Drug Treatment & Alcohol Rehab

It is increasingly evident that the accumulation of drug residues and their lipophilic metabolites in the body plays a role in drug addiction. Such residues are associated with persistent symptoms and their mobilization from body stores into blood correlates with drug craving. A detoxification method developed by L. Ron Hubbard was specifically targeted at reducing levels of fat-stored chemical resides in the body and thereby alleviating the long-term effects of such compounds. We were interested in determining whether drugs were eliminated during this program and, if so, what types of symptomatic changes occurred as a consequence.

Human exposure to toxic chemicals has dramatically increased in the last century. Millions of compounds have been formulated and some 70,000 are now in commercial use. The environmental persistence of many of these compounds is cause for concern. In addition, many of these synthetic compounds accumulate in biological organisms ("bioaccumulation"), storing in bone, fat, or another compartment of the body.

This program was designed to mobilize and enhance the elimination of fat-stored xenobiotics. The Hubbard program was specifically developed to reduce levels of drug residues but has proven to be applicable to the reduction of other fat-stored compounds. The program has gained widespread support due to its effectiveness and the fact that it is well supported by the medical literature. Each component of the program is in alignment with current research on the mobilization of fat stores and the facilitation of toxin elimination. The components of this program are:

Effects of specific vitamins are utilized as well. Niacin has a long-term effect of reducing the mobilization of fatty acids (39). However, the initial reduction in mobilized fatty acids following a single dose is followed by a transitory increase in free fatty acid mobilization (40,41). Mobilization of free fatty acids by other mechanisms has been shown to result in concurrent mobilization of the fat-stored chemicals (26,27). This also appears to occur during this detoxification program. The increased turnover of fat results in mobilization of fat-stored chemicals and the opportunity to eliminate them from the body.

Neurophysiological and neuropsychological tests were conducted on 14 of these firefighters six months after the fire. This battery of 22 tests demonstrated that the firefighters who had been involved with the fire were significantly impaired in both memory and cognitive functions when compared to co-workers from the same department who had not participated in fighting this fire. (Scores for 13 of the 22 tests were significantly worse in the exposed firefighters.)