Clinical ecology
Article Abstract:
Clinical ecology is concerned with determining the cause and treatment of modern ailments such as environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivities, environmental hypersensitivity disorder, 20th century disease and total allergy syndrome. The underlying premise of clinical ecology is that the immune system of individuals is adversely affected due to the exposure of a broad range of chemicals in the environment, in doses too low to have physiological effects. This depression of immunity in turn affects other bodily functions. Patients have multiple complaints, including tiredness, depression, headache, dizziness, anxiety, mood changes, memory failures and confusion. They do not have the ordinary symptoms of chemical exposure such as toxicity or allergies, and upon examination, no physical or laboratory abnormalities can be found. The methods of diagnosis include taking a history of environmental exposure, including diet, medication, exposure to chemicals and a series of tests where patients are exposed to various chemicals and examined for symptomatic reactions. The methods that are used to treat patients with environmental illness include avoidance of exposure to chemicals, a diet free of the chemicals found to have an effect on the individual during testing, megadoses of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, other nutrients and antioxidants, and neutralization therapy, where low doses of the substances that are shown to have an effect on the individual are given until the symptoms disappear. Drugs are not generally used. No control subjects have been used in the studies of the treatment protocols, so proper evaluation of the treatment is not possible. Reviews of the cases of patients suggest that most patients suffer from somatoform disorders (neurologic disorders, characterized by physical symptoms in which no dysfunction can be found) or depression. Clinical ecology has been systematically evaluated and no scientifically acceptable evidence has yet been found to support the theories and methods of diagnosis and treatment. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1989
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The soluble interleukin-2 receptor: biology, function, and clinical application
Article Abstract:
When the immune system is activated, white blood cells change from an immature and undefined state to one which is mature and committed to a specific immune function. One of the most active substance promoting these changes is interleukin-2 (IL-2), which binds to specific receptor sites on white cell surfaces. The receptor, sIL-2R, can be measured in serum and elevated levels are associated with certain disease states. When a patient is infected with HTLV-I (a virus associated with human T-cell leukemia) increasing levels of sIL-2R can be measured which correlate with the severity of disease. In Hodgkin's disease, the levels of sIL-2R increase with tumor growth. As patients with HIV infection progress from seropositivity for the virus to 'full-blown' AIDS, levels of sIL-2R also rise. Certain autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, produce high levels of sIL-2R, while in others, such as systemic sclerosis and polymyositis, elevated levels of sIL-2R correspond with how disease activity at a given time. Acute hepatitis is accompanied by increased sIL-2R levels, which remain elevated in patients who go on to develop chronic active hepatitis. In Kawasaki disease, a childhood vasculitis, patients at highest risk for developing cardiac complications have the highest levels of sIL-2R. Patients who experience organ transplant rejection also have elevated sIL-2R levels. Levels of sIL-2R appear to be a marker for the presence and severity of a number of immunologically active diseases. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1990
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