Dr. Prather, tell us more about xenobiotics.

Xeno means stranger and biotics means biology, so xenobiotics means a stranger to the biology of your body. In other words, it’s not supposed to be there. This can be a very important factor in your health so if you have things that are in your system that are causing disruptions or damage to the body it is classified as a xenobiotic.

Xenobiotics are important because they are well known, definite problems with the health of the body. These can be things such as pathogens, bacterial or viral infections, mercury toxicity, allergies such as hayfever or allergic reactions to something, as well as mutagens or cancer. All of these things can cause a tremendous amount of health issues.

In the Structure Function Practice we have at the Prather Wellness Center, we know that looking at the xenobiotics is a very important aspect in improving the overall health and wellness of our patients.

The five classifications of xenobiotics are:
Pathogens: infections that can get into the system including bacteria, viruses, fungus, parasites

Mutagens: this includes carcinogens and teratagens and those are the things that cause genetic defects and kick off cancer, these things cause a change in the actual DNA structure

Toxins and poisons: an example of a poison would be mercury, or bacteria can make toxins that affect the body, foods and plants can be a major source of toxins, for instance shellfish actually absorb toxins from algae so people with allergies to shellfish are having a reaction to the toxins

Allergens: this is an anaphaltic type of reaction caused by things like peanuts, dust, dander, and latex

Antigens and immunogens: these cause an immune response which can kick off many of the autoimmune diseases