title: [Unconventional concepts in environmental medicine].
abstract: More and more people are convinced to be afflicted with diseases caused by ill-defined environmental factors. Until now it has also not been possible to delineate unambiguously common features to describe a syndrome-like pattern which is the essential requirement for rational prophylactic and therapeutic intervention. Despite of this scientific status a wide variety of supposedly diagnostic and therapeutic methods of unproven efficacy is currently advertised and often applied in a polypragmatic manner. Besides providing a description of the different techniques their clinical relevance is critically evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Medizinischen Dienst der Krankenversicherung in Bayern, München.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Burkhard
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018876:Environmental Illness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D013577:Syndrome; D016896:Treatment Outcome