Biodetoxification Program

Treatment of chemical toxicity | chemical sensitivity treatment and Chemical Sensitivity

Many disorders and diseases can be caused or exacerbated by an overload of stored chemical toxins. Addressing this aspect of the Total Body Stress Load can be truly life saving for people chemically injured through acute or chronic chemical exposures. Our toxic body burdens are critical to our health. This is why we often say, “We don’t just get sick, but are being made sick.”

At the root of hypersensitivity to common airborne pollutants–such as pesticides, synthetic fragrances, and petrochemical fumes—are three common problems: an increased body burden of toxins, a depletion of key nutrients used in the body’s normal detoxification processes, and, at times, an inherently weak detoxification system.

Each patient that we see at The Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine is evaluated and treated individually. [Click here to learn more about our Comprehensive Diagnostic Work-up.] Based on an individual’s history and laboratory results, our physicians are able to determine if an overload of stored chemical toxins is a major cause of a patient’s signs and symptoms. If so, the Biodetoxification Program offers the most comprehensive and cost-effective treatment in the least amount of time.

The Center’s Biodetoxification Program has been operating since October 1988 and was pioneered for one purpose:

to offer safe, intensive treatment for the reduction of the body’s burden of toxic chemicals. Our Biodetoxification unit is one of only a half-dozen such units in the entire country, and to our knowledge, it is the largest stand-alone unit for this treatment protocol. Dr. Lieberman’s background and experience in Toxicology has made him a recognized expert in this field.

Before a patient enters the program, specialized laboratory testing is performed to determine the body burden of toxic chemicals and how these may be affecting body chemistry, immunity, and overall function. A considerable amount of time and research went into the development of our Biodetoxification Program. Each part of the program has evolved according to the needs and results of our patients.

Hundreds of patients from all over the world have now completed the Biodetoxification Program at The Center. Patients come to us on their own referral (often because someone they know has had good results) or on the referral of various state or federal programs.

The Center’s Biodetoxification Program utilizes clinical procedures that safely reduce the body’s burden of toxic chemicals, including chemicals stored following occupational, accidental, and/or chronic airborne exposures. Chemicals bind to human tissues on the basis of their lipophilic properties — meaning literally “attracted to fats.” When our bodies absorb lipophilic toxins, they are deposited in our fat stores and released whenever those fatty tissues are broken down to provide energy. Thus, although we may initially be poisoned by an extrinsic (outside) source of toxicants, we may continue to be poisoned over a prolonged period of time by our own intrinsic (inside) body stores of those poisons.

The biodetoxification process is designed to remove toxicants using three basic mechanisms:
1. Mobilization of bound chemicals from storage sites through lipolysis (the breakdown of fatty tissues).
2. Enhancement of the body’s natural systems of detoxification and biotransformation.
3. Enhancement of excretion and inhibition of re-absorption.

These three mechanisms permit acceleration of the body’s system of detoxification, making it possible to decrease the time normally required to reduce a body burden of toxicants from months to weeks.

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine uses a four-week outpatient Biodetoxification Program operating eight hours each day, five days per week, for treatment of the average patient. However, some patients may require more time, varying from four to ten weeks.

What are the advantages of undergoing Biodetoxification at The Center rather than at home?
The Center’s Biodetoxification Program is medically supervised and controlled. Each patient’s status is closely monitored via laboratory work, as well. This is an intensive program involving daily dry sauna, weekly therapeutic massage and lymphatic drainage by a licensed massage therapist, daily replenishment of key biodetoxification nutrients, twice-weekly intravenous nutrient therapy, and weekly group psychological support sessions with a licensed mental health counselor. (Individualized counseling is also available, for an additional fee.)

The intensive four-week portion of the program at The Center is continued through maintenance detoxification procedures that can be done at home. We teach patients how to safely and effectively continue maintenance biodetoxification on their own, with only periodic follow-ups with the physicians at The Center to monitor their progress.