Idiopathic environmental intolerances : Psychosomatic and somatic aspects.

Abstract

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or idiopathic envi- ronmental intolerances (IEI) (also called ‘eco-syndrome’) describes a syndrome of somatic and/or psychosomatic complaints of mostly subjective nature, attributed to en- vironmental noxious agents. We report the case of a 58- year-old woman with a long-lasting history of hypersen- sitivity phenomena and manifold symptoms which she believed to be provoked by environmental influences. Thorough and interdisciplinary diagnostics including ex- tensive allergological testing procedures (provocative tests) revealed both somatic diagnoses (contact allergy, pseudo-allergic reactions, sicca syndrome, liver steato- sis, porokeratosis superficialis disseminata actinica) as well as psychiatric diagnoses (predisposition to depres- sion). Some symptoms improved in the course of the disease. The basis for successful ‘management’ of these patients is co-operation between allergists, specialists in the relevant field, and psychiatrists or psychologists