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Toxins and Your Health

During a morning drive to the office one summer day, I noticed the familiar haze of smog over the horizon and the hot, dry Santa Ana winds that were absent for a time when it was colder. I braced myself for a slew of calls from patients with allergies. I’ve heard patients complain of respiratory allergies since the country began to spray melathione again to control the fruit flies.

This brought memories of the patient who ran a marathon on a smoggy day and collapsed on my office door steps with a severe attack of allergic asthma. I grew more wary as my thoughts turned to other toxins encountered in our daily lives. Several patients who were exposed to benzene at work over a period of time developed auto-immune disorders with debilitating joint pains and memory loss. One woman is starting to experience cervical dysplasia which can lead to cervical cancer. How about the boy patient with leukemia who has no family history of such illness and lived most of his young life within fifty yards of a large power transmission pole. And the patient who began to suffer hair loss and chronic fatigue for no apparent reason eight months after moving into a new house. We finally traced the high lead level in her blood to the tap water she was so accustomed to drinking. The plumbing in her new residence was of old galvanized pipes with lead solder.

My thoughts rambled on and I caught myself asking, “Am I getting paranoid about this whole thing? Maybe I am overacting.” But, as I surveyed my patient population, I realized that the percentage of patients suffering conditions relating to environmental toxins have steadily increased over the years that I’ve been in practice. I estimate that within a decade there will be a whole new field in medicine that will be devoted entirely to toxicology.

We live in a chemical soup. We breathe toxic air; we drink and eat poisoned water and food stuff. How do we ever expect the incidence of cancer, chronic fatigue, arthritis, asthma and other auto-immune disorders to improve when our living conditions are becoming ever more toxic!

Chinese medicine has been keenly aware of the consequences of toxins in the environment and in the diet on human health since its origin.

The rudiment of the medicine emphasizes maintaining the natural balance – meaning that “naturalness” in diet, medicine, living environment and lifestyle all contribute to good health and long life. Prevention of illness from toxins is the important first step to maintaining health. This is possible by constantly cleansing toxins from your body and by strengthening your organ functions. The acupuncturist/herbalist selects certain acupuncture points and herbs that will help dispel toxins from the body and strengthen the body. Herbs and acupuncture will help you cope with the chemical assaults from your daily life. If you work in a sick building or live within blocks of a gas station or dry cleaner and if you regularly eat supermarket produce and meats, then you may want to take herbs and get acupuncture more frequently to increase your body’s cleansing ability.

September, 2005
Volume 3, Number 9

Toxins and Your Health

Constipation

About Aluminum

Recent Research

Ask The Doctor

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