detoxify
Meaning of detoxify: To render a harmful substance less harmful, which is a genuine chemical process in the liver and also a marketing word.
Definition of detoxify
Detoxify means to make a poisonous substance less harmful, or to clear such a substance from the body. Most of that work is done by liver enzymes, which convert a drug or toxin into a form the kidneys or the bowel can carry out. The word is also used for the supervised process of withdrawing from alcohol or another drug.
How does the body actually do it?
Liver enzymes handle it in two stages. The first stage attaches a reactive chemical handle to the molecule. The second stage clips something bulky and water loving onto that handle, so the whole thing dissolves in water and can be filtered out. The catch is that the halfway product of the first stage is sometimes more toxic than the original, which is exactly what happens in an overdose of acetaminophen when the second stage runs out of the material it needs. Inherited differences in these enzymes are common, so one person clears a drug several times faster than another, and such variation is hereditary rather than acquired.
Which organs share the work?
| Organ | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Liver | Nearly all of the chemical conversion |
| Kidneys | Filter the water soluble product into urine |
| Lungs | Breathe off volatile substances such as alcohol and anesthetic gases |
| Bile and bowel | Carry larger conjugated waste out in stool |
| Skin | A minor route, through sweat |
What does it mean in addiction care?
Here detoxification means supervised withdrawal. The substance clears while the resulting symptoms are watched and treated. Withdrawal from alcohol and from sedatives is the dangerous kind, since it can bring seizures and confusion severe enough to threaten life, whereas opioid withdrawal is intensely unpleasant but rarely fatal. Detoxification handles the physical dependence only. The psychological side, and the risk of returning to use, needs treatment of its own, and tolerance falls quickly during abstinence, which is why overdose risk rises after a period without the drug.
Do detox diets do anything?
Products sold as cleanses do not name the toxin they remove or show that it left. The organs described above run continuously and do not queue up waiting for a juice regimen. Some products cause harm through laxative overuse, salt disturbance or liver injury from herbal ingredients.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The liver detoxifies most drugs before the kidneys remove what is left.
Good to know
The liver and kidneys detoxify continuously without assistance, and commercial cleanses have not been shown to add anything, while supervised withdrawal from alcohol is a genuine clinical process because the withdrawal itself can be dangerous.
Word origin
Where “detoxify” comes from
Built from the Latin de, meaning away or removal, and the Greek toxikon, the poison once smeared on arrows.