Homotoxicology—A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding and Reversing Chronic Disease

By Mark Iwanicki

Exploring how toxin bioaccumulation drives chronic illness and how homotoxicology provides a systematic framework for detoxification, ECM restoration, and long-term healing

Chronic disease is the defining health challenge of our era, with conditions such as autoimmune disorders, metabolic dysfunction, degenerative illnesses, and cancer on the rise.¹ Conventional medicine often focuses on managing symptoms rather than addressing the underlying causes of disease. Homotoxicology, a revolutionary medical framework within the larger body of medicine often referred to as European Biological Medicine, provides a systematic approach to understanding how our body’s accumulated toxic burden contributes to disease progression. By targeting the extracellular matrix (ECM) and guiding the body through a structured detoxification process, Homotoxicology also offers a path to true healing.

Toxins (of biological and metabolic origin) and toxicants (of man-made origin) bioaccumulate in the body due to continuous production (when referring to metabolic toxins) and constant exposure (when referring to environmental toxicants) that outpace the body’s ability to eliminate them effectively.² Environmental toxicants (commonly called toxins) are particularly egregious, accumulating in fat, tissues, organs, and the extracellular matrix (ECM), disrupting cellular function, hormonal signaling, mitochondrial energy production, and immune regulation.³ A study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology identified over 3,600 chemical substances, including hazardous chemicals like bisphenols, phthalates, and heavy metals from food contact materials, such as packaging and kitchen utensils, present in human biological samples, including blood, breast milk, and fat tissue.⁴ 

With over 350,000 synthetic chemicals produced globally, bioaccumulation is inevitable for every human, increasing with age and exposure.⁵ This total toxic burden is a major unaddressed driver of chronic disease, contributing to oxidative stress, metabolic dysfunction, immune dysregulation, and neurotoxicity.⁶ Without proper detoxification and drainage support, these accumulated toxins continue interfering with normal cellular processes, leading to progressive disease and degeneration.

Homotoxicology-A New Framework for Working with Toxin Bioaccumulation

Homotoxicology, first developed by German physician Dr. Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg is a framework within European Biological Medicine (also referred to as Biological Medicine, German Biological Medicine, Swiss Biological Medicine (as per Dr. Thomas Rau), or in North America as Bioregulatory Medicine) based on the premise that disease is the body’s response to accumulating toxins (referred to by Dr. Reckeweg collectively as “homotoxins”) that disrupt normal cellular function. Homotoxicology describes how, as toxin load increases, the body progresses through distinct, clinically verifiable phases of advancing pathology.⁷ 

At the core of understanding Homotoxicology lies the biological concept of the extracellular matrix (ECM), first extensively studied by Alfred Pischinger, who identified it as the key regulatory system of the body. The ECM is a vast, dynamic network of connective tissue, structured water, collagen fibers, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans, serving as the primary communication and exchange interface between cells, capillaries, and the lymphatic system. It is the space that surrounds and bathes all body cells and forms one continuous whole. It plays a crucial role in nutrient delivery, toxin filtration, and immune surveillance, acting as a buffer zone that regulates the biochemical environment surrounding cells. The ECM is also the key area where toxins bioaccumulate, leading to impairment of cellular signaling, disruption of nutrient exchange, and the breakdown of normal cellular functioning, all contributing to chronic inflammation and disease progression. Homotoxicology focuses on clearing homotoxins from the ECM, restoring its function, and optimizing the body’s self-regulatory capacity to promote long-term health.⁸ 

The Six-Phase Table of Homotoxicology

Dr. Reckeweg developed a six-phase disease table to map disease progression based on increasing toxicity levels within every organ system of the body. This framework helps practitioners determine the severity of the toxic burden and track the health of an organ system through these phases. Each body system— the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys, or cardiovascular system—can be assessed within this model to understand how increasing toxic bioaccumulation affects its normal functioning.⁹ The following is a description of each phase of the table using the skin as an example organ system:

Phase	Description	Example (Skin Health)
1. Excretion Phase (Healthiest)	The body actively eliminates toxins via urine, stool, sweat, and breath. Minimal bioaccumulation occurs.	Clear, vibrant skin as toxins are efficiently eliminated.
2. Inflammation Phase	Acute inflammation occurs as the body attempts to neutralize toxins. Inflammatory processes help remove accumulating toxins.	Temporary rashes, redness, or eczema-like reactions indicate increased toxin removal.
3. Deposition Phase	Toxin elimination is outpaced by bioaccumulation, leading to toxin storage in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and connective tissues.	Chronic eczema, acne, and persistent skin irritation emerge.
4. Impregnation Phase	Toxins penetrate organ cells, causing cellular dysfunction. Storage in the ECM is compromised, pushing toxins intracellularly.	Loss of skin elasticity, premature aging, deep wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation due to toxicity affecting collagen and elastin.
5. Degeneration Phase	Toxins accumulate inside cells, leading to structural damage and breakdown of normal cellular function. Organelles and mitochondria fail, disrupting cell duties.	Severe skin conditions like psoriasis and dermatitis indicate deep degenerative damage and immune dysregulation.
6. Neoplasm Phase (Most Advanced)	Toxins reach the nucleus, damaging DNA and causing abnormal cellular replication. Prolonged toxicity and immune dysregulation cause uncontrolled cell growth.	Melanomas and other skin cancers may develop due to long-term toxin exposure and impaired detoxification.

Understanding where a patient falls within this six-phase system allows practitioners to tailor treatment strategies and encourage the body to reverse its disease progression.⁹ Deeper degeneration will require longer, more aggressive treatments to move patients out of illness. Practitioners can guide patients toward restored health and optimal well-being by addressing toxicity early, supporting detoxification, and preventing toxin accumulation.

Regressive and Progressive Vicariation: The Path to Healing

One of the most exciting concepts within homotoxicology is regressive vicariation—or the process in which the body can shift from deeper, chronic disease states and high levels of bioaccumulation to acute inflammatory phases and toxin elimination. This means that as patients are supported through detoxification, they move from right to left on the 6 phase disease table and may experience temporary inflammatory reactions such as fevers, skin eruptions, or mucus discharge, which are good signs that the body is moving out of deeper levels of degeneration and back out toward excretion and elimination. Successful homotoxicological treatment involves understanding this and effectively guiding the body through regressive vicariation, ensuring that toxins move out of the ECM and are eliminated safely.

Conversely, progressive vicariation occurs when toxins continue to bioaccumulate and/ or are suppressed, causing the patient to shift from acute to chronic degenerative states through the 6 phases of disease progression. The frequent use of anti-inflammatory drugs to suppress fevers can prevent proper toxin elimination through acute inflammation. It can drive the body into deeper levels of toxicity, resulting in all the advanced degenerative disease states seen on the extreme right-hand side of the 6-phase disease table, such as arthritis, cardiovascular conditions, and cancer. Recognizing the process of progressive vicariation allows practitioners to correct treatment strategies and support detoxification at early phases and appropriate paces.¹⁰

Hering’s Law of Cure and Vicariation in Homotoxicology

Hering’s law of cure and the concept of regressive vicariation in Homotoxicology share important similarities, both describing the predictable patterns of disease progression and healing, though from different perspectives. Hering’s Law, a foundational principle in homeopathy, states that true healing occurs from inside out, top-down, and in reverse order of symptom appearance, reflecting the body’s natural self-regulatory propensity. Regressive vicariation mirrors Hering’s Law, where detoxification and drainage therapies move the body backward through the 6 phases of disease progression, temporarily experiencing signs of physiological inflammation as toxins are eliminated. This physiological inflammation describes symptoms similar to the “healing crisis” (fever, fatigue, aches, skin rashes, etc.) described in traditional homeopathy through a distinctly modern lens of understanding. Homotoxicology also uniquely describes the reverse process, progressive vicariation, and how disease deepens as toxins accumulate in the extracellular matrix (ECM), tissues, and cells, leading to advancing chronic and degenerative states. Understanding these principles from this new perspective reinforces the importance of proper detoxification and drainage in facilitating true healing rather than symptom suppression.¹¹

Detoxification, ECM Restoration, and Progressive Vicariation Treatments

To effectively reverse chronic disease and restore health, Homotoxicology encourages a structured approach of regressive vicariation treatments centered on detoxification and ECM restoration. Detoxification is the first crucial, foundational step, as it mobilizes and eliminates stored toxins that impair normal cellular function. The body’s natural flow of toxin elimination starts with the ECM, moves into the lymphatics, and then neutralizes via the liver and kidneys. The lymphatic system pulls toxins out from deep storage within the ECM, directing them toward the liver and kidneys for processing and filtration. Sweat from the skin and gas exchange via the lungs play secondary roles. By supporting the primary organs of detoxification globally, we can enhance the body’s ability to pull toxins from deep storage, lighten the toxic burden on the ECM, and restore optimal physiological function.

Within homotoxicology, drainage remedies play a crucial role in detoxification by supporting the primary organs of elimination globally, sometimes referred to as emunctories, thereby facilitating toxin elimination. These low-dose, complex combination of homeopathic and/ or spagyric preparations of herbs and minerals prime the pump of detox by sending blood, nutrients, and energy to the main organs of elimination. Many European and increasing US manufacturers have proven track records of producing clinically effective drainage remedies. 

Interventions in ECM restoration focus on alkalization, remineralization, and oxygenation to improve cellular signaling and detoxification efficiency. Alkalizing diets and supplements, oxygenation therapies, and IV therapies such as ozone and intravenous bicarbonate create an optimal ECM environment for toxin clearance. Additionally, manual lymphatic drainage, infrared sauna therapy, and hydrotherapy support circulation and toxin mobilization, reducing stagnation within the ECM.

These therapies and treatments help guide the body through regressive vicariation in a controlled healing process, ensuring that toxins move from deeper cellular storage back to superficial detoxification phases of excretion and acute inflammation. This process is monitored through symptom tracking, ensuring that detox reactions are appropriately managed and that suppression of symptoms does not occur, which could otherwise lead to further unwanted progressive vicariation.¹² By implementing a comprehensive detoxification protocol centered on drainage alongside ECM restoration strategies, practitioners can support patients in effectively reversing chronic disease and optimizing long-term health.

Summary

Homotoxicology provides a powerful and practical framework for understanding chronic disease in our modern times. It can be seen as a fresh take on classical homeopathy and Hering’s Law of Cure that integrates the latest understanding of cellular pathology, detoxification, and disease progression. Pioneered by German physician Dr. Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, it contextualizes how chronic disease results from chronic toxin bioaccumulation within the extracellular matrix (ECM) space, eventually leading to cellular degeneration and breakdown. With the six-phase disease table, we can see how regressive vicariation, through a structured process of toxin removal via dynamic therapies that support the primary organs of detoxification: the lymphatics, liver, kidneys, and gut leads to the reversal of chronic disease, helping to re-establish self-regulation and self-management in the body. Homotoxicology provides the ultimate framework for the modern naturopathic clinician by integrating principles in homeopathy, toxicology, and immunology. As chronic disease continues to rise, Homotoxicology provides an invaluable paradigm for transforming patient outcomes and shifting modern healthcare toward a detoxification and regeneration model.

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