Chemical Intolerance Common in Primary Care Patients

Chemical Intolerance Common in Primary Care Patients

A new study has found that chemical intolerance is prevalent among primary care patients, yet is rarely diagnosed. The study, published in the July/August 2012 issue of the Annals Family Medicine, notes that routine use of a simple questionnaire may help identify these patients more effectively.

Patients who are chemically intolerant use health care services at increased rates (making an average of 23.3 visits to a medical professional per year. In addition, chemical intolerance is associated with poor quality of life and functional impairments leading to loss of employment and socioeconomic hardships.

Researchers hypothesize that the increased prevalence of chemical intolerance among patients in the low-SES group may be related to their occupations, which may increase their exposure to “solvents, cleaning agents, pesticides, and other substances now clearly linked with the development of chemical intolerance and associated neuropsychiatric symptoms, via a process referred to as toxicant-induced loss of tolerance.”

Ann Fam Med. 2012;10:357-365. Full text

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