Citation

Miller CS. Toxicol. Ind. Health 1999; 15(3-4): 284-294.

Affiliation

Department of Family Practice, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 78284-7794, USA. millercs@uthscsa.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10416280

Abstract

'Toxicant-induced loss of tolerance' (or TILT) describes a two-step disease process in which (1) certain chemical exposures, e.g., indoor air contaminants, chemical spills, or pesticide applications, cause certain susceptible persons to lose their prior natural tolerance for common chemicals, foods, and drugs (initiation); (2) subsequently, previously tolerated exposures trigger symptoms. Responses may manifest as addictive or abdictive (avoidant) behaviors. In some affected individuals, overlapping responses to common chemical, food, and drug exposures, as well as habituation to recurrent exposures, may hide (mask) responses to particular triggers. Accumulating evidence suggests that this disease process might underlie a broad array of medical illnesses including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, depression, asthma, the unexplained illnesses of Gulf War veterans, multiple chemical sensitivity, and attention deficit disorder.

Language: en