Think You Need a Detox? 7 Signs to Look Out For

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Think You Need a Detox? 7 Signs to Look Out For

With an increase in toxins in our environment, particularly in the air we breathe and the food we eat, our health is being jeopardised like never before. So what are toxins? Is it possible to spot them and prevent ourselves from being affected by them? Are there tangible signs that may point at excess of toxins in our system? Read ahead and find out the answers to all of this.

What Are Toxins?

 


 

Toxins are harmful substances that are present in almost everything around us. Toxins pollute our bodies and slow down the efficacy of our vital organs. The increasing incidence of digestive and respiratory problems is often attributed to the rise of toxins in our environment. Over-exposure to toxins ends up paving the way for a lot of diseases.

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Are Environmental Toxins to Blame for Rising Rates of Autism and Schizophrenia?

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Are Environmental Toxins to Blame for Rising Rates of Autism and Schizophrenia?

New research traces the genetic pathways that toxins use to attack the developing brain.

Half a century ago, a scientist was trying to create a clean lab that he could use to study radioactive materials free of contamination. But no matter what he tried, his tests kept reporting that they were contaminated with lead. Finally, he realized the source: the lead was coming from the air itself—put there by decades of cars burning leaded gasoline. Eventually, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act, removing lead from gasoline.

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A New Target in Fighting Brain Disease: Metals

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Research into how iron, copper, zinc and other metals work in the brain may help unlock some of the secrets of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Iron and copper appear to accumulate beyond normal levels in the brains of people with these diseases, and a new, Australian study published Sunday shows reducing excess iron in the brain can alleviate Alzheimer's-like symptoms—at least in mice.

A genetic mutation related to regulating iron is linked to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Zinc, on the other hand, appears to impair memory if its levels get too low or if it gets into a brain region where it doesn't belong, as it can with traumatic brain injury.

Research into the complicated, invisible roles these metals play in brain diseases has lagged behind study of the more-visible proteins that are damaged or clump together in the brains of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's sufferers. But better understanding metals' role in the brain could help shed light on a range of medical conditions and might offer a new route for developing treatments, scientists say.

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West Oakland & Berkerley Children to be Tested for Heavy Metals

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West Oakland & Berkerley Children to be Tested for Heavy Metals

Residents who live near two industrial factories in West Oakland and West Berkeley may suspect that the air they breathe contains higher than average levels of lead and other heavy metals.

Now a new pilot study sponsored by the nonprofit Global Community Monitor will help them find out.

The study involves testing the blood of children ages 1-5 who live within a mile of Custom Alloy Scrap Sales, or CASS, on Poplar Street in West Oakland, and Pacific Steel Casting on Second Street in West Berkeley. The companies have been targeted by environmental groups for pollution issues that are compounded by their proximity to residential neighborhoods.

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Toxic towns: People of Mossville 'are like an experiment'

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Gather current and former Mossville, Louisiana, residents in a room and you're likely to hear a litany of health problems and a list of friends and relatives who died young.

"I got cancer. My dad had cancer. In fact, he died of cancer. It's a lot of people in this area who died of cancer," says Herman Singleton Jr., 51, who also lost two uncles and an aunt to cancer.

Singleton and many others in this predominantly African-American community in southwest Louisiana suspect the 14 chemical plants nearby have played a role in the cancer and other diseases they say have ravaged the area.

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6 Risky Chemicals You're Carrying in Your Body

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In the most comprehensive testing to date, the CDC finds Americans are exposed to 212 chemicals. Here's how to avoid six of the riskiest.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released its latest assessment of the chemicals we're all carrying around in our bodies. The biomonitoring study is the most comprehensive in the world, measuring 212 chemicals in the blood and urine of 8,000 Americans. That's more than 40% more chemicals than have ever been tested for before

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