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Environmental Medicine

Environmental Medicine is a medical specialty that focuses on identifying and treating illness caused by toxic substances polluting our environment or natural substances (ex. foods) that cause inflammation in our bodies.  Heavy metals, most pesticides and other chemicals act to disrupt the endocrine, immune and nervous systems. Additionally almost all toxins cause oxidative damage to the body (famous for being involved in diabetes, auto-immune disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and most chronic illnesses).

Our air, water, soil, food and homes are polluted with synthetic chemicals, pesticides, drugs, antibiotics, and heavy metals at a level never before seen in history.  While it is true that throughout history we have been exposed to particulate pollution in the air due to wood and coal fires, and infectious disease has been curbed dramatically with the use of antibiotics, the volume of new chemicals and toxins surrounding us is unprecedented, and relatively new (less than 100 years, or two generations).  Our bodies are simply not equipped to handle the volume of toxins we are now exposed to.

Symptoms of a “body burden” of toxins reaching the critical threshold may start with hayfever or allergy symptoms.  You may have an increase in eczema, psoriasis, sinus infections, ear aches, more frequent colds and flus.  You may have trouble sleeping, have mood swings, or difficult menstrual periods.  Some people have chronic headaches, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, joint or muscle pain.  Reaching a more serious level we may find auto-immune diseases, endocrine diseases, neurological diseases and heart disease.  With many of these conditions, there are other factors at work as well, but a high “total load” of toxins will make it very difficult to heal.  People with high body burdens of chemicals or metals often find that they either have to take huge amounts of supplements to see any results or they find that they are very sensitive and have "allergic" reactions to supplements and medicines. 

Currently we have reliable methods of testing for food sensitivities, heavy metal and chemical burdens in the body.  Once the offending substances have been identified, then avoidance is a key part of healing.  I currently offer testing for food sensitivities, heavy metals and chemical burdens from industrial chemicals, solvents, pesticides, etc. 

The process of getting excess toxins out of the body is called Cleansing, Purification, or Detoxification. The process of removing heavy metals from the body is known as Chelation and is an important part of the Cleansing proces for some.

Click these links for more on:

Cleansing, Heavy Metals, Chelation, Biotherapeutic Drainage

Here are some links to important environmental medicine websites

History of Environmental Medicine (for those who can't stop reading)

The father of Environmental Medicine is Dr. Theron Randolph.  Dr. Randolph discovered that many of his patients who were completely disabled with pain, fatigue, depression, allergies, asthma, headaches or other problems were cured by the discovery and avoidance of offending foods, chemicals, molds, or metals. 

Following Dr. Randolph’s work, the field of Environmental Medicine has continued to grow and evolve.  One of the main theories of why chemicals make us sick is the idea of “total load”.  If your body is exposed to more chemicals than it can process and excrete through your organs of elimination (liver, kidneys, skin, lungs, bowel), then some of the chemicals get left behind in your body.  Your body knows the substances are toxic so it stores them in your tissues (bone, fat, nerves, glands) in order to get them out of your blood stream where they can cause continuous damage.  At first this method works to keep you from having noticeable symptoms from exposure to the offending substances.  Eventually, however, the level of toxins builds up and exceeds a threshold after which you begin to have symptoms.  These symptoms are due to the toxins preventing the normal healthy functioning of your cells.  This means that your ability to detoxify these chemicals is eventually decreased as well as the liver and other organs of detoxification and elimination are “bogged down” with the total load. 

Click these links for more on:

Cleansing, Heavy Metals, Chelation, Biotherapeutic Drainage

Here are some links to important environmental medicine websites