But most physicians in the wider community don't agree. About 100 physicians, psychiatrists, chemical experts, epidemiologists and other researchers participated in discussions on the role environmental factors play in medically unexplained symptoms. When pain, nausea or other troublesome symptoms send patients to a doctor, Kipen noted, anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent of those cases cannot be explained by any known disease. The most common symptoms, at least in patients ill enough to seek medical help, include headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating or remembering things, nausea, unusual chest pain, shortness of breath, trouble sleeping and musculoskeletal pain. The symptoms often seem worst in patients paying the most attention to them, those living unstimulating, somewhat isolated lives, noted Anne Spurgeon of the University of Birmingham in England.
New syndromes crop up periodically, and some appear to have predecessors.
For instance, some people working on computers or in slaughterhouses today develop repetitive strain injury, whose forerunners include telegraphist's cramp, Spurgeon said. Despite the complexities of such syndromes, researchers hope to understand them better. The environmental institute brings together experts from different fields in programs focused on understanding how environmental factors affect human health, treating people harmed by environmental agents, trying to prevent risks to human health and the environment, and providing scientific information to policy makers. We welcome your feedback. All rights reserved.