tion posted directly below should offer more detailed insight to this.
It involves a case study which teaches us that, simply because cor-
porate defense attorneys assert something in a workman's comp
case, it doesn't automatically mean that it's true.
She Was Claimed to Have No Objective Medical
Findings to Verfiy Her Symptoms. Multiple Medical
Findings Were Documented in One Day.
A woman whose workplace was a former coal tar research build-
ing became ill six months after having worked there. A laboratory
would come to confirm that her workplace was laden with very fine
monofilament fibers. The smaller the molecular agent, the greater
is its potential to infiltrate and afflict the inner recesses of the com-
plex human anatomy. Furthermore, there was also the matter of
pesticide exposure, ambient solvent exposure, and mold exposure
to take into account, concerning her workplace environment.
After the woman had initially become ill, she kept going to work,
making her condition then worsened and she had to quit work en-
tirely. A fellow employee of hers also quit working, and he moved
to Arizona. Other fellow employees mentioned that they were be-
ing sickened, too.
The business no longer operates in the former coal tar research cen-
ter. Moreover, a large corporation that is involved in this matter,
despite the fact that the antics of a small fly-by-night business are
described. In fact, the corporaton's total stockholder equity was
marked as being over eleven billion dollars in 2005.
Her Symptoms
The woman's symptoms included:
[1] a stinging tongue.
[2] shortness of breath.
[3] burning nasal passages.
[4] a metallic taste in the mouth.
[5] an adrenal-like stream throughout her solar plexus.
[6] headaches accompanied by the bruised feeling at the
cheekbones and temples.
[7] ice-like numbness pervading her upper-respiratory
tract (on specific occasion.)
She would be able to detect the presence of certain airborne sub-
stances, simply because she unavoidably tasted them on her tongue.
A subset of her symptoms, incidentally, was the metallic taste in her
mouth. She could no longer go to the places she used to frequent
without becoming severely symptomatic. A number of airborne
agents would trigger her ills. This included engine fragrances, en-
gine exhausts, and musty cardboard boxes. In addition, she lived
in the american state which presently has the fourth worse air qua-
lity in the entire United States. In addition, she had no prior history
of asthma, no prior history of chronic upper-respiratory ills, and no
history of allergies.
She received the diagnosis of agoraphobia & panic attacks, by a
"mental health person." The corporate attorneys involved in her
workman's comp case asserted that she had no objective medical
findings to support her claims. However, an allergist and immun-
ologist gave her the diagnoses of Asthma, Rhinitis, and Chemical
Sensitivities, while a cytopathologist gave her the additional diagno-
sis of Reactive Hyperplasia. In fact, in emergenccy room settings,
she received the Asthma and Rhinitis diagnosis. Yet, assertions of
mental illness had been set forth on record and asserted in court de-
positions as the cause of her ills. The assertions were significantly
weakened in less than an hour.
Grossly Enlarged Turbinates, for Starters
On October 13, 2005, a fiberoptic rhinolaryngoscopic exam was
performed on her. It was conducted by an ear nose throat and
allergy specialist who was also a fellow of the American College
of Surgeons. The woman who was said to have no objective
medical findings to support her symptoms was found to have:
[1] postauricular adenopathy.
[2] grossly enlarged turbinates.
[3] shoddy posterior cervical adenopathy
[4] some erythematous changes of the uvula.
[5] some mild edema of the true vocal cords.
[6] thickened coating over the dorsum of the tongue.
The physician's impressions, as are stated on record, were:
[1] multiple chemical and irritant sensitivities.
[2] rhinitis and turbinate hypertrophy.
[3] glossitis (tongue inflammation).
The conclusion is that, whatever be the medical condition this lady
has, it is one of a physical origin and mechanism. If she were not
made ill from workplace exposure, then she was made ill by some
other physical cause.
Gruntled Breathing and Rales Were Already Observed
The story isn't over, of course. Objective medical findings had
been entered into her records even before the October exam.
She was documented as having "gruntled breathing" during
one ER visit. She was also recorded as having wheezed and
crackled during other ones. Thus, she had already been found
to have the previously mentioned adenopathy. Tachycardia,
erythema of the oropharynx, and hypopotassemia had also
been entered into her medical records before the October 13th
rhinolaryngoscopy. Yet, she was branded with the "mental ill-
ness stigma," especially by the corporate attorneys and an inde-
pendent medical examiner hired by the antonistic corporation.
Furthermore, after she had become ill, she tested severely posi-
tive for dust mites and no other high weight molecular agent
(such as ragweed, tree pollen, etc.) Yet, she has no prior his-
tory of allergies. Now, she was exposed to inordinate amounts
of dust at her former place of work, and a person can become
sensitized to dust mites. After all, there are cases where barn
workers became sensitized to storage mites.
The account of the chemically sensitive woman who has over a
dozen objective meidcal findings attached to her medical records
can be accessed by clicking on the web link provided directly be-
low.
Narrative of the chemically sensitive woman
with over a dozen objective medical findings
Chemical Exposure During Testing is Often a Necessity
There is one thing to note about a plurality of chemical sensitivity
conditions. In order to acquire objective medical findings, you
have to be examined while exposed to a chemical agent that as-
sails you. You have to be tested /examined while symptomatic.
You will not acquire objective medical findings in a vaccuum, in
most testing. In light of this, it's not an unheard event for a chem-
ically sensitive patient to be found hunched over a waste basket
after having been administered a skin prick test. Patch testing
has resulted in a few occasions of anaphylaxis. In addition, be-
ing made symptomatic before a rhinolaryngoscopic exam is not
a painless event. Moreover, the inhalation challenge test that
measures FEV1 and the such is not recommended for those who
are extremely hyperresponsive.
If the Detractors of MCS Admit to Even One Objective
Medical Finding in any Type of Chemically Sensitive
Patient, the Effect of their Propaganda Will Be Diluted
If the detractors of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity disclose even one
objective medical finding in chemically sensitive patients, they will
risk extinguishing the disrespect and indifference that their literature
serves to incite. This will incline people to take a respectful view
of environmental illness. In learning that there exists a spectrum
of chemical-specific, case-specific, single systemic, and systemic
forms of chemical sensitivity have already been found to exist, the
public will surmise that it is only a matter of time before the contro-
versy involving Multiple Chemical Sensitivity will be resolved. In
light of this, a list of objective medical findings in chemically sensi-
tive patients is posted directly below:
Objective Medical Findings in the Chemically Sensitive
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in inhalation challenge testing.
This includes things such as the drop in FEV1:
Forced Expiratory Volume after 1 second of time.
Objective skin whealing resulting from skin testing;
See the article in Part 1, titled, Visible & Measurable
Wheals Have Been Repeatedly Documented.
Simultaneous release of Leukotriene B4 and Interleukin-8;
(LTB4 is a chemokine. IL-8 is a toxin to neutrophils.)
Permeability of upper-respiratory epithelial cell junctions;
found in biopsy studies, via the electron micrograph
Abnormal liver function in the absense of viral infection.
Exorbitant presence of n-acetyl-benzoquinoniemine;
a toxic liver metabolite associated with P450
cytochrome inducers such as acetaminophen.
Paradoxical adduction of the true vocal cords.
Testing positive in traditional patch testing.
Peripheral nerve fiber proliferation.
Nasal and/or laryngeal erythema.
Turbinate swelling/hypertrophy.
Edema of the true vocal cords.
Lymphocytic infiltrates.
Glandular hyperplasia.
Angioedema.
Anaphylaxis.
Dermatitis.
Note 1: There are fiber optic rhinolaryngoscopic exam find-
ings that were not posted above. In order to read
of the additional findings, see: Rhinolaryngoscopic
Examination of Patients with Multiple Chemical
Sensitivity Syndrome:
Note 2: There are also instances of hematotoxicity triggered
by nontoxic benzene exposure. See: Hematotoxicity
in workers exposed to low levels of benzene:
Note 3: There is more that can be included, but the afore-
mentioned things should suffice in proving a point.
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