Detoxification For Health

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Misty L. Trepke

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Detoxification for Health

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/pollution.html

 

Chemical Pollution

 

Detoxification: A Must for the New Millenium

E. Cheraskin, M.D., D.M.D.

(Reprinted with permission from the Journal of Orthomolecular

Medicine 15: #2, 60-62, Second Quarter, 2000)

 

Introduction

It is safe to conclude that sooner or later most people will suffer

with some form of disease. Will it be the result of toxins in the

air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink?

(Incidentally, a toxin is basically any substance that creates

irritating and/or harmful effects in the body, undermining our

health or stressing our biochemical or organ functions.) Could it be

that we are consuming too many pesticides, smoking too much tobacco,

drinking too much alcohol, ingesting too much lead and other noxious

factors? What would happen if these toxins were eliminated? Would

lung cancer vanish among smokers? Would favorable cognitive changes

arise in children following the elimination of lead? The answers are

a resounding yes!

 

Chemicals

The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the

contamination of the air, earth, rivers and sea with dangerous and

even lethal materials. Chemicals sprayed on croplands or forests

or gardens lie long in soil, entering into living organisms, passing

from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death.

 

The chemicals to which life is asked to make its adjustment are no

longer merely the calcium, silica, copper and all the rest of the

minerals washed out of the rocks and carried in rivers to the sea;

they are the synthetic creations of man's inventive mind, brewed in

his laboratories, and having no counterparts in nature. The new

toxins come from our labs in an endless stream; almost 500 annually

find their way into actual use in the United States alone. (1)

 

Every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous

chemicals from the moment of conception until death. Allthis has

come about because of the sudden rise and prodigious growth of an

industry for the production of man-made or synthetic chemicals with

insecticidal properties. What sets the new synthetic herbicides

apart is their enormous biological potency. They have immense power

not merely to poison but to enter into the most vital processes of

the body and change them in threatening and often deadly ways.

Thus, they destroy the very enzymes whose function is to protect the

organism from harm, they block the oxidation processes from which

the body receives its energy, they prevent the normal functioning of

various organs and they may initiate in certain cells the slow

and irreversible change that leads to malignancy.

 

Yet more and more deadly chemicals are added to the list each year

and new uses are devised so that contact with these materials has

become practically worldwide. The production of synthetic pesticides

in the United States soared from 124,259,000 pounds in 1947 to

637,666,000 pounds in 1960 more than a fivefold increase.

 

Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the

biological effects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of

time and that the hazard to the individual may depend on the sum of

the exposures received throughout his lifetime. For these very

reasons the danger is easily ignored. It is human nature to shrug

off what may seem to us a vague threat of future disaster. A wise

physician, Dr. Rene Dubos, says, " Men are naturally most impressed

by diseases which have obvious manifestations, yet some of their

worst enemies creep on them unobtrusively. "

 

And, there is no argument that high levels of lead contribute to

serious health problems. Lead can easily enter the system through

food, water and air. It is now becoming increasingly evident that

lead levels heretofore considered low may be associated with

obvious and serious clinical problems. Lead exposure is an important

public health issue. Because millions of American children are

believed to have elevated blood lead levels, screening programs for

childhood lead exposure have been established by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention. In 1984, as many as three to four

million children were estimated to have blood lead levels greater

than 0.72 mmol/L, and even lower levels of lead exposure have been

associated with adverse neurophysiologic development. (2)

 

Needleman and his colleagues (3,4) indicate that low-level lead

exposure can result in serious mental and behavioral problems, These

effects may manifest in a higher risk of dropping out of high

school, reading disability; poorer class standing, increased

absenteeism, and lower vocabulary and grammatical reasoning scores.

These serious findings are disturbing not only in their social

implications but in the permanent neurologic damage they represent.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, among lead's most

insidious effects is its poisoning of the developing nervous system,

as measured by a decrease in the IQs of kids with even low level

lead exposure. For the nation, 81% of the total IQ loss occurred

among children with suboptimal lead levels, children who were

probably asymptomatic and identifiable only by screening.

 

It may be possible that the problem is not the need for more

schools, teachers, or sophisticated equipment but healthier kids!

 

There are many other man-made toxins such as alcohol and tobacco,

which are recognized as big problems. Traditional medicine has

attempted to deal with the alcoholic by referring them for group

therapy through Alcoholics Anonymous. For tobacco, our RDAs have been

changed to suggest that the smoker needs more vitamin C. However,

there are also toxins which have received less interest such as the

use of amalgam as a filling material. There are many man-created

toxins that time and space will not allow us to focus on here that

interfere with the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food

we eat.

 

Possible Solutions

Clearly, the major answer is one of prevention. We should avoid

contaminated food. More judicious and careful use of insecticides

must be employed. Detoxification in all its ramifications may be

part of the story. We now have chains of health food stores

attempting to solve some of our problems through education and the

distribution of less contaminated foods. (5, 6)

 

Since alternative medicine is less toxic than current medications,

naturopathic principles should be considered as a possible answer to

the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

 

Summary and Conclusions

A landmark study of preschool children, who were exposed to

pesticides from birth and matching children who were not, was

published in June 1998.(7) Both groups of Mexican children are Yaqui

Indians, having the same genetic background, plus the same dietary

and other cultural habits, thus eliminating the usual confounding

variables, which can make impossible the study of pesticide effects

in people. The Indians in the Yaqui valley had used pesticides since

the 1940s, whereas those in the foothills had avoided their use.

" Functionally, the exposed children demonstrated decreases in

stamina, gross and fine-eye coordination, 30-minute memory; and the

ability to draw a person (Figures 1 and 2, p 62). "

 

These few examples cited here coupled with other reports (8,9)

emphasize the difference between traditional thinking and the new

medicine of the millennium.

 

References

1. Carson, R. Silent Spring. 1987. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company

 

2. Simon JA, Hudes ES: Relationship of Ascorbic Acid to Blood Lead

Levels.JAMA 281:24, 2289-2293, 23/30 June 1999.

 

3. Needleman HL, Schell A, Bellinger D, Leviton A, Alfred FN: The

long-term effects of exposure to low doses of lead in childhood; An

11-year follow-up report. New Engl J Med, 322:2,83-88, 11 January

1990.

 

4. Needleman HL, Gatsonis CA: Low Level Lead Exposure and the IQ

ofChildren: A Meta-analysis of Modern Studies. JAMA, 263: 5, 673-

678, 2, February 1990.

 

5. Whole Foods Market. 601 North Lamar #300. Austin, Texas 78703.512-

477-4455. 512-477-1069-Fax. http://www.wholefoods.com

 

6. Wild Oats Markets, Inc. 3375 Mitchell Lane. Boulder, Colorado

80301-2244. 303-440-5220. www.wildoats.com

 

7. Guillette EA et al: An Anthropological Approach to the Evaluation

of Preschool Children Exposed to Pesticides in Mexico, Environ

Health Perspec, 1998; 106: 6, 347-353.

 

8. Cheraskin E: Another Reason for Change; The Distinct Philosophies

of Allopathy and Naturopathy. J Orthomol Med, 1998; 13: 3, 139-140.

 

9. Cheraskin, E: Are Antibiotics our Best Choice? Intl Integr Med,

1: 3, 36-38, May/June. 1999.

 

Figure 1. Representative drawings of a person by 4-year-old Yaqui

children from the valley and foothills of Sonora, Mexico.

Differences in drawing ability at the same age between exposed and

unexposed children were astonishing.

 

Figure 2. Representative drawings of a person by 5-year-old Yaqui

children from the valley and foothills of Sonora, Mexico.

 

(Figures 1 and 2 in the original paper shows that preschool-aged

children living in unpolluted areas have far more sophisticated

drawing skills than similar-aged children living in polluted areas.)