Detoxification for Health

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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://wwwwholefoods.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.)