Toxicity. What is it and how does homeopathy work to help relieve potentially harmful toxins?

Written by: Anne Gabarre, Homeopath

I have been talking a lot about Toxicity: to the general public, to several therapists groups as well as preparing a lecture on the subject to students learning about homeopathy. 

It seems that the issue of toxicity is becoming more and more important in practice. I am seeing more clients suffering from some sort of toxic overload, mainly due to long-term medication and where the symptoms are linked to a specific organ or system weakness.

As a general term the word ‘toxins’ relates to the accumulated waste products in the body that are detrimental to our health. 

Some are substances foreign to our organism that may be harmful if they accumulate in cells (chemical wastes from foods/drugs, pollutants…also called Xenobiotics or Exogenous wastes).

Others are produced inside the body either because they are part of normal metabolic activity (Carbon dioxide, urea, lactic acid…) or as by-product of bacterial or viral activity (Endogenous waste).

When we produce too much of these naturally occurring wastes or cannot cope with them naturally the symptoms can, in cases such as gout, where the system produces too much uric acid, cause a great deal of discomfort. 

When toxin build up becomes chronic it can lead to further symptoms and in some cases aggravate a disease process.  Subtler toxin accumulation can reduce the efficiency of a vast array of physiological activities by altering intracellular and extracellular pH and disturbing the functions of numerous enzymatic and other reactions.  Functionally, poor digestion, colon sluggishness and dysfunction, reduced liver function and poor elimination can also contribute to a toxic state.

So toxins can cause organ overload, which turns into organ dysfunction, which then increases the build up of toxicity – a vicious spiral. It is therefore not surprising that many disease processes either occur or are aggravated by accumulated toxins or wastes.

Our first line of defence against Toxaemia is through our body ‘detox pathways’: Gastrointestinal, Urinary, Lymphatic, Respiratory and Skin.

The good news is that the majority of us manage to cope quite well despite a certain level of toxicity. Indeed it is not always toxins themselves that are the problem but the way in which our bodies process these materials.

In France and Switzerland there is a long tradition in the way homeopathic doctors endeavour to help the body address toxicity. Used alongside classical homeopathic treatment, organotherapy works to support and strengthen those organs that are struggling to eliminate toxins, through what might commonly be referred to as organ drainage.

Interested in finding out more? 

For more information on Organotherapy I suggest Dr Joe Rozencwaig book (Organotherapy: drainage and detoxification, Emryss publishers) and also the excellent book by Dr Jean-Lionel Bagot (Cancer and Homeopathy, Unimedia) where he describes how 1 in 4 cancer patient in France benefits from homeopathy while undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.