Current Relationship between PATM Patients and Experts in Japan　

What is PATM

There exist some people who claim his/her body odor provokes allergy-like reactions in people in their near vicinity, which include sneezing, runny nose, cough, itchy eyes, and red eyes.

Such a diathesis, called “people allergic to me (PATM)”, has been gradually recognized in other countries.

After conducting a study by Professor Yoshika SEKINE at Tokai university in Japan in 2018, it was found that greater quantities of chemicals like toluene and xylene were present in skin-gas samples from test PATM subjects than from control subjects.

and he found out that a microbial species isolated from the nasal cavity of the subject with the highest abundance was Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is known as resident skin flora.

 In addition, Arthrobacter phenanthrenivorans, which releases a ditch-like smell, was cultured on an isolation medium, and its presence might have a relationship with the PATM condition.

Thus, in Japan, research on PATM has been ongoing.

Japanese patients are fighting against PATM

However, there are many people suffering from PATM all over Japan still now. They mostly use Twitter to vent their frustration because of the lack of any effective treatments as of now. Even though there are so many patients suffering, it is still expected to take some time before the root cause of the allergy is found.

Japanese Patient Taka(@overcomepatm) on Twitter is researching PATM, even though he is not a medical professional. He is collecting information about PATM from the internet in order to better understand the condition. He says that there are four approaches that can be taken to learn more about PATM.

an approach from fungi

an approach from skin gases

an Approach from heavy metals

an Approach from inflammation in their body

Taka said “Some of the hospitals specializing in PATM are taking an approach from only heavy metals and skin gases. It is important to analyze PATM in all approaches, especially fungi. “ “there are actually quite a few PATM-related papers on the Internet. But the reason we cannot find those papers is that they do not contain the term PATM,” he added.

In Japan, Patients with PATM are becoming more informed like him and selective about their care. They have read many research papers. Since there are so many research papers in Japan, Japanese patients have an overwhelming global advantage in terms of PATM knowledge.

crowdfunding in Japan

There are also people who suffer from their own unexplained body odor problem, not PATM. They too struggle with it in their daily lives.

Here is an interesting initiative in Japan. There is a Japanese woman who is trying to solve this problem by using crowdfunding in Japan.

The title of the project is “I want to create a café where people who suffer from their own smell can easily gather.”

She said ”Body odor is a sensitive issue that is difficult to talk about. Even family members and close friends find it difficult to talk about it, and many people suffer alone. I thought it would be a great help to many people to have a place where they can make friends who can understand their feelings, a place where they can accept each other, and a place where their hearts can be strengthened. That is the reason why I decided to start this project.”

Of course, there are many challenges in creating cafes. One of the challenges is the relationship with the neighbors around the café. However, her courage is probably commendable.

thus, patients in Japan are making various moves regarding body odor and PATM. And they are working together to understand this PATM phenomenon and Odor problems.

Unique company in Odor problem

Surprisingly, there is a company in Japan that offers a mail-in testing service for body odor/aging odor, etc. The representative of this company is eagerly communicating with patients. There are so many people suffering from body odor all over the world. the reason why research on PATM and body odor is being conducted with such enthusiasm in Japan is that the global market is also being considered.

And it seems that Japanese clinics and hospitals also deeply understand this situation and are beginning to study PATM enthusiastically. To continue providing quality care for PATM patients, it is essential that we collaborate with them to exchange knowledge and research countermeasures.

Conclusion

As societies around the globe become increasingly connected, it is important to learn from each other in order to effectively address rare diseases like PATM. Japan provides a valuable example in this regard, as its recent efforts to combat an outbreak of a disease called PATM have been highly successful.