Why Is Detoxification Important
Excerpted from:
Literature Review & Comparison Studies of Sauna/Hyperthermia in
Detoxification, Townsend Letter for Doctors, June 1992 Zane R.
Gard, M.D. & Erma J. Brown, BSN, PhN
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The past 150 years have been a time of incredible progress for
medicine, science and industry. Because of these advancements we now
enjoy longer, more productive lives. However, there are many who pay a
tremendously high price for our modern lifestyle. The by-products of
our chemical technology have resulted in ubiquitous contamination of
our atmosphere, lakes, oceans and soil. Our natural environment is now
permeated by a barrage of "unnatural" substances.
Unquestionably, many of the chemical sources have been in existence
for centuries. However, today we are exposed to chemical
concentrations far greater than were our ancestors. Although the
human mechanism is known to be accommodating , ecological alterations
are now occurring at a faster rate than our bodies are able to adapt.
We are now faced with a situation where inadequacies or
uncertainties centering around the manufacturing, use, storage, and
disposal of toxic chemicals, have resulted in an overwhelming number
of environmentally -induced illnesses.
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Since 1965, over 4 million distinct chemical compounds have been
reported in scientific literature. Over 6000 new chemicals were added
to this list between 1965 and 1978. As of 1981, of over 70,000
chemicals in commercial production, 3,000 have been identified as
intentionally added to our food supplies and over 700 in drinking
water. During food processing and storage 10,000 other compounds can
become an integral part of many commonly used foods. Added to this
list of potential body toxins, petrochemicals, industrial waste,
medical and street drugs, radiation (X-rays, nuclear fallout etc.) and
tons of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides, the result is an
incredible chemical avalanche to have befallen the human race in a
relatively short period of evolutionary history.
There is currently a wealth of scientific evidence showing that
thousands of drugs, preservatives, pesticides, and other pollutants
remain stored in the body long after exposure. We know for example
that an organochlorinated pesticide such as the metabolites of DDT
have a half life of between 20 and 50 years in the fat deposits of
humans. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over 400
chemicals have been detected in human tissue; 48 were found in adipose
tissue, 40 in breastmilk, 73 in the liver and over 250 in the blood.
The process of bodily accumulation and storage of toxins is known as
"toxic bio-accumulation". Though the predominate storage site in the
body is the fatty tissue, toxins may re-enter the bloodstream during
times of physical stress (i.e.. illness, fasting, excessive heat,
exercise) or emotional stress. Every organ that is accessible to these
chemicals, which have been mobilized or released from the fat, is
being continually exposed at low levels. As stated by Dr. William L.
Marcus, Senior Advisor and Chief Toxicologist for the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, "It's a chronic exposure. That's why
chemicals like dioxin, even in small amounts, are extremely dangerous.
Unfortunately the human body has no previous experience with these
chemicals and there is no natural machinery in the body to break them
down, much less eliminate them.
Human accumulation of such compounds as DDT, PCP, PCB, and dioxin,
reflect biologically persistent chemicals which are partitioned in the
body from water into lipids. Eventually the metabolizing of
xenobiotics (chemicals foreign to the biological system) leads to the
accumulation of the chemicals and/or their products in lipid deposits
throughout the body, particularly in adipose tissue. The simple
chemistry involved in this process can be illustrated by the fact that
some chemicals readily dissolve in water, while others dissolve only
in oil bases. Oil soluble chemicals therefore have a tendency to
accumulate in body fatty tissue or lipids, which are also insoluble in
water. There is no such thing as a fat "cell"...[rather] almost every
cell has a fat component. The brain has a high fat content as does
virtually every organ.
Directly or indirectly, toxic residues find there way into our air,
food and water supplies. The net effect of this ecological overload is
to alter the body's balance or "homeostasis". This interference with
our natural biological tendencies to restore internal balance, results
in "disease" in one form or another. According to Professor Edward J.
Calabrese of the University of Massachusetts, and author of Pollutants
and High Risk Groups, "It is this homeostatic process which
neutralizes the pollutant's effect and returns the system to
equilibrium."
Marshall Mandell, MD, nationally renowned in the field of bio-ecologic
medicine, wrote in a recent publication that the influx of chemicals
in our society today "has resulted in a lowered threshold of
resistance and subsequent inability to cope with the natural and
unnatural environment due to altered body metabolism, enzyme
dysfunction, nutritional deficiencies, and hormonal imbalances."
Health depends on the balance of both external and internal
environmental forces.
There is a wealth of literature documenting illnesses in humans from
exposure to chemicals as listed above. These illnesses include
cancers of virtually every organ system of the body, as well as
leukemia, liver disease, pulmonary damage, anemia and blood changes,
nervous system disease, immune system damage, psychological damage,
reproductive and fertility impairment, and kidney dysfunction. There
are also many sub-clinical abnormalities that are suspected to result
from presumed chemical exposure and the list grows longer each year.
In response to the above facts, many health care practitioners have
been recommending a vast array of detoxification programs. Circulating
toxins and toxic bowels need proper cleansing. The removal of these
toxins is relatively well known. When toxins are deposited in fat
storage sites this becomes much more complicated. The only way to
remove toxins from the fat storage sites is to mobilize the toxic fat.
Heat-stress [of a sauna] is an effective method of removing fat-stored
toxins from the body.
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Table of Contents
Detoxification:
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