PLACEBO-RESPONSE IN ENVIRONMENTAL DISEASE - CHELATION-THERAPY OF PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMS ATTRIBUTED TO AMALGAM FILLINGS

Treatment of patients who attribute their environmental illness to mer cury from amalgam fillings is largely experimental. On the Symptom Che ck List, overall distress, and somatization, obsessive-compulsive, dep ression, and anxiety symptom dimensions, were increased in 50 consecut ive patients examined and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire sco res su ggested less extroversion and increased degree of emotional lability. Succimer (meso-2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid) was given at a daily dose of 30 mg/kg for five days in a double-blind, randomized placebo-contr olled trial, Urinary excretion of mercury and lead was considerably in creased in the patients who received the chelator: Immediately after t he treatment and 5 to 6 weeks later, most distress dimensions had impr oved considerably, but there was no difference between the succimer an d placebo groups. These findings suggest that some patients with envir onmental illness may substantially benefit from placebo.