Synergistic Effects of Mercury and Other Toxic Exposures
Mercury and lead are extremely neurotoxic and cytotoxic, but their combined synergistic effect is much worse. A dose of mercury sufficient to kill 1% of tested rats, when combined with a dose of lead sufficient to kill less than 1% of rats, resulted in killing 100 % of rats tested(1). Thus with combined exposure the safe dose is 1/100 as much as the dose individually. Studies in Australia have confirmed similar relationships hold for people, and other studies document such effects(7). This means most people in the U.S. are getting dangerous levels of these metals, enough to cause some neurologic effects.
Consuming two toxic metals in combination, such as lead and cadmium, or lead and mercury, can have a synergistic effect, meaning one metal has the ability to enhance the toxicity of another metal in amounts smaller than what it would usually take that metal to be toxic.(1,7,11) Mercury in combination with PCBs through diet can also have a synergistic effect(2).
Laboratory animals are often used to test the toxicity of a substance. In the case of testing lead and mercury together, rats were used. Rats were dosed with an amount of mercury that would cause death in 1% of the rat population within about 5 days. This is called lethal dose 1% or LD1. The laboratory rats were also tested with a LD1 dose of lead. What is frightening is that when mercury and lead LD1 dosages were combined, there was a 100% mortality rate; all of the rats died, demonstrating that mercury and lead together are highly synergistic in their toxic effects.(1)
It is rather disturbing to realize that some populations of Canadian, Alaskan, and Great Lakes children are routinely ingesting chronic doses of lead, mercury, and PCBs together in their diet.
Similar is true for mercury’s synergistic effect with other toxic metals like arsenic, and with other toxic chemicals like PCBs(2) or with smoking which greatly increased measured kidney damage effects(12). The level of mercury thimerosal in vaccines has been shown to be highly neurotoxic, but the effect was found to be much larger due to the synergistic effect with aluminum, which is also in most vaccines(4,8). Aluminum is in all vaccines and has been found to have significant adverse effects, independently of mercury(8,10). Studies using U.S. CDC data have found thimerosal from vaccines to be major factors in autism and ADHD(5,9,10), along with prenatal rhogam shots which contain high levels of mercury thimerosal and are given to some RH negative women during pregnancy.
Dietrich Klighardt has found that copper, zinc, and lead are synergistic with mercury, increasing the adverse effects. Other factors found to be synergistic with mercury toxicity are cavitation toxins, stress, sleep deprivation, aspartame, vaccinations, metal dental work, and wheat (6).
A report by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (Oct 2003) acknowledged that fluoride has been observed to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of aluminum, complexing with the mineral in the water. They acknowledge that most drinking water is high in fluoride/aluminum complexes, which enhance neurotoxicity. Other studies have shown that cooking with fluoridated water leaches the aluminum out of the aluminum cooking pots, with different amounts being released depending on the foods being cooked, whereas cooking with non-fluoridated water resulted in no release of aluminum from the pans. Leaching of up to 600 ppm occurred with prolonged boiling!
Autism has increased in the U.S. more than 10 fold in the last decade(10). According to the Florida Dept. of Education, the numbers increased from approx. 300 to over 4000 during this time period. There have likewise been large increases in the number of children with ADHD and other developmental conditions, according to the National Academy of Sciences and other sources. A major factor in this appears to be the large increase in vaccinations given to infants and other toxic metal exposures(9-11).
There was an increase of over 45% in learning disabilities in Pennsylvania between 1990 and 2000(3). But the study showed that the county highest on the Chemical Pollution Scorecard, Montgomery, had an increase more than double that of the rest of the state. Montgomery County had an increase in ADHD of 32.7% and an increase in autism of 310%.
(more documentation available at the children’s neurological page, www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/indexk.html)
BW
1. Schubert J, Riley EJ, Tyler SA. Combined effects in toxicology. A rapid systematic testing procedure: cadmium, mercury, and lead. Toxicol Environ Health 1978;4(5/6):763-776.
2. Philippe Grandjean P, White RF et al. Neurobehavioral deficits associated with PCB in 7-year-old children prenatally exposed to seafood neurotoxicants. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 2001;223(4):305-317.
3. Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, 2003, Study of learning disability incidence in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1990 and 2000; & ""Polluting Our Future: Chemical Emissions in the U.S. that Affect Child Development and Learning,"" by Physicians For Social Responsibility, at (202) 898-0150, psrnatl@psr.org
4. Haley, BE, Pendergrass JC ,Lovell, M., Univ. of Kentucky Chemistry Dept., paper presented to the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee, Spring 2001, and on medical lab website, www.altcorp.com
5. Geier M.R., Geier DA; Thimerosal in Childhood Vaccines, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and Heart Disease in the U.S. ; J of Amer Physicians and Surgeons, Vol 8(1), Spring 2003; & Bradstreet J, Geier DA, et al, A case control study of mercury burden in children with Autisitic Spectrum Disorders, J of Amer Physicians and Surgeons, Vol 8(3), Summer 2003.
6. Amalgam Detox, Klinghardt Academy of Neurobiology, 2008
7.
Tabata M, Kumar Sarker
A, Nyarko E.
Enhanced conformational changes in DNA in the presence of mercury(II), cadmium(II) and lead(II) porphyrins. J Inorg Biochem.
2003 Feb 1;94(1-2):50-8; & Traore
A, Bonini M, Dano SD, Creppy EE. Synergistic effects of some metals contaminating mussels on the cytotoxicity of the marine toxin okadaic
acid. Arch Toxicol. 1999 Aug;73(6):289-95.
8. Vaccine Induced Autism & ADHD , David Ayoub, M.D.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8119523476709184666#
9. Vaccine Induced Autism & ADHD , David Ayoub, M.D.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6890106663412840646#
10. Neurological and immune effects of vaccines and mercury on children; Review, B Windham (Ed.), www.flcv.com/kidshg.html
11. Sanchez DJ, Belles M, Domingo JL et al; Nephrotoxicity of simultaneous exposure to mercury and
uranium in comparison to individual effects of these metals in rats. Biol Trace Elem
Res. 2001 Winter;84(1-3):139-54
12.
El-Safty IA, Shouman AE, Amin NE. Nephrotoxic effects of mercury exposure and smoking among egyptian workers in a fluorescent
lamp factory. Arch Med Res. 2003 Jan-Feb;34(1):50-5.
*****************************************************************************
ps. note that a high percentage of Gulf state residents have been documented to have high levels of mercury exposure(Mobile Register study, www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/flhg.html)
*****************************************************************************
The
original evidence cited for the synergistic effects of lead and mercury (and
cadmium) comes from a 1978 paper by Schubert et al published in
Michigan:
"...the administration of an
essentially no-response level (LD1) of a mercury salt together with 1/20 of the
LD1 of a lead salt killed all of the animals [rats]."
Dr
Michael Godfrey and dentist Noel Campbell write:
"...a lethal dose (LD1 [enough to kill 1% of the rats]) was
combined with a 1/20th LD1 of lead, resulting in a LD 100 [100% death rate] in
the test animals.
"We have recently found that considerable amounts of lead may be excreted
with the mercury following DMPS provocation. Our preliminary investigations
appear to indicate that a synergistic effect could be identified by multiplying
the lead and mercury concentrations together, after adjusting to IG of urine creatinine. We have termed this the Campbell-Godfrey factor
(C-G factor). Chronic-ally affected patients may have high levels of either
metal or a high total C-G factor. Those with the highest C-G factor appear to
be the worst affected, thus indicating that the synergism in animals is
replicated in man."
The questions raised are: is it safe for lead poisoned people to have mercury fillings? Should CLAS advise parents of lead-poisoned kids never to allow these fillings in their kid’’s mouths? Should CLAS advise lead-poisoned people who are planning to conceive for instance, to have their amalgam fillings replaced, along with DMSA chelation therapy and nutrient replenishment therapy, well in advance of trying to conceive? Is it acceptable for anyone to be exposed to lead and mercury (and cadmium) as they are in mining and smelting communities? Why aren’’t the DMPS provocation test, DMSA chelation therapy or amalgam removal procedures claimable under Medicare? When will Australia phase out amalgams?
************************
Consuming two toxic metals in combination, such as lead and cadmium, or lead and mercury, can have a synergistic effect, meaning one metal has the ability to enhance the toxicity of another metal in amounts smaller than what it would usually take that metal to be toxic.(5) Mercury in combination with PCBs through diet can also have a synergistic effect(6).
Laboratory animals are often used to test the toxicity of a substance. In the case of testing lead and mercury together, rats were used. Rats were dosed with an amount of mercury that would cause death in 1% of the rat population within about 5 days. This is called lethal dose 1% or LD1. The laboratory rats were also tested with a LD1 dose of lead. What is frightening is that when mercury and lead LD1 dosages were combined, there was a 100% mortality rate; all of the rats died, demonstrating that mercury and lead together are highly synergistic in their toxic effects.(5)
It is rather disturbing to realize that some populations of Canadian, Alaskan, and Great Lakes children are routinely ingesting chronic doses of lead, mercury, and PCBs together in their diet.
|
(1) Wheatley B and Paradis S. Balancing human exposure, risk and reality: Questions raised by the Canadian Aboriginal Methylmercury Program. Neurotoxicology 1996;17(1):241-250. (2) Starnes R. Lead shotgun pellets contaminate game birds. The Ottawa Citizen 1998 Dec. 17; Section A:20. (3) Toxic Chemicals Poison Inuit Food. The Ottawa Citizen 1998 July 5; Section A:5. (4) Health Canada. Riedel D, Tremblay N, Tompkins E. (Eds.) State of Knowledge Report for Environmental Contaminants and Human Health in the Great Lakes Basin, Ottawa: 1997; p. 275 (5) Schubert J, Riley EJ, Tyler SA. Combined effects in toxicology. A rapid systematic testing procedure: cadmium, mercury, and lead. Toxicol Environ Health 1978;4(5/6):763-776. (6) Philippe Grandjean P, Pal Weihea P, Bursed VW, Needham LL, Storr-Hansene E, Heinzowf B, Debesc F, Muratag K, Simonsenh H, Ellefsenc P, Budtz-Jøørgenseni E, Keidingi N and White RF. Neurobehavioral deficits associated with PCB in 7-year-old children prenatally exposed to seafood neurotoxicants. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 2001;223(4):305-317. |
|
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****************************************************
Learning Disabilities
Statistics by Penn State Graduate Students ––
2002
Source: Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (IU 23) was compared to (IU 17)
Statewide Statistics: Pennsylvania Department of Education
Census Figures: 1990 and 2000
Autism: Several websites including: naar.org, exploringautism.org, nich.nih.gib/autism and Naar
Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, Study of learning disability incidence in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 2003; & ““Polluting Our Future: Chemical Emissions in the U.S. that Affect Child Development and Learning,”” by Physicians For Social Responsibility, at (202) 898-0150, psrnatl@psr.org
There
was an increase of over 45% in learning disabilities in Pennsylvania between
1990 and 2000 (3). But a study showed
that the county highest on the Chemical Pollution Scorecard had an increase
more than double that of the rest of the state. Montgomery County had an increase in ADHD of
32.7% and an increase in autism of 310%.
1990 to 2000
Montgomery County +94 %
Least Polluted Comparison Area + 40.2 %
Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga Counties
Pennsylvania + 46.6 %
1990 to 2000
Total Enrollment in Montgomery County Schools Down - 10.9 %
Learning Disabilities have Risen Threefold in Montgomery County in comparison to the
population - from 1990 to 2000
1990 to 2000
|
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Total Enrollment |
+ 32.7 % |
|
Montgomery County - Learning Impairment Services |
+ 32.7 % |
|
Least Polluted Counties - Learning Impairment Services |
+ 1 % |
1990 to 2000 - ADD/ADHD and Autism
|
Montgomery County ADD/ADHD |
+ 32.7 % |
|
Montgomery County Autism |
+ 310 % |
•• Montgomery County is one of the most chemically
polluted counties in the nation, according to Score Card’’s
pollution indicator.
•• ADD and AUTISM are Neurodevelopmental
Disorders.
•• Heavily emitted neurological and developmental toxins in Montgomery County
could be Major Factors in Increased Learning Disabilities, ADD, and Autism.
Vinyl Chloride, Mercury, Methyl Isobuatyl Ketone, TCE, and Lead are all neurological toxins. The
Pottstown Landfill is a source of ALL these neurological toxins. They travel
downwind into many parts of Montgomery County. Researchers had difficulty
determining exact amounts emitted by the Pottstown Landfill, since landfills
are not required to report to EPA’’s Toxic Release Inventory.
•• Occidental Chemical in Pottstown has emitted over 1½½ Million Pounds of
Vinyl Chloride into Montgomery County’’s air since
1988 and has ranked 1st and 2nd in the nation in Vinyl Chloride
emissions.
Montgomery County Children Have Doubled Increases In
Learning Disabilities
Compared To Lesser Polluter Counties and the State - 1990 to 2000
Montgomery
County is one of the most POLLUTED Counties in the Nation, according to Score Card’’s pollution indicator.
Ironically, all Pottstown Landfill’’s
toxic emissions are not included
by Score Card.
Children everywhere are experiencing unacceptable increases in learning
disabilities which suggest a serious problem. These disabilities are clearly
the result of complex interactions among environmental, social, and genetic
factors that impact children during vulnerable periods of development.
There is new understanding about the effects of environmental chemicals on
these processes. Developmental disabilities, including attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and related neurodevelopmental
diseases affect millions of American children. The consequences of these
disorders are often tragic. The family, social and economic costs are immense,
and the disabilities can be life-long. Studies of animals and children show
subtle changes in the concentrations of normally occurring chemicals such as
hormones –– as well as the presence of toxic agents like lead, mercury, or
PCB’’s –– can produce profound and permanent changes in the developing nervous
system. These can lead to decrements in mental performance.
Developmental processes are extremely vulnerable to environmental insult. For
detailed information refer to ““In Harm’’s Way -
Toxic Threats to Child Development,”” by Greater Boston Physicians for Social
Responsibility and ““Polluting Our Future: Chemical Emissions in the U.S. that
Affect Child Development and Learning,”” by Physicians For Social
Responsibility, at (202) 898-0150, psrnatl@psr.org
Studies demonstrate that a variety of chemicals commonly encountered in
industry can contribute to developmental, learning, and behavioral
disabilities. Developmental neurotoxicants are
chemicals that are toxic to the developing brain. They include the metals lead,
mercury, cadmium, and manganese, and pesticides such as organophosphates. PCB’’s, and DIOXINS bioaccumulate and are
directly toxic to cells and neurotransmitters.
With widespread use and disposal of all these chemicals and metals which affect
learning disabilities, it is easy to understand why learning disabilities
increased in PA by 46.6%, and even in the least
polluted PA counties by 40.2% from 1990 to 2000. But, how do we explain such shocking
Montgomery County increases in learning disabilities (more than twice the state
and comparison area) 94%, ADHD (32.7%), and autism at 310%? This represents an
epidemic.
ACE believes Montgomery County children face a chemical plague. A major
factor is toxic air releases. The kinds of neurotoxins which cause
learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism are emitted into the air 7 days a week
from the Pottstown Landfill and Occidental Chemical. Both emit unknown amounts
of dioxin. The Pottstown Landfill emits synergistic and additive combinations
of nearly every neurotoxin. These can become far more toxic as they synergize. Mercury
is just one example. Occidental Chemical in Pottstown has emitted 1½½ million
pounds of vinyl chloride since 1988. These emissions travel downwind through
many parts of Montgomery County.
**********************************************
Combined effects in toxicology--a rapid systematic
testing procedure: cadmium, mercury, and lead.
Schubert J, Riley EJ, Tyler SA.
J Toxicol Environ Health. 1978 Sep-Nov;4(5-6):763-76.
A testing procedure is described for the assessment of the toxicological response
(e.g., acute toxicity or mutagenicity) of any
combination and number of chemical, physical, and biological agents, with no
more effort for a particular combination than for a single agent. The method
provides a simple, sensitive, and quantitative index of synergism, antagonism,
and additivity, and it has been demonstrated
experimentally in rats by determining the acute lethality of combinations of
cadmium, mercury, and lead salts. In a combination of two metal salts, the dose
of one metal of the pair was fixed at or near the no-effect level while the
dose of the second metal was increased until the entire dose-response curve was
obtained. To evaluate interactions of the three metals, the previous pair of
metals were kept fixed at their combined extrapolated
LD1 level, and the third metal was increased. The statistical treatment of the
data employed a computer program that did not involve probit
transformations, but rather the approximate linear relationship between the
fractional response and the logarithm of the dose. A particular combination
could be synergistic, antagonistic, or additive, depending on the relative
doses employed. Generally, a combination was synergistic when the most toxic
member was present at or near its LD1 dose in the presence of the much less
toxic member; the same combination was protective when the least toxic member
was present at or near its LD1 dose. The results clarify apparently
contradictory reports regarding the biological effects of metal combinations.
The application of the testing procedure to combinations of mutagens is
described, and an example is cited involving, for a particular bacterial
mutagen, a combination of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine
with ethylmethanesulfonate.
|
Toxic Overload: Assessing the Role of Mercury in Autism These parents informed me that increased mandatory vaccination of
infants was, in their opinion, the cause of an apparent epidemic of autism.
This was the first time I had heard of this situation. The rationale for
considering vaccinations as the cause of their children's problems seemed
sensible and worth an investigation. I would like to state here that I am a
very strong supporter of the national vaccine program, and that nothing in
this article should be construed to imply that parents should avoid getting
their children vaccinated. But I do recommend avoiding vaccines that contain thimerosal. My laboratory was well experienced in mercury research. We had
earlier demonstrated that mercury, when exposed to normal human brain tissue
homogenates, is capable of causing many of the same biochemical aberrancies
found in Alzheimer's diseased (AD) brains.1-4 Also,
rats exposed to mercury vapor show the same major protein aberrancy as AD
brains. Specifically, the rapid inactivation of important brain enzymes
occurs following the addition of low levels of mercury or exposure to mercury
vapor, and these same enzymes are significantly inhibited in AD brains.5
Also, mercury exposure to neurons in culture by other researchers, at a
concentration lower than that found in many human brains, has now been shown
to produce three of the widely accepted pathological diagnostic hallmarks of
AD.6,7 Therefore, we hypothesized that exposure to mercury is involved in
the etiology of AD, or at least would exacerbate this disease. We also
proposed that other heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, which act
synergistically to enhance the toxicity of mercury, could be involved.
Additionally, we proposed that exposure to organic-mercury compounds like
methyl mercury from fish and ethyl mercury from thimerosal
would also enhance the toxicity of any exposure to mercury. The early work of
Dr. Pendergrass confirmed this with pure thimerosal,
with some interesting additional observations. First, in human brain samples
the exposure to mercury dramatically reduced the viability of a major brain
protein called tubulin, but had little if any
effect on another major protein, actin. Both tubulin and actin are
critically important for the growth of dendrites or maintenance of axon
structures of neurons. Exposing neurons to mercury rapidly results in the
stripping of tubulin from the axon structure,
leaving bare neurofibrils that form the tangles
that are the diagnostic hallmark of AD. Thimerosal,
like mercury, also rapidly reduces the viability of tubulin;
in addition, however, it abolishes the viability of actin.
This likely represents a major difference in the mechanism of mercury versus
organic-mercury (more neurotoxic) toxicity.
However, both mercury and organic-mercury inhibit tubulin
viability and would work in concert to damage neurons of the central nervous
system. We therefore decided to investigate vaccines with and without thimerosal present as a preservative, using human brain
tissues. To date the data have been very consistent: the toxicity of the
vaccines is primarily dependent on the presence of thimerosal
and, in my opinion, would be classified as severely toxic to numerous brain
proteins. In the spring of 2001 these data were presented to the Institute of
Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee, which concluded its analysis
by suggesting that thimerosal involvement in autism
was a plausible hypothesis. Since then I have formed a
collaboration with one of my colleagues, Mark Lovell, PhD, who uses
cultured neurons in some of his experiments. Using his cultured neuron
system, we studied the extent of neurotoxicity of pure thimerosal
and of vaccines with and without thimerosal
present. The experiments were done as follows: Neurons were grown in culture
for 24 hours. Then pure thimerosal or vaccines were
added to test cultures. The death of neurons was observed for the next 24
hours and compared to the death of neurons in the absence of toxicant. The results were almost identical to the results observed with brain
tissues: vaccines with thimerosal present were much
more toxic than thimerosal-free vaccines. Pure thimerosal was toxic at the low nanomolar
level--an extremely low concentration, about 10,000 times less than the thimerosal concentration found in most vaccines. These
results leave little doubt about thimerosal being
the toxic agent in the vaccines. However, many vaccines contain aluminum ions
that have neurotoxic properties, and aluminum was
once considered a factor in AD etiology. So we tested aluminum in the same
system. Aluminum is not nearly as toxic to neurons in culture as is thimerosal. However, we had earlier observed with mercury
that the presence of other metals would enhance toxicity. Experiments were
done to determine if aluminum would increase the toxicity of very low levels
of thimerosal. The results were unequivocal: the
presence of aluminum dramatically increased the rate of neuronal death caused
by thimerosal. Therefore, the aluminum and thimerosal combination found in vaccines produces a toxic
mixture that cannot be compared to situations where thimerosal
alone is the toxic exposure. The enhanced toxicity of thimerosal
created by the addition of aluminum represents a problem with all forms of
mercury toxicity. Synergism of toxic metals is well known. A slightly toxic
solution of lead, mixed with a slightly toxic solution of mercury, results in
a very toxic mixture. This is similar to the enhanced adverse reactivity to thimerosal found in optomological
solutions, when subjects were prescribed to take the antibiotic tetracycline.
For some reason, tetracycline increased the ocular toxic reaction to thimerosal. We have done some experiments to determine if
certain antibiotics could also increase thimerosal-induced
neuronal death in the neuron culture system. Our preliminary results indicate
that this is the case, especially with tetracycline and ampicillin.
Further research is needed in this area for accurate evaluation. But our
results support previous reports and indicate how important it is to check
out the effects of other compounds on the exacerbation of mercury and
organic-mercury compound toxicity. One of the conundrums of autism is why there is an approximate ratio
of four boys to every girl who gets this disease. Dr. Lovell therefore tested
the possibility that this could be hormone related. The latest results were
quite marked in their effects. Neurons that were pre-incubated with estrogen
demonstrated substantial protection against thimerosal-induced
neuron death. In contrast, the addition of testosterone caused a very large
increase in thimerosal-induced neuron death. A low nanomolar level of thimerosal
that gave less than 5 percent neuron death in three hours could be increased
to 100 percent cell death by the addition of one micromolar
level of testosterone. Testosterone alone at this level also showed less than
5 percent cell death. The opposing effects of estrogen and testosterone may
explain the gender-based four-to-one ratio. Most important, the tremendous
enhancement of thimerosal toxicity by testosterone
points out the impact of synergistic effects when addressing mercury
toxicity. Those involved in promoting the use of mercury in medicine and
dentistry favor the old adage "Dose makes the toxin," and pick a
supposedly safe level based on testing young, healthy mammals that have been
exposed to mercury compounds. The synergistic enhancement of thimerosal toxicity by testosterone and aluminum demonstrates
that no one can pick a concentration of mercury or organic-mercury and say
with confidence, "This is a safe dose for human infants"--at least
not with our current level of knowledge. MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) has been widely discussed as a vaccine
involved in autism-related problems. Our studies did not find MMR vaccines
(no thimerosal added) to be nearly as neurotoxic as thimerosal-containing
vaccines. So how does this fit into the observations of measles virus in the
intestines of a large percentage of autistic children? My theory, and it is only a theory at this time, is based on the
fact that thimerosal is an inhibitor of the brain
protein tubulin. One of the jobs of tubulin is to support the axon structure of nerve axons;
exposure to thimerosal, or mercury, destroys this
capability. Tubulin also has another job: it is
involved in formation of the meiotic spindle on which a cell splits in two.
In other words, tubulin is needed for cell
division, and cell division is needed for development of an immune response.
Inhibit tubulin function with thimerosal
injections, and you inhibit the immune response. I have been told that the MMR vaccination is often given at the same
time that three thimerosal-containing vaccines are
given. Inhibit the immune response with the thimerosal-containing
vaccinations, and an infant has less ability to respond to the measles virus
in the MMR vaccination that is injected at the same setting. This might
explain the presence of measles virus in about 80 percent of autistic
children. The research results we have obtained on the toxicity of thimerosal are not really surprising. This ethyl
mercury-releasing compound was known to be neurotoxic
through the publication of several research articles, some quite old. Any
competent biochemist would look at the structure of the compound and identify
it as a potent enzyme inhibitor. What is surprising is that the appropriate
animal and laboratory testing was not done on the vaccines containing thimerosal (and aluminum) before the government embarked
on a mandated vaccine program that exposed infants to the levels of thimerosal that occurred. At this time it appears that exposure to thimerosal
is the most likely suspect in vaccines that may be involved in causing autism
and related disorders. The final verdict will come with observing the rate of
autism now that thimerosal has been removed from
the infant vaccine program. Let us therefore give credit to those who have
worked to remove thimerosal from the vaccines given
to infants and emphasize that continued testing of all vaccines is imperative
to obtain the safest national vaccine policy possible, including a thimerosal-free flu vaccine for our elderly citizens. NOTES |
*****************************************
Dec
2003
A report by the National Institutes of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS) (Oct 2003) acknowledged that fluoride has been observed
to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of aluminum, complexing
with the mineral in the water. They acknowledge that most drinking water is
high in fluoride/aluminum complexes, which enhance neurotoxicity. Other studies
have shown that cooking with fluoridated water leaches the aluminum out of the
aluminum cooking pots, with different amounts being released depending on the
foods being cooked, whereas cooking with non-fluoridated water resulted in no
release of aluminum from the pans. Leaching of up to 600 ppm
occurred with prolonged boiling!
***************************
Burning Brain
The Burning Brain, Its Cause and Cure
I did not find "burning brain" as one of the symptoms of mercury
poisoning in any list when I was looking for symptoms of mercury poisoning. I
searched on the Internet for "symptom-burning brain," and could not
find anything.
It is so frightening to have a "hot spot" in your brain or to feel
that your "brain is on fire." I lay in my bed at nights before I was
diagnosed with mercury toxicity imagining all the holes that were being caused
in my blood brain barrier by this burning. My neurologist could not tell me why
my brain burned, but thought it was improbable that I had mercury poisoning.
But then he confessed, "he knew little about
mercury poisoning."
After being diagnosed as mercury poisoned and being introduced to the ACAM
neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter, I found an article
written by Dr. Perlmutter that explained why my brain
burned. He was addressing a conference of ACAM doctors and called my symptoms
"a brain on fire."
In "The Role of Inflammation in Chronic Diseases" Dr. Perlmutter explained that when a combination of toxins are
in the brain (in my case aluminum, mercury and thallium) there is a synergistic
effect on the damage they cause.
Synergism-interaction of agents (as drugs), or conditions such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects.
I have come into contact with several mercury- poisoned people now, who are
saying that their brains burned. Do not rule out mercury poisoning just because
your brain does not burn. People with mercury
poisoning experience varying symptoms.
I have recently had a conversation with a friend in Roanoke who says he has a
"hot spot" on top of his head. He chain smokes cigarettes so he is exposed
to the heavy metal cadmium in the cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes increase the
damage caused by mercury in your mouth because of the heat on the fillings. Any
heat in the mouth causes the mercury to leak from the fillings and it takes an
hour or two for the mercury vapors from the fillings to calm down.
My friend also has a mouth full of mercury fillings and root canals that
probably contain mercury. Then he exposed himself to lead poisoning by sanding
down doors with old lead paint without wearing a mask. He has also been exposed
to paint fumes from painting cars. Now he has lost his hair and what hair
remains has turned white overnight. He needs to have a heavy metals test run by
an ACAM doctor and start removing the metal safely from his mouth. Then he
needs to detox the poisons out of his body. If he
doesn't he could end up with a neurological disease.
In September of 2003, I had a conversation with another friend, Troy, and I
explained to him how I had been poisoned. He said, "Well, Marie, that explains
some of the things that have happened to me when I went to dentists." He
went on to explain that probably around seven years ago he had a dentist in
Bland, VA to drill out two fillings. That is when the burning in his brain
first started. He also had a headache that would not go away, not even with
pain relievers. The burning gradually subsided, but it would come back when he
would drink diet drinks that contained the sugar substitute aspartame. So he
learned to avoid aspartame. He said that was when he first started experiencing
memory loss.
Later my friend moved to Amelia, VA and he had several more mercury fillings
drilled out. He did not put together the connection between his dental work and
the burning in the brain. He just saw a connection with the aspartame exacerbating
his symptoms. After this new dental work where he was exposed to more mercury
vapor, his brain burned again, the headaches reappeared and the memory loss was
worse. Now his wife is complaining about his memory loss.
When I read the book Beating Alzheimer's by Tom Warren, I was very
interested that he said when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's that his brain
burned.
After speaking with my local ACAM doctor, I now understand that toxins in the
brain cause free radical damage. So one must remove the toxins and in the
process of removing the toxins this will help remove the inflammation and the
burning that is associated with neurological diseases. EDTA chelation
removes some heavy metal toxins; DMSA removes others such as mercury. Taking
antioxidants such as Vitamin C helps to lesson the
symptoms caused by free radical damage. Persons that are mercury poisoned
frequently take 5000 to 6000 mg of Vitamin C a day. However, you need to work
with your doctor to get on a balanced program of vitamins and minerals.
I would recommend that you buy the book BrainRecovery.Com, Powerful Therapy
for Challenging Brain Disorders by Dr. David Perlmutter
if you have a neurological disease. He is a board certified neurologist from
Florida that belongs to ACAM. On the Amazon.com website Bernie Siegel, M.D.
says of Dr. Perlmutter's book:
"...Should be available to everyone so true integrative therapy can become the normal method of treatment in the neurology field."
Russell B. Roth, M.D. Past
President, American Medical Association says:
"Dr. Perlmutter provides sound advice, supported by the latest and most well respected medical research."
A book description on Amazon
states:
With forwards by Bernie Siegel, MD and Jeffrey S. Bland, PhD-- BrainRecovery.com, Dr. David Perlmutter, internationally recognized leader in functional approaches to neurological diseases, explores the cutting edge of both mainstream and complementary medicine. Powerful, clinically proven techniques are revealed providing answers and hope for patients and families faced with challenging disorder including: Alzheimer's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Memory Loss, Stroke, Parkinson's Disease, Post-Polio Syndrome, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and more...
Though Dr. Permutter is an ACAM doctor and these
doctors are known as chelation doctor, he does not
stress testing for heavy metals in this book. He makes no mention of removing
mercury fillings.
Mercury and other heavy metals are the major
contributor to neurological diseases. You will find this on Dr. Mercola's website and also the neurosurgeon Dr. Russell
Blaylock said the same thing on Pat Robertson's 700 Club. Also exposure to
chemicals, pesticides and industrial poisons contribute to neurological
diseases. But if you have a neurotoxin right in your mouth just inches from
your brain, you must remove the mercury from your mouth. Also remove toxic
metal crowns and toxic root canals. A biological dentist, along with the
materials you receive from DAMS can advise you on what is toxic.
I would use Dr. Perlmutter's book as an introduction
to some alternative therapies for neurological diseases. He warns that the
medication Parkinson's patients receive from their doctors will actually cause
the symptoms to get worse in the long run. If you have a neurological disease
find an ACAM doctor in your area that is experienced in heavy metal toxicity.
Some ACAM doctors are also neurologists and some specialize in degenerative
diseases. When you go to the ACAM site online you will see the specialties of
each doctor listed beside his name. Be sure to see what the code
for the specialties are at the end of the list. (example
NT=nutrition)
So my recommendations to you is this:
1. Order an information packet from DAMS concerning mercury toxicity from toxic
dentistry. Get the name of a DAMS coordinator in your state that you can talk
to.
2. Find a local ACAM doctor experienced in treating toxic patients. He will
give you a heavy metals test. Mercury may not show up as high on a test, but if
you have mercury in your mouth and you have a neurological disease, you will
still need to remove mercury fillings and detox your
body. It is hard to test for mercury as it likes to hide in the brain and not
come out for a heavy metals' test.
Some ACAM doctors may say that your score for mercury is not high enough to detox your body of mercury. I disagree with this. King
James Medical Laboratory states that there is no safe level of mercury in the
body, and Dr. Boyd Haley, leading researcher of mercury in the USA, is
testifying before Congressional hearings on mercury dental fillings that there
is no safe level of mercury in the body. And if you have other heavy metals in
your body, the small amount of mercury will be intensified in your body. I say
don't leave any mercury in your body. Get it all out! And please don't just
settle for your doctor saying to you, "Your test results were low, and are
not problem." Get copies of the test results
yourself and put them in your own files. You have a right to remove all heavy
metals from your body. Your doctor might not be aware to the latest research on
heavy metals. Dr. Boyd Haley is saying that some of the most poisoned people may
actually have low levels of mercury in their heavy metals testing scores
because they are poor excreters of mercury. See the
footnote on Marie's Story of Mercury Poisoning for an explanation of this.
3. Find a biological dentist to safely remove toxic fillings, crowns, and root
canals from your mouth. Talk to your state DAMS coordinator before you choose
your biological dentist. Make sure the biological dentist will properly protect
you from mercury vapor.
4. Order Dr. Perlmutter's book as a book you can use
in conjunction to the advice and treatment you will receive from your local
ACAM doctor. Do not order the neurological supplements from Dr. Perlmutter until AFTER you see what your local ACAM doctor
wants to prescribe for you. Then you can discuss with your local ACAM doctor
what Dr. Perlmutter recommends and together decide if
you need to take additional supplements that Dr. Perlmutter
recommends for the brain.
5. Do not use Dr. Perlmutter's book and become your
own doctor. You need an alternative doctor to help you with supplements and
treatments. Do not go to Wal Mart and buy vitamins
that Dr. Perlmutter recommends. You need an
alternative doctor to help you figure out which supplements are appropriate for
you. If you buy them yourself you will just end up with a bag full of bottles
and you may not even buy the correct form of the supplement that is the most
effective. Also your ACAM doctor may have several of the things Dr. Perlmutter recommends in combination in one pill. If you
try to buy these yourself, you may end up with 20
bottles of pills.
It is so sad that when a person has a neurological disease conventional
medicine will not even check for heavy metals in the brain! Conventional
doctors just diagnose a patient with a "label" whether it is
Alzheimer's, ALS, MS, or Parkinson's. Autism in children is also known by some
doctors to have been caused by exposure to toxins such as aluminum and mercury
through vaccines. Conventional doctors, not even neurologists, even check the
brain to remove heavy metals! Improvements in these neurological conditions are
increased by early detection of the heavy metals and the removal of these
metals from the brain and the teeth. (DAN doctors may help remove metals from
autistic children.)
If you need an alternative doctor to help a child with autism, there is a
doctor in Richmond, VA listed on the www.acam.org site. (I do not personally
know this doctor, but it would be a starting place for Virginians who want
help.) Just go to the American College for the Advancement in Medicine site
(www.acam.org) and click on VA. If the traditional doctors won't even admit
that the heavy metal ingredients in vaccines are causing autism, how can you
expect a traditional doctor to help your child detox
from the heavy metals in vaccines? How can these major teaching hospitals help
you if they won't test properly for heavy metals and know how to remove them?
Mainstream doctors are not chelation doctors. If you
have a illness related to heavy metals, you need a chelation doctor. Chelation
doctors have been removing metals for years.
Doctors belonging to the American College for the Advancement in Medicine
(ACAM) are located at www.acam.org.
****************
Statistically
there is a higher incidence of hip fracture in residents of fluoridated areas.
This includes U.S. studies published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) by Dr. S.J. Jacobsen in 1990 and Christa Danielson and
others in 1992.
Fluoride
Research and Dental Caries (cavities)
Prof. Y. Imai of Japan studied 22,000 schoolchildren in 1972 in naturally
occurring fluoride areas and found increased caries (dental cavities) with
increased levels of fluoride.
A study of 23,000 elementary schoolchildren in Tucson, Arizona, by Dr.
Cornelius Steelink in 1992, showed increased caries
(dental cavities) with increased levels of fluoride in drinking water
Professor S.P.S. Teotia of India who reported on a
study of 400,000 children from 1973 to 1993 also showed increased caries
(dental cavities) with increased levels of fluoride in drinking water.
"In 1999, the US Environmental Protection Agency finally reviewed three studies carried out by scientists at Binghamton University. The scientists reported 80% death rates, kidney damage and brain damage in rats exposed to half of one milligram of aluminum fluoride complexes in a litre of drinking water. This is less than half of the amount of fluoride which is added in fluoridation schemes.
Finally,
the National Toxicology Program was asked to commission studies to determine
the extent of neurotoxic damage from aluminum in
drinking water, particularly stressing the fluoride interaction."
Last
October, a Report by the National Institutes of Environmental Heath Sciences (NIEHS) acknowledged that fluoride
has been observed to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of aluminum
"I
was particularly pleased when the US Environmental Protection Agency report by Urbansky and Schock on the toxicity
of lead and fluoride in drinking water confirmed that fluoride complexes with
other substances in the water.
They
also acknowledged that most drinking water contains a substantial amount of fluoro-aluminium complexes. This should be a warning to
dentists who hold with the simplistic notion that fluoride only affects teeth
and is perfectly safe in drinking water."
According
to the NIEHS Report, most water treatment processes result in increased
levels of aluminum in the finished drinking water.
It
stated that fluoridation will result in aluminum fluoride complexes which will
enhance neurotoxicity, or that fluoride itself will enhance uptake and synergise the toxicity of the aluminum
Other
studies have shown that in the presence of fluoride, aluminum
leaches out of cookware.
Boiling fluoridated tap water in an aluminum pan leached almost 200 parts
per million (ppm) of aluminum into the water in 10 minutes.
Leaching
of up to 600 PPM occurred with prolonged boiling. Different releases of
aluminum depend upon the composition of the pan and the type of food being
cooked. Using non-fluoridated water showed almost no leaching from aluminum
pans.
US Government References:
http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/Aluminum.pdf
http://fluoride.oralhealth.org/papers/urbansky.pdf
www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/pdf/Alumin.pdf
http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/Aluminumalt.pdf
http://fluoride.oralhealth.org/
Please find below the complete citation and the full article.
> Yours sincerely
Elizabeth O'Brien Manager, Global Lead Advice and Support Service (GLASS), run by The LEAD Group Inc
ph +61 2 9716 0014
fax + 61 2 9716 9005
PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia
www.lead.org.au
FULL CITATION
Are Amalgam Fillings Safe for Lead-poisoned People?
LEAD Action News vol 5 no 2 1997 ISSN 1324-6011
The journal of The LEAD (Lead Education and Abatement Design) Group Inc.
[Source:www.lead.org.au/lanv5n2/lanv5n2-4.html]
By Elizabeth O'Brien, Project Coordinator, NSW Community Lead Advisory Service (CLAS).
Alarming information about the synergistic effects of lead and mercury, recently brought to the attention of CLAS by ASOMAT members, will be the basis of an enquiry by CLAS to the NSW and Federal Health Ministers.
ASOMAT is the Australasian Society of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (ph 02 9867 1111), a non-profit organisation founded by concerned doctors and dentists.
Amalgam fillings contain 50% mercury.
> The original evidence cited for the synergistic effects of lead and mercury (and cadmium) comes from a 1978 paper by Schubert et al published in Michigan: "...the administration of an essentially no-response level (LD1) of a mercury salt together with 1/20 of the LD1 of a lead salt killed all of the animals [rats]."
Dr Michael Godfrey and dentist Noel Campbell write:
"...a lethal dose (LD1 [enough to kill 1% of the rats]) was combined with a 1/20th LD1 of lead, resulting in a LD 100 [100% death rate] in the test animals. "We have recently found that considerable amounts of lead may be excreted with the mercury following DMPS provocation. Our preliminary investigations appear to indicate that a synergistic effect could be identified by multiplying the lead and mercury concentrations together, after adjusting to IG of urine creatinine. We have termed this the Campbell-Godfrey factor (C-G factor). Chronic-ally affected patients may have high levels of either metal or a high total C-G factor. Those with the highest C-G factor appear to be the worst affected, thus indicating that the synergism in animals is replicated in man."
>
> The questions raised are: is it safe for lead poisoned people to have mercury fillings? Should CLAS advise parents of lead-poisoned kids never to allow these fillings in their kid's mouths? Should CLAS advise lead-poisoned people who are planning to conceive for instance, to have their amalgam fillings replaced, along with DMSA chelation therapy and nutrient replenishment therapy, well in advance of trying to conceive? Is it acceptable for anyone to be exposed to lead and mercury (and cadmium) as they are in mining and smelting communities? Why aren't the DMPS provocation test, DMSA chelation therapy or amalgam removal procedures claimable under Medicare? When will Australia phase out amalgams?
Another group of doctors who may understand heavy metals are environmental
doctors belonging to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine.
Their
website is located at
www.aaem.com.
Synergistic Effects of xenoestrogens
In 2002 Kortenkamp
and his colleagues tested a mix of eight xenoestrogens
on yeast. These included chemicals used as plasticisers,
sunscreen ingredients and others found in cooling and insulating fluids. In the
mixture, each was below the level that toxicologists call the "no-observedeffect concentration" --the level that should
be safe. Sure enough, the combination triggered unusual effects in the yeast. Kortenkamp and his colleagues dubbed the mixture effect
"something from nothing".
Kortenkamp and his colleagues found that if the doses of all eight
chemicals were simply added together, after adjusting for the varying
potencies, this new cumulative dose could be used to predict the effect --a
principle called "dose addition". "This result was to be
expected, but it had never been shown with endocrine disrupters until our
work," says Kortenkamp. Intuitively this makes
sense, he says: "Every mixture component contributes to the effect, no
matter how small."
Since then the effect has been shown
with other species, too. Kortenkamp and his
colleagues now report that mixtures of xenoestrogens feminised males to varying degrees even though the
individual components should have been harmless. In July this year the team
showed that a blend of anti-androgens --chemicals that block the effect of male
sex hormones --can work in the same way. They exposed pregnant rats to two
common fungicides, vinclozolin and procymidone, and the prostate cancer drug flutamide, and then screened the male offspring for reproductive
deformities. At higher doses, each of these three chemicals wreaks havoc with
sex hormones, and they all do it via the same mechanism: they disrupt male
development by blocking androgen receptors and so prevent natural hormones from
binding. The researchers found that even when the chemicals were used in doses
that had no effect when given individually to pregnant rats, a mixture of them
disrupted the sexual development of male fetuses.
Earl Gray, an ecotoxicologist
at the reproductive toxicology division of the US Environmental Protection
Agency's Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (HEERL) in
Research Triangle,
Gray then tried the same experiment
with phthalates --the ubiquitous compounds that are used to soften plastics and
thicken lotions, and are found in everything from shampoo to vinyl flooring and
flexible medical tubing. They also disrupt male development, in this case by
stopping the fetus from making testosterone. The mix of two phthalates that
Gray used caused many of the same effects on male rat fetuses as a mixture of vinclozolin and procymidone.
It makes sense that chemicals targeting
the same pathway would have an additive effect. But what about mixtures of
chemicals that work via different mechanisms? Surely the individual doses of
such chemicals would not be additive in the same way.
In
2004, Gray and his team put this to the test by mixing procymidone
with a phthalate at levels that, on their own, would produce no effect. Because
the chemicals work via different routes, he expected that the combination
wouldn't have any effect either. But they did. Then the team mixed seven
compounds --with four independent routes of action --each at a level that did
not produce an effect. "We expected nothing to happen, but when we give
all [the compounds] together, all the animals are malformed," Gray says.
"We disrupted the androgen receptor signalling
pathway by several different mechanisms. It seems the tissue can't tell the
difference and is responding in an additive fashion."
Shanna
Swan is doing something similar. In a study published in 2005 she showed that
boys whose mothers had had higher levels of five phthalates while their babies
were in the womb had a shorter distance between the anus and genitals --a
marker of feminizing activity. They also had higher rates of cryptorchidism compared to sons of mothers with lower
phthalate levels. Swan devised a cumulative score to reflect exposure levels to
all five phthalates and found that score was "very predictive of ano-genital distance".