Dear Doctor,

My roommate detoxes every week. Isn’t it unhealthy especially as some people claim it denies the body a chance to build a strong immune system or is this claim baseless?

Ingabire

Dear Ingabire,

Detoxification is not needed every week, even for children. Normally when a person maintains good personal and food hygiene, chances of exposure to worms and other parasites are minimised. Other risk factors for acquiring worms are walking barefeet, handling pets and doing work involving mud, for example in a garden. Every person in a tropical climate harbours eggs of various worms and parasites, which enter body inadvertently from various sources. The body’s immune system contains them and prevents one from falling sick. However, when the eggs hatch and worms multiply, a person starts having illness ranging from abdominal pain and bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, skin rashes, anaemia, dry cough and even serious brain infections with neurological consequences.

Heavy and or recurrent worm infestation in children affects their nutrition, overall growth and performance. In adults it can be a source of chronic and recurrent sickness and even malnutrition in severe cases.

It is advised to maintain good personal and food hygiene to avoid these infections. Detoxifying is recommended once in four to six months. It should be remembered that the drugs used for detoxification can also cause side effects like nausea, vomiting and dizziness, among others.

Dr Rachna Pande  is a specialist in internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital