Detoxification Meaning
Detoxification is the procedure of clearing the body from any sort of toxins like drugs, alcohol or environmental and food toxins. The term is most commonly used for drug abuse cases, but the short version detox is also a popular beauty procedure of cleaning the skin.
Drug detoxification focuses on clearing the body from the substance the person is addicted to. It is concerned with relieving the symptoms of withdrawal and tries to help the patient feel better. The procedure cannot help with the reason the person became a drug addict. Environmental, social and behavioral factors that lead to this path should be addressed separately and solutions to the problems the person faced can be found through other treatment. Detoxification only focuses on the withdrawal symptoms the person will feel after stopping using the substance he is addicted to. The symptoms can last some days and they are severe and for these reasons the person should seek help. The procedure commonly has three stages.
The first stage is called the evaluation stage. In this stage the substances that the person is addicted to our found. A blood sample may also be analyzed just to see the amount of these substances that flow in the body. This also shows the capability of the body to remove a certain amount separately on its own. The stage is very helpful to determine the treatment that the person can benefit from.
The second stage is stabilization. The person will most certainly need help to go through the withdrawal symptoms he will feel after quitting the drug. If someone has been taking drugs for long, the body has probably gotten used to them and has altered the normal way of functioning completely to adjust to drugs. Now the opposite thing should be done again. This phase is important and it requires medical attention.
The third phase is guidance. After the person’s body is clean again and starts functioning normally, the patient is left to deal with the problems that have caused him to become an addict. This is easier now that the patient can think clearly. The same procedure is used with alcohol.
Detoxifying the body from alcohol is difficult. Increased alcohol intake for several years causes the brain to stop producing certain chemicals and substitutes them with alcohol. When the brain doesn’t get any alcohol, it must start making these substances again. In order to go through this procedure without severe damage, the person needs help.
To detoxify the body, the term detox diet is commonly used. The diet is based on an increased intake of fruits and vegetables and many glasses of water or tea during the day. These diets usually don’t allow any food and only last a couple of days.
The main argument for these diets is that most doctors agree that they don’t actually detoxify the body. The body has mechanisms that remove toxins and a diet can’t offer anything more.
