Toxic metals - a problem for us all
From DoctorMyhill
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We are all toxic with heavy metals! The reason is simple - since man has been mining coal, oil, gas and other minerals he has been mobilising toxic metals into the environment. This is made much worse by heavy metals in regular use in Western lifestyles. The worst offenders are:
- Mercury - leaks freely from dental amalgam fillings - also silver, nickel, palladium
- Nickel - widely used in jewelery and piercings, stainless steel saucepans are 14% nickel
- Lead - present in water, used in paints
- Aluminium - most deodorants contain aluminium which is readily absorbed through skin
- Cadmium - the main source is cigarette smoke
- Gold - often used in dentisty - gold stents for arterial stenting have now been dropped because of high rates of re-stenosis
- Titanium - often used in tablets and capsules, used in dentistry and surgery
But we all get background exposures from :
- Food - all chemical fertilisers will be contaminated by toxic metals! Seed dressings are often mercury based.
- Cosmetics - toxic metals may be used as dyes.
- Industrial discharges - burning coal, oils and gas will all release toxic metals into the environment. Many manufacturing industries use and release toxic metals.
- Vaccines - all contain either mercury on aluminium.
- Prescription drugs - many contain toxic metals such as titanium, often labelled as an "inert". Slow release preparations often have fluoride.
Why are heavy metals a problem?
- They are directly toxic by inhibiting mitochondrial function (which causes chronic fatigue and accelerates the normal ageing process)
- They stick to DNA and can trigger cancer.
- They may stick to proteins and trigger prion disorders. See Prion disorders: Alzheimer's Disease; Parkinson's Disease; Creutzfeldt-Jacob's Disease & Motor Neurone Disease.
- They stick to membranes, proteins and other cell organelles which make them look different to the immune system. The immune system tries to get rid of them with Inflammation. This causes further tissue damage.
- Inflammation has the potential to switch on allergy and autoimmunity - see Category:Allergies, autoimmunity and infections
- They use up micronutrients in the body as the body detoxes them. So an atom of mercury needs a molecule of glutathione to pee it out - glutathione is also needed for glutathione peroxidase - a vital antioxidant. Indeed it may be that our world is now so polluted that we shold all be taking additional glutathione 250mgs daily.
- They add to our total load of POPs (persistent organic pollutants) and increase risk of multiple chemical sensitivity
- Almost certainly they are a risk factor, if not cause of, Electrical sensitivity
In chronic fatigue syndrome the commonest metals seen causing problems are first mercury, then nickel, palladium, gold and titanium, but any metal may be involved! I have a recent case of thallium poisoning! In multiple sclerosis nearly all patients have increased sensitivity to a wide range of metals espcially nickel, mercury, cadmium and lead. Cholesterol ester needs an essntial element such as zinc to make steroid hormones - but replace this with copper, the enzyme does not work and "raw" cholesterol builds up!
Toxic metals accumulate in the heart and blood vessels
Toxic metals are known to cause dysrhythmias and hypertension. Chelation therapy to strip out these metals in heart and arterial disease works extremely well! The problem is that the results of large scale trials get deliberately fudged by those with vested interest in pharmaceuticals! Pharmaceuticals mean treatment for life - chelation is a one off and so much less expensive! What is so interesting about reducing the load of heavy metals is that the arteries actually become less stiff - this can be proved by arteriography.
Toxic metals are known to cause cancer
The best documented examples are:
- Hormone sensitive cancers, e.g. breast, ovary - nickel and cadmium
- Lung cancer - nickel, cadmium (the tobacco plant bioconcentrates nickel from soil)
How can we test for them?
There is no one simple test for heavy metals! The problem is that heavy metals are sticky - they bind to body tissues, concentrate in different departments and are excreted in different ways. This is made worse when we are deficient in essential minerals. The body then grabs someting similar. So if one is zinc deficient, superoxide dismutase may use a nickel atom instead - it "looks" like zinc but does not do the same job. The enzyme does not work properly. Carbon monoxide poisoning works in the same way - to haemoglobin carbon monoxide "looks" like oxygen. If repalced, the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is greatly reduced resulting in loss of conciousness and possibly death.
- Hair analysis is inexpensive. If it shows raised levels of a toxic metal then there is toxicity with that metal. However, a normal result does not exclude a toxic metal.
- Blood levels - many heavy metals concentrate in bone and fat or get stuck onto proteins so they are hidden from a blood test.
- Urine test - again, not all toxic metals are excreted in urine.
- Sweat - ditto
- Faecal minerals - ditto.
Probably the most reliable test is urine levels before and after a chelating agent. Kelmer (DMSA) is a good all-rounder so start here with a Kelmer test for the likely offenders (Hg, Ni, Pb, Cd, Al) and add in any that the history may suggest.
Lymphocyte sensitivity testing. Only too often where there is toxicity there is sensitivity and vice versa. A positive sensitivty test almost certainly means there is toxicity!
How can we get rid of toxic metals from the body?
There is no point trying to get rid until you have identified as many sources as possible that you can avoid. It is pointless doing mercury chelation if you have dental amalgam fillings.
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