Chemicals in the Environment and Human Sensitivity to Them: Their Impact on Health and Procedures for Clearing the Body

Posted by asprousemd on February 7, 2012 · 2 Comments 

Undoing the Damage Caused by Chemical Sensitivity

Clearly we are in an ever-escalating battle for our health with many of the over 80,000 chemicals commercially produced in the United States.  And most of these chemicals were invented only since World War II.  If you are sensitive to chemicals, you are probably experiencing more than one of these symptoms:  Chronic fatigue, wheezing, headaches, heart palpitations, cold hands and feet, stimulated appetite leading to over-eating, abdominal bloating, and food intolerances…the list goes on and on.  Despite all of this, there is in fact hope for patients who have become ill from environmental exposures.

We have learned from research and observation that the hallmark of chemical sensitivity (adverse reactions to ambient levels of chemicals) is the involvement of several organ systems at the very same time.  These combinations of symptoms may stump, or may be overlooked by most medical practitioners unfamiliar with chemical sensitivity.

How We Get Affected

Chemicals and other substances enter our bodies through the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink.  They can also be absorbed through our skin from the personal care products and other solutions we use.  Outside of living in a bubble, we can scarcely avoid this invasion of our bodies.  What’s worse, once they enter, chemicals accumulate and can stay for years unless they are removed by treatment.

 Where Chemicals Are Stored

After chemicals enter our bodies, they circulate through the bloodstream to all parts of our bodies…even our brains.  In fact, many if not most of these chemicals are fat soluble and get stored in the body’s fat.  Thin people are no exception as we all have some internal fat.  After chemicals enter your body, they will find that fat which then will serve as a reservoir for dangerous toxins and become a staging ground for toxic illness.  Only proper diagnosis followed by individualized treatments to remove those substances will reduce your chemical load.

Understanding How Chemical Sensitivity Occurs

To understand chemical sensitivity, you have to understand two important phenomena, Spreading and Switching.

When an adult or child develops new reactions or symptoms to the same chemicals they already have a reaction to, it’s called Spreading.   This phenomenon affects people so that they become additionally sensitive to other environmental factors like foods, molds, grasses, trees, weeds, and dust.  Where once there was a single symptom, for example, a headache after smelling fresh paint, the symptoms will multiply to possibly include muscle aches, swollen, itchy eyelids, and difficulty concentrating…to name a few.  Where they were never sensitive to pollens, they now will experience sneezing, a runny nose, or even depression.  These new multiple sensitivities often come from chronic, “low-dose” exposure to one or more common chemicals.  The term, “low-dose” is very misleading.  While “low-dose” suggests there is no danger of toxicity, the truth is that many chemicals like the weed-killing herbicide 2, 4, 5-T (all-too-commonly used on lawns and golf courses) is harmful in minuscule parts-per-trillion.

Switching is when, upon chemical exposure, a person no longer experiences one symptom but develops other symptoms instead.

Spreading and switching can happen together causing severe problems.  Symptoms encountered may baffle many medical professionals not familiar with the diagnosis and treatment of chemical sensitivity.

 Clearing Chemicals From the Body

Chemicals already in the body are not likely to leave on their own.  So if you can, avoid them.  But if you can’t or didn’t, you have to remove them.   To do that, we’ve got to assist the one organ in our body that is the command center for clearing and fighting our war against toxic chemicals:  The liver.

The liver is responsible for neutralizing, metabolizing, and excreting toxic chemical compounds.  Unfortunately for us, the liver can become overwhelmed by chemical exposures, even those thought to be “low-dose.”  That’s where an Environmental Medicine Specialist plays a key role.    Treatments are available to maximize the liver’s efficiency in clearing chemicals and reducing the body’s fat stores of chemicals.  The treatments enhance the manner in which chemical detoxification through the liver is accomplished.

Phase I liver detoxification

results in the modification  of reactive  chemicals  by oxidation,

reduction, hydroxylation, sulfoxidation, deamination, dealkylation, or methylation.  Such modifications usually involve mixed function oxidases, cytochromes b3 and P-450, and the glutathione S-acyltransferases.  Big words, but look at it as the first internal “scrub down.”  Here, we may begin treatment by adding specific enzyme co-factors to help accelerate toxin removal.

Phase II liver detoxification may follow Phase I reactions or may proceed independently.   Here, the liver maximally converts fat-soluble substances to water-soluble substances, facilitating their excretion from the body.  Look at Phase II as the “flush.”

Chemicals already stored in the fat are expunged by a unique detoxification program.  To accelerate the detoxification during this phase, a combination of selected nutrients and amino acids are given to the patient along with a heat detoxification program.  This program contributes to the reduction of the total body chemical burden, and the eventual reduction or disappearance of symptoms.

I hope the information in this blog helps you or those know who may be suffering from the results of chemical exposures. I look forward to your comments on this important topic.

Filed under Articles by Dr. Sprouse