Sense about Science is maintaining reliable information about detoxication claims including a short leaflet and a longer Detox Dossier. Now BBC reports about a new case report from British Medical Journal Case Reports about a woman suffering of serious health problems after performing various detox procedures. The authors warn:
The complementary medicine market is very popular in the UK and the concept of the New Year ‘detox’ with all-natural products is appealing to those less concerned with evidence-based medicine and more with complementary medicine. Excessive water intake as a way of ‘purifying and cleansing’ the body is also a popular regime with the belief that harmful waste products can thus be washed from the body. Despite marketing suggesting otherwise, all-natural products are not without side effects however, and it is important that we as healthcare professionals look for their use in our patients and are aware of those side effects as well as interactions with prescription medications. We therefore present the case of a middle-aged woman who presented with a potentially life-threatening complication of a New Year ‘detox’.