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In recent years numerous "detoxification centers" have been established for treatment of drug addiction. More recently chemical detoxification has been recommended by a small group of practitioners to remove undesirable chemicals from patients believed to have IEI, based on the concept that the sensitivity is caused by toxic effects of low-level synthetic chemicals in detoxification.
Treatment consists of several steps. Aerobic physical exercise is performed for 20 to 30 minutes, followed immediately by forced sweating in a sauna at 140° to 180° F for 2½ to 5 hours and then physical exercise, a cooling shower, and additional exercise. Niacin is then given in increasing doses to produce a flush. Water and salts of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals are prescribed to correct for water and salt depletion from sweating. Polyunsaturated oils (a mixture of soybean, walnut, peanut).
The enforced program of exercise and sweating with niacin-induced cutaneous vasodilation is believed to mobilize fat-soluble "toxic chemicals," presumably into the circulation, where they are excreted. The oil ingestion is to prevent reabsorption of chemicals through the normal enterohepatic recirculation. The "essential oils" are believed to allow toxic substances mobilized into the gut to be excreted from the colon, but some toxic material is believed to be excreted.
All reports up to now by proponents of this detoxification procedure are anecdotal. Results are measured by the patient's self-report of symptomatic improvement. Placebo effect, proper diet, elimination of unnecessary medications, exercise, and adequate sleep therefore have not
The form of "detoxification" described above has yet to be proved effective for treatment of allergy, IEI, drug addiction, or any other illness. The ability of the procedure to remove chemicals from fat has not been proved. The theory of immunotoxicity as a cause of allergic disease is contrary to accumulated scientific experimentation. The potential dangers of this program have
Claims of therapeutic properties of human urine go back to ancient times. In the early 1930s several medical publications claimed that a specific substance, called "proteose," is present during allergic disease. Injections of extracts of this substance.