Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Excerpted from: Far-InfraRed Saunas and the importance of
sweat detoxification in the treatment of Environmental Illness
by Kevin Halsey. References available on request. For a copy
of this complete article please contact Nature’s Spectrum
Far-InfraRed Sauna center 1-888 262 4477.
Treatment programs for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity usually
involve a variety of measures to reduce a patients’ body toxic
load. Sweat therapy is a particularly effective way to accomplish
this and is utilized at leading treatment facilities such as the
Environmental Health Center in Dallas, Texas (Dr. William Rea,
MD) and the Northeast Environmental Clinic in New York ( Dr.
Sherry Rogers, MD).
The vast array of chemicals to which we are exposed can be
categorized as either water or fat soluble (dissolving in either
water or oil). While our bodies are reasonably competent at
metabolizing and excreting water soluble chemicals, we are far
less capable of eliminating fat soluble compounds from our
system. As a result, fat soluble toxins (which account for the
majority of environmental toxins) are deposited in the fat
components of our bodies.
Given that the membrane of each of our trillions of cells is
comprised of fat, these toxins can reside in most organs and
systems of the body including the brain and nervous system.
This process of toxin retention is known as ‘bio-accumulation’.
Toxins, however, are not permanently bound within our fatty
tissues but instead tend to recirculate in our bodies creating
an endogenous exposure; a ‘poisoning from within’ effect. This
re-circulation occurs in response to everyday events such as
emotional stress, raised body temperature, exercise, and the
fast we experience each night while sleeping. The circulating
toxins can be damaging to whatever organs and body systems they
target. According to Theron G. Randolph, MD, author of ‘An
Alternative Approach to Allergies - The New Field of Clinical
Ecology Unravels the Environmental Causes of Mental and Physical
Ills’, these circulating toxins can produce a variety of
symptoms including headaches, tiredness, mental confusion and
lack of acuity, irritability, memory loss, cold or flu-like
symptoms, skin disorders, and musculoskeletal pains.
Dr. Randolph has suggested that:
“The intermittent release of fat stored toxins
may explain why a significant proportion of chemically susceptible
patients do poorly even when they manage to control their
environment and minimize chemical exposures. The endogenous
chemicals seem to be causing acute reactions which are both
confusing and frustrating to the person who is consistently
watching his or her exogenous exposures.”
He recommends:
“...the optimum treatment for patients found to be reacting
to endogenous chemical exposure is detoxification therapy aimed
at reducing levels of fat-stored chemicals.”
Sweat therapy using saunas has been extensively researched
and shown to be effective at lowering levels of fat soluble
chemicals. One study observed an average reduction of 21.3% of
16 different chemicals in adipose tissue samples following
sauna therapy. Interestingly, a follow up measurement four
months after completion of the sauna program detected an average
reduction of 42.4% for the same 16 chemicals. This post-treatment
reduction has led some physicians to speculate that the program
was rehabilitating for the body’s natural mechanisms of elimination.
Dr. Zane Gard, MD, has concluded that sauna therapy certainly
does provide this rehabilitating effect. Dr. Gard developed the
Bio-Toxic Reduction Program, and reported on dozens of patients’
case histories who experienced significant reductions in body
toxin levels and improvements in a wide array of medical conditions.
(Measuring for chemicals such as DDE, xylene and toluene, he
detected blood toxin reductions between 70 and 99%).
He states that:
“The procedure... not only significantly reduced
body burdens of persistent toxic substances, but subsequently
enhanced the body’s ability to neutralize the effects of many
toxins, significantly reducing the rate of continued bio-accumulation.”
Gard’s conclusions regarding the effects of sauna therapy
have important implications for the treatment of Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity (MCS):
"Sauna detoxification can reduce patients’ reactive
symptoms to external toxic exposures and to endogenous exposures
resulting from the process of internal recirculation."
Sherry Rogers, MD utilizes sweat detoxification for the treatment
of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity at the Northeast Environmental
Clinic in New York and comments:
“What is the best way to get rid of toxic chemicals
including pesticides, heavy metals and hydrocarbon residues?
The Far-InfraRed Sauna. ...I’m convinced that
the Far-InfraRed Sauna is something everyone should do to restore
health and then continue to do on a less frequent basis to
maintain the ‘cleaned out’ state for the rest of their lives.”
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