Toxicant-induced loss of tolerance--an emerging theory of disease?

Abstract

445-453 (1997)

Brain dysfunction in multiple chemical sensitivity

“…Bell et al [5] proposed one of the more plausible existing pathogenetic theories according to which a chemical factor would trigger a multiorganic response due to neurologic sensitization, given the interconnections between the olfactory system, limbic system and hypothalamus. However, neither this theory nor other neurologically-based mechanisms proposed as the origin of this disorder [6][7][8][9] have been confirmed.…”

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Phased Initiation by Anaesthetics and a New Building

“…However, the fact that all her symptoms disappeared when she fasted in a clean environment, the symptom relief achieved when the endpoints were found, the improved tolerance of environmental factors and foods induced by the vaccines, and the maintenance of the improvement provided she is careful, all contribute to our conviction that environmental sensitivity was aetiologically responsible for her illness, and that multiple chemical sensitivity played a large part. Miller [12] has recently introduced the term Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance (TILT) to describe the pathoaetiological mechanisms resulting in multiple sensitivities of this type, in which the toxicant may be chemical exposure, allergen exposure, stress, or the consumption of a limited diet (eating much the same each day), but is often a mixture of these. We suspect that Miller may be right when she expresses the opinion that TILT may prove to be as important a mechanism for disease in this century as the germ theory was in the eighteenth century.…”

Adverse Reactions to Foods: What is the Gold Standard?

“…However, for the largest group to fall into the dustbin category must indicate either that the classi cation is inadequate, or that nothing much is known about these reactions-which is not the case. Circumstantial evidence suggests that a single patho-aetiological mechanism is responsible for the adverse reactions which cause chronic illness in a hidden fashion [2,3], which constitute the majority of these reactions. The large amount of consistent clinical information justi es the allocation of this group to a category of its own, and indicates that provisionally it should occupy a position under a heading Possibly Allergic.…”

“…If the incitant foods are subsequently avoided, the patients keep well, and after a year or so some of these foods may be tolerated again in moderation. Moreover, hidden food allergy is part of a wider disorder in which patients increasingly lose their tolerance to a number of different aeroallergens and chemical pollutants as well as foods, getting progressively worse unless the condition is recognized [3,4]. In severely affected patients, identifying and avoiding incitant foods will help, but full wellness may not be achieved unless all the incitants are identi ed and exposure to each of them reduced or avoided.…”

“…I submit that hidden food 'allergy' is a syndrome, or rather that it is part of a larger syndrome to which Miller has given the name toxicant-induced loss of tolerance (TILT) which also includes the phenomena of chemical sensitivity and the range of illnesses provoked by aeroallergens, and that it is a relatively new mass phenomenon. Miller hypothesizes [3] that all sorts of toxicant may contribute to the loss of tolerance; these may include chemical exposures, stress, operations, nutrient de ciencies, etc. Many people are unaware that hay fever was not known until 1819, when it was described in England, soon after this country led the way in the industrial revolution: rst recognition of the equivalent condition in Japan occurred nearly 150 years later, following their industrial revolution which only started in the twentieth century [4].…”