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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In March 1977, a large volume of the industrial chemical hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCPD) was dumped into a municipal sewage system in Kentucky. We evaluated the health effects of exposure to HCCPD in 145 sewage treatment plant workers. We found that 85 (59%) had noted eye irritation, 65 (45%) had headaches, and 39 (27%) had throat irritation. Symptoms occurred throughout the plant; however, highest attack rates occurred in primary sewage treatment areas. Medical examination of 41 employees three days after the plant was closed showed proteinuria and elevation of serum lactic dehydrogenase levels; these findings were not present three weeks later. This episode demonstrates the toxicity of HCCPD and emphasizes the vulnerability of sewage workers to chemical toxins in wastewater systems.
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PMID:Occupational exposure to hexachlorocyclopentadiene. How safe is sewage? 43 Aug 18

The efficiency of a standardised inhalation test procedure was studied by examining the reproducibility of responses to histamine and methacholine. In addition, the responses to the two agents were compared. Each set of duplicate tests was carried out on a separate day within one week, and all factors known or presumed to influence responses were carefully controlled. The results were expressed as the provocative concentration of the agent causing a 20% fall in forced expired volume in one second (PC20). Responses to histamine and methacholine were highly reproducible (coefficients of determination [r2] = 0.994 and 0.990 respectively). Responsiveness to histamine correlated closely with responsiveness to methacholine (r2 = 0.85). There was a small but significant cumulative dose effect with methacholine (P less than 0.01) but not with histamine. Side effects of throat irritation, flushing, and headache were more frequent with histamine than methacholine, and were dose-related. The high level of reproducibility indicates the efficiency of the test procedure. The similar severity of effects by agents with different mechanisms of action suggests that the primary cause of non-specific bronchial hyperreactivity lies at the level of bronchial smooth muscle.
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PMID:Reproducibility and comparison of responses to inhaled histamine and methacholine. 74 96

Time-course functions for symptoms of the sick building syndrome were derived from 66 healthy males who, during separate sessions, were exposed to clean air and to a volatile organic compound (VOC) mixture. The mixture contained 22 VOCs (25 mg/m3 total concentration) commonly found airborne in new or recently renovated buildings. Subjects rated the intensity of perceived irritation, odor, and other variables before, and twice during, 2.75-h exposure periods. Eye and throat irritation, headache, and drowsiness increased or showed no evidence of adaptation during exposure, whereas odor intensity decreased by 30%. These results indicate that irritation intensity and other symptoms are not related in any simple way to odor intensity, which suggests that the symptoms may not be a psychosomatic response to the detection of an aversive odor. Instead, subthreshold levels of VOCs may interact additively or hyperadditively and stimulate trigeminal nerve receptors. Also, air quality ratings improved by 18% during exposure, which suggests that both odor and irritation intensity may influence assessments of air quality.
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PMID:Exposure of humans to a volatile organic mixture. II. Sensory. 154

A set of symptoms has been described during the past two decades that has been called the "sick building syndrome." These symptoms include eye, nose, and throat irritation; headache; mental fatigue; and respiratory distress. It is likely that the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in synthetic materials used in homes and office buildings contribute to these symptoms. However, there have been very few studies in which humans have been exposed to known amounts of VOCs under carefully controlled conditions. In this study, 14 subjects were exposed to a mixture of VOCs (25 mg/m3 total hydrocarbon) that is representative of what is found in new homes and office buildings. Because irritations of the nose and throat are symptoms often associated with the upper respiratory tract and may result from an inflammatory response in the upper airways, we used nasal lavage to monitor neutrophil (PMN) influx into the nasal passages following exposure to VOCs. There were statistically significant increases in PMNs, both immediately after a 4-h exposure to VOCs and 18 h later.
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PMID:Exposure of humans to a volatile organic mixture. III. Inflammatory response. 154 1

A set of symptoms has been described during the past two decades. These symptoms, which have been called the sick building syndrome, include eye, nose, and throat irritation; headache; mental fatigue; and respiratory distress. It is likely that VOCs present in synthetic materials used in homes and office buildings contribute to these symptoms. There have been few studies, however, in which humans have been exposed to known amounts of VOCs under carefully controlled conditions. In this study, 14 subjects have been exposed to a mixture of VOCs (25 mg/m3 total hydrocarbon) representative of what is found in new homes and office buildings. Because irritation of the nose and throat are symptoms often associated with the upper respiratory tract and may result from an inflammatory response in the upper airways, we have used NAL to monitor PMN influx into the nasal passages following exposure to VOCs. We report statistically significant increases in PMNs both immediately after a 4-hr exposure to VOCs, as well as 18 hr later.
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PMID:Human upper respiratory tract responses to inhaled pollutants with emphasis on nasal lavage. 158 Apr 72

Some patients report rhinitis symptoms after exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), but objective assessments of this response have been lacking. Furthermore, the mechanism of this response is unknown. We assessed the frequency of ETS-related symptoms by administering a questionnaire to 77 healthy nonsmoking young adults who were participating in an unrelated study. Of the subjects 34% (26 of 77) reported one or more rhinitis symptoms (congestion, rhinorrhea, or sneezing) following ETS exposure. We then exposed 10 historically ETS-sensitive (ETS-S) and 11 historically ETS-nonsensitive (ETS-NS) subjects to 15 min of clean air followed by 15 min of sidestream tobacco smoke (CO concentration of 45 parts per million). At selected time points during these procedures we recorded symptoms, posterior nasal resistance, and spirometry and performed nasal lavages. ETS-S but not ETS-NS subjects reported significant (p less than 0.01) increases in nasal congestion, headache, chest discomfort or tightness, and cough following exposure to sidestream tobacco smoke. Rhinorrhea symptoms were greater and more prolonged in ETS-S subjects compared to ETS-NS subjects. Significant (p less than 0.01) increases in perception of odor and in eye, nose, and throat irritation occurred in both study groups, but ETS-S subjects reported significantly more nose and throat irritation. No significant changes in posterior nasal resistance occurred in the ETS-NS group but a significant increase occurred in the ETS-S subjects, with the resistance rising from 3.8 +/- 0.5 cm H2O/L/s (mean +/- SE) preexposure to a peak of 8.0 +/- 2.7 cm H2O/L/s 20 min after completion of the smoke exposure (p less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Upper respiratory tract environmental tobacco smoke sensitivity. 171 Aug 79

To identify the indoor air quality issues about which Californians most often sought advice from a health department or a public information agency and to evaluate how well these agencies met the public's needs, members of the California Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Indoor Air Quality kept records of inquiries they received over a 30-month period from mid-1985 through 1987. Members of the IWG answered calls from residents of a least 49 of California's 58 counties. IWG members received more public inquiries about residences than about offices, educational institutions, commercial buildings, or medical facilities. However, each call about a residence probably represented fewer people at risk of exposure to a real or a potential problem than did calls about other types of buildings. Homeowners themselves asked the majority of the questions about residences, whereas a large number of the inquiries about office buildings were made, not by affected office workers, but by building managers, contractors, consultants, or company health and safety officers. The leading topics of concern in the residences were asbestos, chemical and biological contamination, and radon. In offices, chemical contamination, the ventilation system, biological contamination, asbestos, and tobacco smoke were the most frequently mentioned sources of problems. Callers often reported experiencing headaches, allergy symptoms, nose or throat irritation, and respiratory tract problems in connection with their complaints. IWG members directed a third of the calls elsewhere, of which half were referred to consultants or testing laboratories. The IWG's experience in the State of California could help other health departments prepare to face the public's increasing concern about indoor air pollution.
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PMID:Public inquiries about indoor air quality in California. 193 48

Retrospective symptom prevalence data, collected from over 2000 adult respondents living near three different hazardous waste sites, were analyzed with respect to both self-reported "environmental worry" and frequency of perceiving environmental (particularly petrochemical) odors. Significant positive relationships were observed between the prevalence of several symptoms (headache, nausea, eye and throat irritation) and both frequency of odor perception and degree of worry. Headaches, for example, showed a prevalence odds ratio of 5.0 comparing respondents who reported noticing environmental odors frequently versus those noticing no such odors and 10.8 comparing those who described themselves as "very worried" versus "not worried" about environmental conditions in their neighborhood. Elimination of respondents who ascribed their environmental worry to illness in themselves or in family members did not materially affect the strength of the observed associations. In addition to their independent effects, odor perception and environmental worry exhibited positive interaction as determinants of symptom prevalence, as evidenced by a prevalence odds ratio of 38.1 comparing headaches among the high worry/frequent-odor group and the no-worry/no-odor group. In comparison neighborhoods with no nearby waste sites, environmental worry has been found to be associated with symptom occurrence as well. Potential explanations for these observations are presented, including the possibility that odors serve as a sensory cue for the manifestation of stress-related illness (or heightened awareness of underlying symptoms) among individuals concerned about the quality of their neighborhood environment.
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PMID:Symptom prevalence and odor-worry interaction near hazardous waste sites. 195 35

Subjective reactions of discomfort, impaired air quality, irritation of mucosal membranes, and impaired memory have been reported in chemically sensitive subjects during exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in new buildings. Sixty-six normal healthy male subjects aged 18-39 were exposed for 2.75 hr to a complex VOC mixture at 0 and 25 mg/m3. Each subject completed control and exposure sessions at one-week intervals in counterbalanced order. Measurements included comfort ratings of eye, nose and throat irritation, symptom questionnaire and computerized behavioral tests. Subjects found the odor of VOCs unpleasantly strong and reported that VOC exposure degraded air quality, increased headache and produced general discomfort. VOC exposure did not affect performance on any behavioral tests.
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PMID:Neurobehavioral and sensory irritant effects of controlled exposure to a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds. 225 9

In newly constructed houses and buildings in which self-leveling mortar containing casein has been used, residents and office employees have noted a bad odor and have complained of headache, eye and throat irritation, and tiredness. These problems were suspected to result from the degradation products emitted from the mortar. Samples obtained from dry mortar powder and from mortar in buildings where casein was used and from control buildings were found to contain microorganisms (mean of 10(2) culture forming units/g). Environmental species were predominantly found, e.g., Bacillus, Clostridium, Micrococcus, and Propionibacterium. Fungi were found occasionally; no evidence of bacterial degradation was found. Headspace and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of air from the newly constructed houses and from hydroxide-degraded casein revealed the presence of amines in the 0.003-0.013 ppm range and the presence of ammonia and sulfhydryl compounds, all of which in low concentrations can cause the symptoms observed. These substances, however, were not detected in control buildings.
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PMID:Self-leveling mortar as a possible cause of symptoms associated with "sick building syndrome". 238 18


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