The Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine's Role in Biodetoxification

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The Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine's Role in

Biodetoxification

The program of Biodetoxification continues, after 11 years of experience, to

be amazingly cost effective in turning around poisoned and impaired workers

and people.

As one of our patient's said, " This program works, but you have to do as you

are told. " What we have learned is that the sooner a worker or injured

person begins the program, the faster the turn around to recovery. None the

less, what is also amazing is the chronic and even " old " injured patients

can make significant improvement.

We are seeing more and more pesticide injured patients including those with

severe peripheral neuropathy and even some of these are recovering. One

example of this, was a carpenter exposed over time to an old leaking can of

organophosphate pesticide. He had all of the signs and symptoms of acute

poisoning which occurred episodically depending on the weather and the

ventilation in his garage where he worked making cabinets. He lost feelings

in his hands and feet and could not pick up nails. Despite his late referral

to the Center For Occupational and Environmental Medicine Biodetoxification

Center, he recovered most of his health and function.

It must be emphasized that the neuropathy did not totally recover until the

patient had completed 9 months of maintenance. This emphasizes the great

importance of ongoing detoxification maintenance and the best results come

from those that do it.

There are some injured patients that will deteriorate if they stop doing

maintenance and this negative reversal becomes obvious in as short a time as

3 weeks away from the program. This phenomenon is analogous to the kidney

failure patient who deteriorates off of renal dialysis. We recognize then

another system failure similar to heart failure, kidney failure and liver

failure which is complex and at a molecular and metabolic level. There are 3

possibilities to explain this phenomenon:

People are born with specific genetic endowments for detoxification and if

exposed, are more vulnerable.

People are normal prior to exposure but injure their ability to detoxify.

There is both a genetic and an acquired mechanism.

Either way, we see enough patients to recognize that there are some who will

require very prolonged, even life long ongoing biodetoxification if they are

to maintain their health. Worker's may achieve maximum medical improvement,

but if you stop maintenance, they will deteriorate.

Another patient demonstrated the effectiveness of Biodetoxification after

almost a lifetime of injury from exposure to organophosphate pesticides.

This was a 31 year old woman with overt signs of psychosis manifesting

auditory hallucinations, bizarre behavior and panic attacks. A careful

history revealed multiple exposures to organophosphate pesticides each with

resulting panic and psychosis. Although seen by numerous physicians over her

life time, no one identified the cause as neurotoxicity from these

pesticides. Within 5 weeks of intense Biodetoxification, she improved

dramatically with complete clearing of auditory hallucinations and " feeling

almost normal for the first time in her life. " The role of pesticides in

both physical and mental emotional disease cannot be sufficiently emphasized

and treatment through Biodetoxification should be strongly considered.

It is discouraging to hear the occasional disparaging comment from an

occupational physician or toxicologist about the effectiveness of

Biodetoxification. These physicians who negate the role and value of this

program are, for the most part, completely unfamiliar with what it is. We

have been fortunate that some Worker's Compensation Commissioners have

ordered the insurance carriers to pay for the program when they see how

effective it is.

Thus, after 11 years of providing injured patients with Biodetoxification,

we continue to be enthusiastic about it's cost effectiveness in reversing

toxic chemical injuries. We encourage all physicians to learn more about

this program and to utilize it for injured workers and others.