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2010/07/31
Published
(Part 4 of 4 of Why Be Concerned About Heavy Metals?)
COMMON HEAVY METALS & THEIR EFFECTS
In Part 1, we discussed the difference between heavy metal “poisoning” and being heavy metal “toxic”. To get a feel for the impact that heavy metal toxic accumulation might play on your health, read this article in its entirety. When you are done, print out the sections for each heavy metal and re-read them. Highlight all sources of exposure that pertain to you and all symptoms or conditions for each heavy metal that pertain to you. Then sit back and take a look at the span of symptoms that heavy metal toxicity could be playing in your life in terms of sources of exposure.
Make a plan of action to eliminate or minimize those sources of continuing exposure. Take a look at the symptoms and conditions you highlighted and get a feeling for how heavy metal toxicity could be accelerating, contributing or causing your symptoms. This will give you new insight about what could be causing your symptoms that your average medical practitioner may have never discussed with you that are worth addressing now. Future articles will address the complex subject of heavy metal chelation and how it can be safely done and effectively monitored.
NICKEL TOXICITY
Savvy women know that nickel in jewelry will make their skin itch. Nickel is found as an alloy even in gold jewelry to help make the gold harder. While nickel does cause many skin allergies to jewelry, from rings to earrings and watch bands; inside the body, it causes other damage. It can cause kidney dysfunction, imbalance our hormones, headaches, heart attacks, cancer especially of the intestines and mouth, and muscle tremors.
Nickel isn’t something that is generally tested for with standard heavy metal chelation. However, it does become excreted along with other heavy metals and is generally considered a minor player in heavy metal chelation. Patients generally find that their sensitivity to jewelry decreases significantly over time with effective heavy metal chelation.
Sources for Nickel Accumulation
1) butter, processed food, hydrogenated fats and oils, imitation whipped cream, margarine, oysters, tea
2) tobacco and cigarette smoke
3) stainless steel cookware!
MERCURY TOXICITY
Mercury is a huge health hazard and political hot potato. The political concern is that if the powers admitted the dangers of mercury toxicity, lawsuits might explode. The downside to failing to admit the dangers is to allow our bodies to be poisoned by default.
Sources of mercury accumulation:
The three most important sources of exposure are:
1) mercury amalgams (dental fillings)
2) contaminated seafood (farm raised salmon, wild tuna, swordfish)
3) vaccines containing thimerisol
Additional exposures include:
4) algaecides, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, antiseptics, germicides, body powders
5) broken thermometers
6) burning newspapers
7) fabric softeners
8) some cosmetics, skin lightening creams
10)floor waxes
11) paints
12) photoengraving
13) over the counter medications, some suppositories and creams, contact lens solutions, diuretics, laxatives
14) tattooing, dyes
15) wood preservatives
The Long Term Effects of Mercury Toxicity
This article cannot come close to giving the attention it deserves in emphasizing the vast scope that mercury toxicity affects our body. The best way to think about mercury toxicity is to understand that mercury is very inflammatory to our nervous system, especially the coating of our nerve cells. Think of it like rust, eating away at the coating. When the nerve cell’s outer coating, its myelin sheath, is damaged, the abrasiveness of the metal does its damage like an electrical chord whose outer plastic insulation is abraded away, the wire becomes exposed and shorts out. Communication between nerve cells is hampered and the nerve cell itself dies from the damage to its myelin sheath.
Where in the body are we more susceptible to nerve damage from mercury toxicity? The brain and our peripheral nervous system, and our extremities suffer the most symptoms. Symptoms include: anxiety, poor coordination, jerky movements, hearing loss, deafness, depression, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, migraine, forgetfulness, hyperactivity, insomnia, irritability, joint pain, memory loss, cognitive and language processing disorders, brain fog, metallic taste in mouth, numbness, tingling, pain in the limbs, speech disorders, loss of memory, developmental arrest in children, suicidal tendencies, mania, tremors of eyelids, lips, tongue, fingers, and limbs, impaired vision. Other symptoms non-neurological included: adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue, allergies, leaky gut, hair loss, alopecia, birth defects, cataracts, dermatitis, eczema, skin rashes, excessive saliva, bleed and sore gums, hypothyroidism, immune dysfunction, joint pain, kidney weakness and damage.
Eliminating Heavy Metals
Much is known in the field of chelation among medical practitioners treating autism, Asberger’s and the few dedicated specialists to lyme disease treatment. For purposes of this article, understand that one cannot simply seek and eliminate mercury or any one single heavy metal like a target for one’s chelation therapy! There is a hierarchy of order of excretion that the body prefers to undergo that tends to be little understood among many medical practitioners who chelate their patients.
The fallacy is to assume that if a patient’s mercury excretion is low on urine toxic metals or fecal metals (and its rare that both are tested together!) that it must mean the patient does not have much in the way of mercury to excrete. This is so far from true it can do a huge disservice to a patient. Future articles will go into greater detail the pitfalls and things anyone attempting to chelate heavy metals via prescription or non-prescription should become aware of. However, understand this, each metal in the body will be excreted on a curve, that can be plotted weekly or bi-weekly with urine or fecal labs (depending on the chelator used of course!) As one metal declines you see a gradual increase in the excretion of another. It can take the excretion of arsenic, cadmium, and lead in significant degrees before mercury becomes significant in chelation excretion.
Heavy metal detoxification is a marathon and not a sprint. Patients and parents of autistic children should not be in a rush to detoxify heavy metals. The availability of the heavy metal to be mobilized by the body depends on where it has been stored. The easiest metals to eliminate are those in the digestive track, intracellular matrix, and extracellular matrix, muscles and connective tissues. Those metals stored deeper in the brain, organs and bone take months to years to eliminate! And do not forget that every day you live and breathe on this planet you accumulate more heavy metals, especially lead from the car exhaust we breathe in. Therefore, a regular chelation program is highly recommended for your long term health. Future articles will discuss in depth the subject of safe chelation and how an understanding of our liver detoxification pathways will help us to metabolize vitamins, and excrete toxins.
Please note:
Information on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication or other treatment.
2010/06/05
Published
(Part 3 of 4 of Why Be Concerned About Heavy Metals?)
In Part 1, we discussed the difference between heavy metal “poisoning” and being heavy metal “toxic”. To get a feel for the impact that heavy metal toxic accumulation might be playing on your health, read this article in its entirety. When you are done, print out the sections for each heavy metal and re-read them. Highlight all sources of exposure that pertain to you and all symptoms or conditions for each heavy metal that pertain to you. Then sit back and take a look at the span of symptoms that heavy metal toxicity could be playing in your life in terms of sources of exposure.
Make a plan of action to eliminate or minimize those sources of continuing exposure. Take a look at the symptoms and conditions you highlighted and get a feeling for how heavy metal toxicity could be accelerating, contributing or causing your symptoms. This will give you new insight on causes for your symptoms that your average medical practitioner may have never discussed with you that are worth addressing now. Future articles will address the complex subject of heavy metal chelation and how it can be safely done and effectively monitored.
EXCESS COPPER
We need copper in the body to act with other key minerals to fuel metabolic processes. However, when the ratio of copper is elevated to zinc, we have to take action to rebalance our mineral ratios and eliminate excessive copper. How do we get too much copper?
1) birth control pills, copper IUDs!
2) copper cookware!
3) copper pipes
4) dental alloys
5) ice makers!
6) Swimming pools
7) City and well water
8) Welding
9) Avocado, beer, chocolate, corn oil, crab, gelatin, grain, lamb, liver, lobster, margarine, milk, mushrooms, nuts, organ meats, oysters, perch, shellfish, soybeans, tofu, wheat germ and yeast.
10) fungicides, insecticides
Excessive copper wrecks havoc on our metabolism, especially for those suffering from allergies, chronic inflammation, immune disorders such as autism, ADD, ADHD, Asberger’s, OCD, arthritis, thyroid disorders, skin disorders such as eczema, and adrenal insufficiency. Where excessive copper may not be the sole causative agent in disorders, it certainly does play a significant part in delaying the progress of any therapeutic program as well as aggravating and complicating symptoms.
The following conditions should have copper levels checked by hair and serum testing, along with serum zinc levels: Acne, adrenal fatigue, low cortisol or high cortisol values, allergies of any kind, alopecia, anemia, anorexia, anxiety, arthritis of any kind, autism, Asberger’s, ADD, ADHD, OCD, cancer, cystic fibrosis, depression, diabetes, estrogen dominance, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Hodgkin’s disease, hyperactivity, hypertension, chronic infections, insomnia, kidney disorders, decreased libido, lymphoma, migraines, mood swings, multiple sclerosis, lyme disease, nervousness, osteoporosis, panic attacks, paranoia, PMS, schizophrenia, senility, facial tics, twitches, Alzheimer’s, sexual dysfunction, feeling spacey, brain fog, stuttering, toxemia of pregnancy, urinary infections, yeast infections, stroke.
Hair test kits are available online at www.immunematrix.com.
EXCESSIVE IRON?
Most patients will ask “Is excessive iron a problem?” since the common concern is for iron deficiency. Excessive build up of iron in our tissues can cause a big problem. It can lead to heart failure, heart damage, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, hostility, joint pain, mental problems, metallic taste in mouth, schizophrenia, shortness of breath, nausea, pancreas damage, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, constipation, cancer, bleeding gums, birth defects, arthritis, agitation, anger and stubbornness (all issues involving the liver) and amenorrhea.
Sources of Iron Exposure:
1) drinking water
2) cast iron cookware, especially when we cook with a tomato base leaches out more iron)
3) iron plumbing pipes
4) welding
5) blackstrap molasses, bone meal, bran, chives, clams, organ meats, legumes, nuts, oysters, parsley, refined foods, shellfish, soybeans, wheat germ, whole grain.
6) Red wine
Do women need to worry about excessive iron?
Women, once they stop menstruating, begin to increase their iron stores. This is a major reason that their cardiovascular risk begins to look similar to a man’s once they reach menopause. They no longer have the benefit of purging heavy metal toxins and excess iron through their menstrual blood. This is another reason why peri-menopausal and menopausal women may begin to develop thinning hair and hair loss. The scalp is highly vascularized and sweats easily, assisting the body to excrete toxins. Unfortunately, metals excreted through scalp sweat also irritate hair root follicles. With increased scalp toxicity the hair can begin to fall out easily. Once these women begin a course of heavy metal detoxification the hair loss stops if it is due to toxic accumulation.
Men’s peculiar risk with excessive iron:
Men have unique risks with accumulation of excessive iron. Historically they tend to suffer increased risk for heart attack and cardiovascular disease with excessive iron. It’s an easy thing to have a blood test to rule out excessive iron. Western medicine recommends that such men donate blood regularly. However, better than donating “toxic” blood, is to chelate one’s heavy metal burden properly.
LEAD POISONING versus LEAD TOXICITY
We hear quite a bit in the news about lead toxicity. It causes its own symptoms especially for the young. Immune Matrix has seen however, that adults can suffer “lead poisoning” from the flux on old plumbing that contaminates one’s drinking water in older buildings. Testing one’s water is a good idea if blood work and hair tests show high lead levels. However, you do not need to have lead “poisoning” per se to suffer the damaging effects of lead toxicity.
Sources for lead:
1) dust from lead paint, and children have been known to eat paint chips containing lead
2) retaining lead shot gun pellets in the body
3) swallowing lead weights from fishing supplies
4) storing acidic foods (fruits, tomatoes, wine, cider) in lead-glazed ceramics
5) burning lead-painted wood in fireplaces
6) burning battery casings in fireplaces
7) storing alcohol in leaded glass containers, using leaded crystal
8) inhaling leaded gasoline fumes from cars
9) working with lead soldering, stain glass work
10)mini-blinds have had lead dust
11) coal combustion
12) color inks, some imported toys
13) cosmetics, some lipstick dyes, mascara
14) electroplating
15) household dust
16) hair dyes
17) industrial emissions
18) lead-glazed pottery
19) newsprint!
20) metal polish
21) pencils
22) pvc containers
23) tin cans (think of those holiday cookies store in those quaint tin cans!) with lead solder sealing
24) tobacco, cigarette smoke
25) red wine again!
26) city or well water
Lead Poisoning:
Lead poisoning occurs over time and can cause sudden onset of symptoms with some severe and irreversible symptoms to children such as developmental delay, memory problems, inflammation of the brain, and in adults cause kidney disease. If there was a case of acute lead poisoning in children, the child would suffer vomiting, seizures, alternations in consciousness and even coma. Less severe symptoms are derived from inflammation in the brain and appear as irritability, inability to focus, seizures, and mental regression. In adults, there may be headaches, metallic taste in the mouth, anorexia, vague abdominal symptoms, irritable bowel and/or constipation.
Lead Toxicity
The concern with lead is that it was only recently determined that the presence of lead in the body magnifies the damaging effects of mercury toxicity up to 1000 fold! Therefore, the symptoms coming from lead toxicity can actually be symptoms of mercury toxicity.
Immune Matrix has found that those patients with elevated lead levels are not good candidates for mercury detoxification. The slightest mobilization (release of mercury stored in the body) in response to chelation will cause the patient to have many side effects from the chelation and they usually quit as a result. Most doctors do not then examine whether this patient is in fact extremely lead toxic. By reducing the lead load, the symptomatic and damaging effects of mercury accumulation can be greatly reduced and patients can later resume mild mercury detoxification.
The second and significant problem with lead accumulation is that because our environment is loaded with lead from car exhaust, we all accumulate lead. This slow, gradual, daily accumulation of lead is a primary culprit to the widespread problem of hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis, a leading killer in the modern world.
Lead also accumulates and is stored in our bones! What’s wrong with that you say? Isn’t it safely tucked away from harm in our bones? Not at all. With age, with de-calcification of our bone, either from an acid foods, or osteoporosis, as the bone looses calcium, it also releases lead. Suddenly, with bone loss our lead toxicity rises, there can be a sudden burst of oral cavities, gum soreness and inflammation, dementia and neurological problems, kidney disease, anxiety, hypertension, arthritis (inflammation) etc. as the unleashed lead works its damaging effects through the body. Other symptoms include: joint pain, loss of coordination, problems with concentration, constipation, deafness, depression, emotional instability, fatigue, headaches, impotence, suppressed immune system, intestinal candida, leaky gut, memory loss, muscle aches, muscle weakness, irritability, nightmares, numbness, Parkinson’s disease, peripheral neuropathies, psychosis, restlessness, and tingling fingers and limbs.
Look at the above symptoms again. Don’t they look like symptoms of the aged?! How many of these symptoms do we take for granted and presume “It’s the natural process of aging.”, when in fact it could be the increasing threat of lead being unleashed in the body by de-calcification to wreck havoc.
Part 4 will complete our discussion of common heavy metal toxicity. Future articles will deal with the complex subject of safe heavy metal chelation and what you need to know about how your liver detoxifies.
Please note:
Information on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication or other treatment.
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2010/06/03
Published
(Part 2 of 4 of Why Be Concerned About Heavy Metals?
In Part 1, we discussed the difference between heavy metal “poisoning” and being heavy metal “toxic”. To get a feel for the impact that heavy metal toxic accumulation might play on your health, read this article in its entirety and when you are done print out the sections for each heavy metal and re-read them. Highlight all sources of exposure that pertain to you and all symptoms or conditions for each heavy metal that pertain to you. Then sit back and take a look at the span of symptoms that heavy metal toxicity could be playing in your life in terms of sources of exposure.
Make a plan of action to eliminate or minimize those sources of continuing exposure. Take a look at the symptoms and conditions you highlighted and get a feeling for how heavy metal toxicity could be accelerating, contributing or causing your symptoms. This will give you new insight on causes for your symptoms that your average medical practitioner may have never discussed with you that are worth addressing now. Future articles will address the complex subject of heavy metal chelation and how it can be safely done and effectively monitored.
ALUMINUM EXPOSURE
There is much concern in the medical literature about the effects of chronic accumulation of aluminum and the development of Alzheimer’s and pre-senile dementia. Heavy metals, and especially aluminum, are very “abrasive” to the outer coatings of our neurons (nerve cells of the brain). Think of it like an electrical cord. It has a plastic coating to insulate the electrical wire, which is similar to a nerve cell. The aluminum “rusts” away the outer coating via inflammatory processes and causes irritation and interference with nerve cell function. It’s similar to scraping a wire and exposing it. Eventually it will short out. The sad thing is that aluminum is given to newborn babies in their vaccinations. This aluminum is considered an immune stimulant!
Where do we get aluminum exposure?
Here are some main sources of aluminum exposure. There are many others; but these we have the most control over.
1) Canned sodas. Switch to glass bottles and drink sparking mineral water instead.
2) Antacids. Take a broad spectrum digestive enzyme to improve your digestion. What you do not digest because of insufficient digestive enzymes and those foods that you are immunologically sensitive to will cause symptoms of acid reflux. Antacids have a rebound effect of inhibiting your digestion by the effect of neutralizing stomach acid, causing a vicious cycle of bad digestion, acid reflux and more antacids. See our other articles about acid reflux for more information.
3) Aspirin. Try using ibuprofen instead.
4) Baking powder, beer, bleached white flour
5) Cigarette filters. Quit! or at least have a plan to systemically cut back a certain number per day until you can.
6) Nasal sprays, salt, tap water, toothpaste. Read the labels!
7) Scratched Teflon cookware. Throw out any Teflon that has scratches. You do not need aluminum leaching into your food!
8) Aluminum foil. Save your food but do not cook with it!
9) Car exhaust, air pollution
10) Deodorants. Read the labels. Try natural alternatives
such as crystal type deodorants and mineral based
sprays from your health food store.
11) vaccines (you can insist on thimerisol free vaccines, but you will have to read the label if your doctor lets you to see if it is aluminum free)
Symptoms from elevated Aluminum:
The most severe symptoms are those associated with the development of ALS, Alzheimer’s, dementia, slow brain function, brain fog, chronic forgetfulness, episodes of mental confusion, inability to maintain mental focus, temporary memory loss, abrupt changes in mood and behavior, tremors and headaches. Aluminum inhibits enzyme function in the body. Enzymes drive thousands of metabolic processes in the body. As a result, symptoms can be wide ranging and will not point to obvious aluminum toxicity. Symptoms include but are not limited to: loss of appetite, anemia, dry mouth, dry skin, chronic fatigue, excessive sweating, leg twitching, tremors, neuromuscular aches and pains and numbness, stiffness, or episodes of paralysis, show intestinal activity, constipation, skin problems such as itchy skin, skin rashes, weak and achy muscles, insomnia, pains in stomach, spleen, or liver, heartburn, acid reflux, or gas.
The effects of high aluminum are slow and cumulative and become more serious with the build up of aluminum in our bodies, especially our brains.
ARSENIC?
Most patients are surprised to find elevated arsenic levels in their hair when they run a hair test. Most of us think of arsenic as being poisoned like in some thriller movie. However, arsenic is an ever present contaminant. Sources are:
1) Burning of Coal
2) Insect sprays, pesticides
3) Gardening
4) Shellfish, oysters, shrimp
Symptoms from elevated arsenic?
Arsenic accumulation, like most heavy metals is a slow accumulation taking years to become elevated. Brittle nails are common, skin problems such as dermatitis, drowsiness, garlicky odor to breathe, or stools, hair loss, headaches, hyper-pigmentation of nails and skin, muscle aches or spasms, weakness in limbs, nervousness, and a sweet metallic taste in the mouth. Arsenic in larger exposures can cause abdominal pain, anorexia, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, burning in the mouth, stomach and bowels, difficulty in swallowing, throat constrictions and convulsions. It is known to increase one’s risk of liver, lung, and skin cancers. One good thing however, is that arsenic is one of the easiest and first heavy metal toxins the body excretes during chelation.
CADMIUM?
When patients find elevated cadmium levels they always are astounded and ask “where did that come from?”.
1) airborne industrial contaminants
2) batteries
3) cigarette smoke
4) cola
5) copper refineries, copper alloys, dental alloys
6) drinking water
7) electroplating
8) fertilizers, food from contaminated soil
9) fungicides
10) incineration of tires, rubber, plastic
11) instant coffee
12) iron roofs
13) marijuana usage
14) processed meats, oysters, evaporated milk, refined
grains, flour cereals, cod, haddock, tuna
15) motor oil, paint, pesticides,
16) galvanized pipes, welding metal
17) rubber, rubber backed carpet,
18) soft water!
19) solders (in food cans)
20) tobacco
21) silver polish
Symptoms from cadmium accumulation
Cadmium is very bad and the symptoms affect many organ systems. Consider heavy metal detoxification if you have any of these symptoms because a reduction in your overall cadmium exposure can help reduce and might even eliminate your symptoms. As you will see, cadmium spans a wide list of disorders, diseases and symptoms, all of which can be improved by its elimination: alcoholism, alopecia, anemia, arthritis both osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, bone pain, cancers, cardiovascular disease, cerebral hemorrhage, cirrhosis, diabetes, digestive disturbances, emphysema, enlarged heart, flu like symptoms, impairment of growth, headaches, high cholesterol, hypertension, hypoglycemia, impotence, inflammation, infertility, kidney disease, learning disorders, liver damage, lung diseases, migraines, nerve damage, osteoporosis, prostate dysfunction, reproductive disorders, schizophrenia, and stroke.
Cadmium detoxification usually accompanies other heavy metal excretion. It will run its own course in terms of excretion in a curve with persistent chelation. As with most heavy metals you cannot aim for the detoxification of a single heavy metal. Part 3 will continue to discuss other common heavy metals.
Please note:
Information on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication or other treatment.
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2010/05/31
Published
Heavy metals drive our body to develop certain diseases. They make us susceptible to developing other diseases, and therefore play a significant contributing factor to whether we develop a certain condition or disorder. Part of the problem in traditional western medical diagnosis is that the focus is on the disease and not so much on the cause. There is even less focus on how multiple causative factors push one into developing a disease and little to no concern about how eliminating some significant factors such as heavy metals can significantly diminish symptoms and in some cases reverse the course of one’s disease! This article will help to enlighten you to a new understanding of how this one aspect, heavy metals, can play a significant part in your risk to developing certain disorders, how an accumulation of certain heavy metals can be causing or making your symptoms worse, and how the effects of heavy metals is involved in more diseases and disorders than you possibly imagined.
There are two ways of thinking about heavy metals, one is heavy metal poisoning such as lead or arsenic poisoning, which can be the result of acute or chronic exposure. The symptoms of heavy metal poisoning are restricted to the effects of that particular heavy metal, i.e. lead. The other way of thinking about heavy metals is in terms of heavy metal toxicity. This is always a slow chronic accumulation of heavy metals and the accumulation may consist of principally one significant heavy metal, such as methyl mercury from contaminated fish, but is also associated with the accumulation of a host of other heavy metals such as lead, cadmium etc… Therefore when we speak of heavy metal toxicity, we are looking at a complex blend of different heavy metals whose cumulative effect spans and magnifies the individual toxic effect of each heavy metal!
The symptoms from generalized heavy metal toxicity can be quite different from a specific heavy metal poisoning. For example, a person suffering from lead poisoning can suffer severe intestinal and neurological symptoms. However that same person that has a high degree of lead toxicity can have more subtle symptoms still caused by lead toxicity such as advanced arteriosclerosis from the accelerated plaque formation caused by the calcification of lead in the lining of one’s arteries. This is why heavy metal toxicity in traditional medicine is so difficult to address unless it is seen as “poisoning” per se.
The silent damage and catalysts that heavy metal toxicity plays in a host of disorders and diseases makes heavy metal toxicity a global concern for us all. We live in a toxic industrialized world where toxins from one nation have documented effects from air currents on another nation. We are slowly poisoned by the gradual accumulation of heavy metals. We need to change how we think about the risks and effects that heavy metal “accumulation” plays upon our developing common conditions that Western medicine currently does not recognize as having any connection with our heavy metal toxic load.
Conditions such as alopecia, arthritis, diabetes, acid reflux, chronic fatigue, brain fog, osteoporosis, prostate and reproductive disorders, learning disorders, hypertension, a host of nervous disorders and neurological disorders, weakened immune system function, muscle weakness, pains, cancer, and skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis and skin rashes. Many of these conditions can manifest because of the catalyst of heavy metal toxic accumulation. Existing symptoms can also become aggravated by their aggravating presence in the body. Their elimination should be a route part of anyone suffering from a chronic disorder or symptom and a regular part of an optimized health care program even for those in apparent good health because the effects of heavy metal toxicity accumulation are silent until the body breaks down and gets out of balance.
Read this article in its entirety and when you are done print out the sections for each heavy metal and re-read them. Highlight all sources of exposure that pertain to you and all symptoms or conditions for each heavy metal that pertain to you. Then sit back and take a look at the span of symptoms that heavy metal toxicity could be playing in your life in terms of sources of exposure. Make a plan of action to eliminate or minimize those sources of continuing exposure. Take a look at the symptoms and conditions you highlighted and get a feeling for how heavy metal toxicity could be accelerating, contributing or causing your symptoms. This will give you new insight on the causes for your symptoms that your average medical practitioner may have never discussed with you before that are worth addressing. Future articles will address the complex subject of heavy metal chelation and how it can be safely done and effectively monitored.
How do heavy metals affect us?
Heavy metals are especially damaging to our nervous system and brain. Once in the body they tend to stay deposited there. The cumulative heavy metal burden over time increases our free radical damage in addition to the specific damage that particular heavy metal causes. The effect of heavy metals in our body depends upon multiple factors:
1) the age of initial exposure
2) the dose of initial exposure
3) the duration of exposure
4) the type of metals exposed to
5) the state of immune health at the time of exposure
6) the state of liver detoxification efficiency
7) the available mineral stores the liver has to drawn on to fuel additional heavy metal detoxification pathways
8) the presence of other microbes in the body that bind heavy metals making their elimination impossible until we eradicate the pathogens
Age of Initial Exposure
The most damaging effects of heavy metal exposure are to the newborn because their immune systems take 2 years to mature. Newborns have brains and nervous systems that are undeveloped. Their neurons are growing. The presence of heavy metals from vaccines (thimerisol, aluminum), from mother’s mercury stores mobilized into her breast milk, and from what was transferred to the developing fetus while in the womb can overwhelm the immune system and act as an immune catalyst to begin an inflammatory attack on the baby’s digestive system and brain and nervous system.
Methionine, an essential amino acid that the liver needs to detoxify all toxins, especially heavy metals, is also the same amino acid that is needed to help the body make myelin, the sheath that coats the nerves of the brain and nervous system. Any heavy metal toxic burden robs the body of this much needed amino acid. Therefore, depletion of methionine stores that result from heavy metal toxicity, plays a part in causing slower neuron synthesis and repair! This is one mechanism for developmental arrest seen in autistic and Asberger’s infants that result from heavy metal toxic exposure.
State of Immune Health & Detoxification Pathways
As adults, our immune health dictates how well we will react to an abrupt exposure to heavy metals such as a vaccination or removal of dental mercury amalgam. If we are already in a state of high immune alert, with multiple inflammatory processes in place such as leaky gut, low grade chronic pathogenic infections, and localized inflammation in tissues in the body such as skin, lung, mucous membranes etc., then the heavy metal will act as fuel to fire. It will heighten all inflammatory processes.
Inflammatory processes can also cause immune recognition to key metabolites in the detoxification pathways of the liver. Future articles will discuss the specifics and how they can be treated and bypassed. A heightened state of alert causes more metabolites to be recognized by the immune system and thus the immune system begins to run interference in the efficiency of the liver’s ability to bind and excrete toxins. This complicates and accentuates the toxic effects of heavy metal accumulation.
If we are already in a state of high extracellular toxicity from microbial metabolites, digestive metabolites, and metabolic metabolites, then the added heavy metal toxicity places an additional burden on our body’s mineral stores. These minerals are essential catalysts that fuel the binding process of capturing and excreting toxins in the liver. Deficiencies in these minerals cause the entire detoxification process to slow down and stall to a significant degree. The result is that these toxins then become deposited into tissue as the body attempts to protect the brain from circulating heavy metals.
In summary, how an acute or chronic exposure affects your body is a dynamic process. It depends on what the exposure is, how toxic you already are, how well you excrete toxins (your drainage), how much minerals stores you have available to fuel the liver detoxification pathways, and how much your immune system may interfere with all of your metabolic processes, including the liver detoxification pathways, as to how your body will respond. Part 2-4 will go into detail on the common types of heavy metals and their specific effects on the body.
Please note:
Information on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication or other treatment.
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