Clearing the Body and Brain of Toxins: A Path Back To Wellness

by Pamela Costello MD PC

Hippocrates prophesied 2500 years ago about our modern day bodies’ reaction to an impure environment when he stated “All diseases are crises of purification, of toxic elimination”. What he may not have foreseen, however, was how toxic our planet was to become and how challenged our bodies would be in their attempt to rid themselves of these toxins.    As we find ourselves living in an increasingly toxic world, it becomes more challenging to navigate a clear path to wellness.  Obstacles on this path include the adverse effects on the nervous system and the body of a deteriorating food supply, the presence of potent, elusive infectious agents, and the increasing burden of toxins and neurotoxins. This toxic burden damages our cells, body tissues, and organ systems, creating imbalances in the body which manifest as acute and chronic illness.

The antidote to these challenges begins with awareness and avoidance of the sources of these toxins. The next step is finding qualified medical guidance, utilizing the diagnostic tools and treatment strategies to identify and safely clear the body and brain of their toxic burden. This process will lead to the correction of the associated imbalances and allow the body to be restored to health.    Toxins are defined as those substances that act as poisons to the human body and are acquired from a lifetime of exposure, beginning in utero (in the womb). They facilitate other injurious or foreign agents such as Lyme Disease, viruses, funguses, and bacteria to flourish. The accumulation of these agents leads to inflammation, direct cell and organ damage and, ultimately, illness.

Neurotoxins are poisonous substances with an affinity for the Nervous System, i.e., the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system. The most poisonous toxins to the nervous and immune systems include heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and nickel, along with pesticides, herbicides, hydrocarbons, solvents, and plastic compounds.

Exposure of the developing nervous system to such toxins leads to maldevelopment which can result in mental retardation, cerebral palsy, growth, balance, and coordination issues and developmental delays, both micro and macrocephaly, spinal deformities, the autism spectrum, and behavioral and mood disorders.

In the mature, adult brain, exposure to such toxins results in inflammation and neurodegenerative disease. This is seen early on as ‘brain fog’, difficulty focusing or concentrating, excessive fatigue, acute pain syndromes, including headaches, neck and low back pain, neuropathies (pain, numbness, and tingling of the feet and hands), balance and coordination issues, mood disorders, and visual dysfunction.  In the later or more chronic stages, these toxic and infectious issues can lead to movement disorders, more severe limb weakness and numbness, (including MS and ALS), dementias, (including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases), chronic, debilitating pain syndromes, mood disorders, and other degenerative disease.

Much of allopathic medicine addresses diagnosis and treatment of illness by symptom suppression. As this approach fails to address the core, toxic, basis of disease, symptom suppression and a suppressive pharmaceutical approach is myopic and one that often has its own toxic consequences and, therefore, is destined to fail.

An effective guide for the path back to wellness, therefore includes the following:

A. Awareness: information is free and available to everyone. The Internet has facilitated this tremendously, and knowledge is power.

B. Avoidance Behaviors: once aware of current and past toxic exposures, modifying one’s diet and lifestyle to minimize further exposure is key.

C. Detoxification and Treatment: identifying and clearing the body and brain of toxins involves accurately establishing one’s own toxic burden, then safely removing the acquired toxins, and correcting associated imbalances.

Every one is entitled to effective, safe healthcare that offers establishing and maintaining maximum health and wellness. If you would like an evaluation to help on your path back to wellness, please contact my office at 505-503-8325.

Cowboys, Aliens, and Neurotoxins: The Poisons in Our Brains”

By Pamela Costello MD PC

Holistic Neurological Physician, Holistic Neurosurgeon

     Hippocrates stated 2500 years ago that “all diseases are crises of purification, of toxic elimination”. More so than at any other time in history, this wisdom applies to our current state of health crises and to our nervous system’s response to an increasingly toxic planet

While it is generally accepted that our brain function is positively influenced by a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition, regular exercise, adequate rest, and good genetics, it is not as well known that a multitude of toxic influences (neurotoxins) adversely affect our neurologic function, contributing to everything from brain fog, headaches, decreased mental processing, to even more severe maladies such as infection/inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. If left untreated, this exposure can manifest as chronic debilitating pain syndromes, limb weakness and numbness, hearing or visual loss, balance and gait dysfunction, debilitating mood disorders, or as a number of other neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia.  In the developing brain, these neurotoxic influences can contribute to maldevelopment in children, such as the autism spectrum, micro or macrocephaly, spinal deformities, as well as behavioral, learning, and mood disorders.  These adverse influences are referred to as acting in a neurotoxic manner to the brain and neurologic tissues. While structural issues and even genetics must always be considered as a contributing background, it is often a surprise to patients that a number of both identifiable and potentially reversible neurotoxic agents are contributing to their neurological dysfunction or illness.

Of these neurotoxins, there exists a number of categories that involve potentially reversible toxic influences on the nervous system that, once removed, can lead to significant improvement in brain function and help restore improved neurologic health.  To begin with, there is the adverse inflammatory influence of dietary choices. Much of our immune system resides in our gut wall, where there exists an interface between all ingested substances and our immune systems. Many currently available food sources can cause a substantial allergic inflammatory response that directly adversely affects our brain function. This is readily testable and can be corrected by the appropriate dietary changes.  Additionally, there exist the severely neurotoxic agents of pesticides, radiation, and the wide array of neurotoxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, nickel, cadmium, aluminum, etc. These toxins are measurable with appropriate laboratory testing, as well as readily, safely removed with chelation (binding and removing) therapies.

Furthermore, dental energetic interference fields and ongoing brain exposure to Mercury/”Silver” dental fillings can adversely affect the brain and nervous tissues, and are readily testable and treatable with the help of a biological dentist (see related Mercury filling article with ad by Dr. Bill Wolfe in this issue).Finally, there exists an array of elusive viral, bacterial, and fungal infections that have an affinity for our brain matter, leading to brain fog, chronic pain syndromes, mood and behavioral dysfunction, and even to the extreme conditions of encephalitis and myelitis.  If we didn’t have as much environmental toxicity to contend with, these pathogens would likely not be such a health issue. Addressing both the environmental toxicities, as well as the infectious pathogens, is therefore imperative to achieve healing.  Diagnosis of these neurotoxic influences is the first step toward restoring good brain health. Once identified, careful and thorough treatment can be undertaken. This evaluation and treatment would involve conducting a thorough neurologic history and physical, to include both structural and physiologic analysis, followed by chelation therapies, nutritional and avoidance behavior counseling, eliminating toxic environmental exposures, addressing toxic dental issues, as well as management of any underlying infectious issues and other toxic imbalances.  To arrange such an evaluation, please contact my office at the phone numbers listed in my adjoining ad. Our office accepts all insurance plans.