What is medical detoxification?

Overview

The concept of detoxification plays a major role in many schools of alternative
medicine, including Ayurveda, naturopathy,
and chiropractic. In this context, the term refers to a belief
that toxins accumulated in the body are a major cause of disease and that health
can be promoted by removing these toxins through various means.

The toxins referred to in this theory are said to have several major sources
and include the following: chemicals added to processed foods, such as
preservatives; chemicals that enter the food chain through
the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and drugs given to food animals;
toxins produced in the intestines from improper digestion; toxins produced in the
bloodstream from stress; pharmaceutical medications, nearly all of which are
regarded as essentially toxic by proponents of detoxification; toxins present in
the general environment, such as automobile exhaust, cigarette smoke, the aluminum
in antiperspirants, and the formaldehyde released by new carpet; toxins in water;
and toxins introduced through the use of mercury in silver dental fillings.

These toxins are said to cause a wide variety of chronic illnesses, from multiple sclerosis and migraine headaches to cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. Alternative practitioners use various methods with the intention of removing the toxins. One such recommendation has made it into conventional wisdom: drinking at least two quarts (or one-half gallon) of water per day. Other detoxification methods include fasting (on juice, water, fruit, or brown rice), using “cleansing” herbs and supplements (such as olive oil and lemon juice to flush the liver, dandelion root to purge the gallbladder, or psyllium seed to cleanse the colon), taking high colonics, receiving intravenous vitamin C, and removing mercury fillings.

The removal of toxins is often said to cause a temporary flare-up of illness. This reaction is generally interpreted as a positive sign, but also as a call for careful medical management to avoid causing harm on the way to healing.

Scientific Evidence

In general, there is little to no scientific support for detoxification methods. Aside from specific toxicities such as lead or arsenic, medical researchers have observed no general phenomenon of toxification. For this reason, it is difficult to scientifically validate whether detoxification actually works.

Most detoxification approaches essentially remain unexamined, rather than proved or disproved, and rely on reasonable concepts but no hard evidence for their justification. Mercury-filling removal is a typical example. Many alternative practitioners believe that the mercury in silver dental fillings is a cause of numerous health problems and should be removed to prevent or treat disease. However, although it is a matter of indisputable fact that mercury can be toxic, scientific evaluation generally indicates that mercury levels in people with mercury fillings are far below those necessary to cause toxic symptoms. Opponents of the use of mercury respond that some people are sensitive to mercury in very low amounts, and that those people will therefore benefit from filling removal even if they are not experiencing actual toxicity. This could certainly be true. However, despite numerous unreliable anecdotes, there is no meaningful evidence that removing mercury fillings can treat or prevent any disease.

Much the same can be said about the other popular detoxification methods.
However, in the case of one form of detoxification, colon cleansing, the theory
behind the technique is definitely wrong. According to this nineteenth-century
theory, known as colon health or colon hygiene, years of bad diet cause the colon
to become caked with layer upon layer of accumulated toxins. This accumulation is
said to resemble sedimentary rock. High colonics, which are essentially
enemas that reach far into the large intestine, are said to
release the accumulated buildup and thereby restore health.

However, physicians have performed colon examinations to search for colon cancer in millions of persons, and their findings do not support the theory. Most of the persons given these examinations are middle-aged or older, and not many have devoted their lives to healthy diets and clean colons. According to the colonic hygiene theory, colon examinations on such persons should turn up concrete-like deposits. However, all that shows up during a typical colonoscopy is fresh, pink flesh. Proponents of colonics do not seem to have assimilated this information, and they continue to recount theories about the colon that were shown to be untrue decades ago.

Safety Issues

The safety of detoxification methods varies widely. While drinking one quart of water a day is undoubtedly benign and mercury-filling removal is unlikely to be harmful, other methods might be risky. High colonics have occasionally resulted in serious internal injury, and intravenous therapies, being highly invasive, must be handled with a certain degree of sophistication to avoid causing harm. Considering that detoxification has not been proven useful, one should try the more moderate of its various methods if one wants to try detoxification at all.

Bibliography

Cohen, M. “?‘Detox’: Science or Sales Pitch?” Australian Family Physician 36 (2007): 1009-1010.

Crinnion, W. J. “The CDC Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals: What It Tells Us About Our Toxic Burden and How It Assists Environmental Medicine Physicians.” Alternative Medicine Review 15 (2010): 101-109.

Dodes, J. E. “The Amalgam Controversy.” Journal of the American Dental Association 132 (2001): 348-356.

Ernst, E. “Colonic Irrigation: Therapeutic Claims by Professional Organisations.” International Journal of Clinical Practice 64 (2010): 429-431.

Genius, S. J., et al. “Human Detoxification of Perfluorinated Compounds.” Public Health 124 (2010): 367-375.