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Query: UMLS:C0010200 (cough)
 23,843 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The number of complaints about the quality of indoor air has increased during the past two decades. These complaints have been frequent enough that the term "Sick House Syndrome or Sick Building Syndrome" and "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" has been coined. Complaints are likely related to the increased use of synthetic organic materials in house, furnishing, and consumer products; and the buildings, furnishings, and consumer products; and the decreased ventilation for energy conservation in homes. Approximately thousand volatile chemicals have been identified in indoor air. The main sources of these chemicals are house materials, combustion fumes, cleaning compounds, and paints or stains. Exposure to high levels of these emissions and to others, coupled with the fact that most people spend more time indoors than outdoors, raises the possibility that the risk to human health from indoor air pollution may be potentially greater than the risk posed from outdoor pollutants. The complaints most frequently voiced with respect to Sick House Syndrome are irritations of the eye, nose, and throat; cough and hoarseness of voice; headache and mental fatigue. The syndrome of multiple chemical sensitivities is controversial subject with increasing impact on the field of indoor air quality. The controversy surrounding Multiple Chemical Sensitivity includes its definition, theories of etiology and pathogenesis, diagnostic, and life style. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is considered the hypothesis that is a disease caused by exposure to many chemically distinct environmental substances at very low.
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PMID:[Indoor air and human health--sick house syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity]. 1263 82

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic and/or recurrent condition with somatic, cognitive, and affective symptoms following a contact with chemical agents whose concentrations do not correlate with toxicity in the general population. Its prevalence is not well defined; it mainly affects women between 40 and 50 years, without variations in ethnicity, education and economic status. We aimed to assess the core symptoms of this illness in a sample of Italian patients. Two physicians investigated different symptoms with a checklist compilation in 129 patients with MCS (117 women). We conducted a categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) with Varimax rotation on the checklist dataset. A typical triad was documented: hyperosmia, asthenia, and dyspnoea were the most common symptoms. Patients also frequently showed cough and headache. The CATPCA showed seven main factors: 1, neurocognitive symptoms; 2, physical (objective) symptoms; 3, gastrointestinal symptoms; 4, dermatological symptoms; 5, anxiety-depressive symptoms; 6, respiratory symptoms; 7, hyperosmia and asthenia. Patients showed higher mean prevalence of factors 7 (89.9%), 6 (71.7%), and 1 (62.13%). In conclusion, MCS patients frequently manifest hyperosmia, asthenia, and dyspnoea, which are often concomitant with other respiratory and neurocognitive symptoms. Considering the clinical association that is often made with anxiety, more studies are necessary on the psychosomatic aspects of this syndrome. Further analytical epidemiological studies are needed to support the formulation of aetiological hypotheses of MCS.
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PMID:Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome: A Principal Component Analysis of Symptoms. 3291 33