title: [Review of sick house syndrome].
abstract: 'Sick house syndrome' (SHS) is a health issue that closely resembles sick building syndrome (SBS) that had occurred in European countries. The aim of this review is to clarify the characteristics of SHS by reviewing previous reports rigorously. We propose the definition of SHS as "health impairments caused by indoor air pollution, regardless of the place, causative substance, or pathogenesis". Cases of SBS are reported to occur predominantly in offices and sometimes schools, whereas those of SHS are usually found in general dwellings. In many cases, SHS is caused by biologically and/or chemically polluted indoor air. Physical factors might affect the impairments of SHS in some cases. It is considered that symptoms of SHS develop through toxic, allergic and/or some unknown mechanisms. Psychological mechanisms might also affect the development of SHS. It is still unclear whether SBS and SHS are very close or identical clinical entities, mostly because a general agreement on a diagnostic standard for SHS has not been established. Previous research gradually clarified the etiology of SHS. Further advances in research, diagnosis, and treatment of SHS are warranted with the following measures. Firstly, a clinical diagnostic standard including both subjective and objective findings must be established. Secondly, a standard procedure for assessing indoor air contamination should be established. Lastly, as previous research indicated multiple causative factors for SHS, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to obtain the grand picture of the syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, Japan. seki@dls.ous.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takigawa
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Kou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakabe
authors.forename: Shinpei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torii
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takesumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Kanehisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: Shohei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kira
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aizawa
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000009:adverse effects; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000009:adverse effects; D005658:Fungi; D006801:Humans; D008925:Mites; D018877:Sick Building Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014050:Toluene / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D005557:Formaldehyde; D014050:Toluene