The millions of civilians and tens of thousands of Gulf War veterans who suffer from chemical sensitivity should not be kept waiting any longer for a standardized diagnosis while medical research continues to investigate the etiology of their signs and symptoms. Clearly, there is a significant need for a standardized clinical definition of MCS and a comprehensive clinical protocol that VA, DOD, and other physicians can use to evaluate it. The condition is chronic. The symptoms improve or resolve when the incitants are removed.
Responses occur to multiple chemically unrelated substances.
MCS should be excluded only if a single other multi- organ disorder can account for both the entire spectrum of signs and symptoms and their association with chemical exposures, such as mastocytosis or porphyria, but not CFS or FM, which are not so associated. Although no single test is yet considered diagnostic of MCS, those suggested by signs, symptoms, or history may be helpful in treating and tracking the disorder. The presentation of MCS may vary greatly among cases and over time. Some individuals are totally disabled by severe symptoms suffered on a daily basis, for example, whereas others are disabled only minimally by mild symptoms suffered occasionally. For research purposes that require greater homogeneity, we encourage investigators to refine the consensus criteria for MCS with whatever additional inclusion or exclusion criteria they believe are needed to test their hypotheses.