Research indicates that the majority of symptoms in Lyme disease are caused by the release of toxins by the spirochetes. If that were not bad enough, for most people in the United States, the daily accumulation of toxins just from living, eating, and breathing is staggering! Environmental toxins from our air, water, personal care products, medications, and food supply are jamming up the machinery of the cells, interfering with the regulation of the body.
Toxins are a global problem. There is virtually no one on the planet who does not need to detoxify the body on a continual basis.
Every person on the planet should be working to eliminate the sources of toxins in our house and life. Detoxification of the body must be a part of any effective Lyme protocol or one risks permanent damage to nerve and joint tissue from the toxic irritation.
Today more than 77,000 chemicals are in active production in this country. Our exposure to these chemicals is greater than at any time since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. More than 3,000 chemicals are added to our food supply, and more than 10,000 chemicals in the form of solvents, emulsifiers, and preservatives are used in food processing and storage.
Ethyl alcohol, isopropanol, wood rosin, shellac, propylene glycol, silicone, ammonium hydroxide…
You are eating these particular toxins for breakfast if you’re eating non-organic commercial grapefruit, melons and fresh oranges from the supermarket…
Thiabendazole, mineral oil, methylparabin, dimethyl polysiloxane, benzimadazole…
You’re eating these chemicals for lunch if you had supermarket tomatoes, avocado, apples…
Fungicides botran, 2-6 dichloro-4-nitroaniline, orthophenylphenol…
Sound like a good balanced dinner?
You’re eating these yummy ingredients in sweet potatoes, onions, and limes from your local supermarket.
Fungicides are put into wax to provide a longer shelf life; even peeling your fruit and vegetables will not get rid of the chemical toxins, they often permiate the entire fruit or vegetable.
And we wonder why the United States is ranked 36th in all the nations of the world for health, according to the World Health Organization!
We cannot eat, breathe, and put toxins on our skin (personal care products) and get away with it for very long.
These chemicals are bioaccumlative over the course of a person’s life…meaning they accumulate in the tissues of the body gradually with continued exposure.
These chemicals are known to cause cancers, birth defects, damage to the immune system, and directly cause many other diseases.
When ingested, these chemicals can remain in the body for years, altering our metabolism, causing enzyme dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies, creating hormonal imbalances and lowering our threshold of resistance to chronic disease.
Besides food borne chemicals, we are continually subjected to poor air quality, chemically contaminated water, household cleaners, paint fumes, pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, heavy metals (including mercury) and the list goes on and on.
Today, studies show that most of us have between 400 and 800 foreign chemical residues stored in the fat cells of our bodies. This occurs gradually over the course of our lives. These chemicals enter into the body either through the skin, lungs, or they are eaten.
Most of the time, these chemicals are bio-accumulative, meaning miniscule amounts accumulating over the course of years. These chemicals and heavy metals make up the “total toxic burden.”
When the amount of toxins exceed the body’s ability to excrete them, our body will begin to store these toxins. This bio-accumulation seriously compromises our physiological and psychological health and leads to chronic disease.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Study of the U.S.A Toxic Load
Since 1976 the EPA has been conducting studies to determine the presence of toxins in the fat cells of the body. This study is called the National Adipose Tissue Survey (NHATS). The results of this study are staggering.
Across the United States, the EPA took samples of people’s fat cells (adipose) and analyzed the samples for the presence of various toxins. In 98% of the samples they found many toxins, including benzene, PCBs, DDE (a metabolite of DDT pesticide), dioxins, toluene, and chlorobenzene, all of which are highly damaging to the immune system and compromise every tissue in the body.
The EPA only looks for 100 out of the potential thousands of different toxins that could be present in the fatty tissue samples. Twenty different toxins were identified in over 75% of all the samples.
So, from this and other studies you can see that it is no so much a matter of “if” you have toxins in your body, rather how much! Remember that our goal is not to just get rid of Lyme spirochetes or your symptoms, but to remove anything that may be blocking your body’s healing mechanisms.
True health is not the absence of pain or symptoms, otherwise aspirin would be the ultimate longevity medicine.
Toxicity Symptoms
The following is a partial list of known symptoms often related to toxicity:
• allergies
• acne
• anxiety
• burning skin
• brain fog
• chronic fatigue
• chemical sensitivities
• depression
• eczema
• frequent colds or flu
• feeling “sick all over”
• insomnia
• loss of dexterity
• low body temperature
• memory loss
• mood swings
• muscle and joint pains
• poor concentration
The list of potential toxicity symptoms for Lyme sufferers is the entire list of possible Lyme Disease symptoms since the symptoms are the result of the bacterial toxins.
As a result of this widespread environmental contamination, doctors are faced with increased rates of toxin-related cancers, neurological diseases, reduced immune function, allergies, and the newer diagnoses of multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia.
Doctors are finding their usual treatments are not as effective as in the past due to the presence of these many toxins in people.
Did you know that few people actually die of cancer?
Authorities say that they actually die of toxemia, produced by an excessive buildup of toxins from the medications and the lifetime of accumulated toxins.
Did you know that you can not simply take supplements and laxatives to eliminate all of the toxins? You must be guided through a total body protocol to truly achieve detoxification. Consider the skin for a moment.
Did you know that your skin is one of your largest organs of elimination? Your skin should be releasing two pounds of waste acids every day!
Most people have spent their entire life blocking this process through lotions and powder and toxic antibacterial, deodorant soaps. So as you can see, two pounds of waste per day that is not being eliminated through the skin is going to add up and tax the body severely.
American Biological Medicine, as practiced and promoted at the Hansa Center for Biological Medicine, in Wichita, Kansas has heavy emphasis on facilitating the efficient removal of these toxins through various therapies, such as Frequency-modulated Low-Level Laser protocols, ST-8 Lymphatic Drainage Therapy, Infrared Saunas, strategic chelating and binding nutritional supplements and homeopathic remedies, and Lymphatic Massage therapy, just to name a few ways to help eliminate this interferance to your body’s ability to completely heal.
Dr. David A. Jernigan is the founder of Hansa Center for Optimum Health in Wichita, Kansas. http://www.hansacenter.com 316-686-5900 Dr. Jernigan is also the President of the American Biological Medicine Association.
