Mercury Poisoning – More Common Than Most Know
Updated May 9, 2004
Mercury poisoning is a hugely political issue and so there is a lot of conflicting information on the subject. Since so many people don’t realize they are being affected by mercury poisoning, it is important to make the effort to understand these issues. It is critical to avoid having mercury poisoning misdiagnosed as something else. To get well, you have to understand the true roots of the problems.
Below is a collection of links to help people working through issues related to mercury poisoning.
Mercury poisoning is causing, triggering, or exacerbating much of the immune and nervous system disorders (among other problems) we are seeing today.
Mercury is being used as a preservative in the vaccines being given to children, and is about 50% of the amalgam fillings most people have in their mouths. If doctors and dentists became legally liable for large number of people disabled by the problems caused by this mercury, the damages would run to the trillions of dollars – so a huge amount of politics goes on around these issues.
The most important issue is getting healthy, and staying healthy and that is what this web site is focused on.
There is also a lot of conflicting information on mercury poisoning because it can change form so quickly and easily within the body. Also, people react differently to different levels of mercury; in part this is because they can have different concentrations in different organs in their body.
A much better question than “is this test accurate?” is to ask “in what context are these test results meaningful?”
All of the tests might fail to show the presence of mercury poisoning that has become embedded in some organ. If your hair has been exposed to mercury in hair products or the environment, it might indicate a higher level of mercury poisoning than actually exists. The hair test is much more reliable for other toxic metals and trace essential elements, and is a test that should be done every few years.
If you have been exposed to mercury, have amalgam fillings, regularly eat fish or seafood, or show the symptoms of mercury poisoning, you probably have mercury poisoning, and need to detoxify and heal yourself.
Even more important than your health, is the health of unborn child.
Mercury is passed in several ways from the mother to the fetus, and becomes concentrated in the fetus. This is how children can be born with mercury poisoning. Then they and their parents think “it’s just the way they are” and never look at issues like mercury poisoning since they think the baby was never exposed to mercury. Mercury can also be passed to the baby through the mother’s milk. All this is in addition to the mercury in the vaccines the baby receives.
One of the most reliable tests to show the presence of mercury is the Provocation Challenge Test. Serious kidney problems can interfere with this test. The test compares 2 urine samples. For each sample, urine is collected for a number of hours, usually between 6 and 24 hours. While collecting the second sample, a chelating agent like DMSA is taken. DMSA is effecting in attaching itself to mercury that has become concentrated in different areas of the body, then it is excreted through the urine. If the second sample of urine shows increased mercury levels, this indicates that there are mercury concentrations in your body that need to be removed through an extended chelating program.
DMSA is very effective for this test because it can pull mercury from locations other chelating agents can’t effectively reach. Because it is so effective, it is very powerful and needs to be used with caution when used for an extended period. It chelates all metals in the body, and so there needs to be a supplement program to replace the essential trace metals after it has removed the toxic metals. There are even some metals that are essential as traces, and at high levels are toxic, so testing to determine how much of what to put back is important.
Many doctors are in denial about these issues. You can order many of these tests and supplements through the internet. However, it is better to be working with a doctor so you can be leveraging their experience, and work together with them to improve your health. You will need to be well informed, and to be assertive so you get the heath support you need and deserve.
Since mercury and other toxins are becoming increasingly common in our environment, it is important to shift your lifestyle to avoid sources of them, and shift your diet and supplement program so that it constantly strengthens your body’s ability to neutralize and excrete toxins of all kinds.
It is important to strengthen the liver so it can process the toxins and the kidneys so they can excrete the toxins.
Fresh vegetables and fruits and whole grains and beans area good start on this. A multivitamin and mineral supplement is essential. There should be some kind of natural chelation agent like chlorella algae used as a regular supplement. Selenium is very useful because it is both an antioxidant, helps in the removal of toxins, and helps balance they system in many ways.
Trying to add hormone supplements, or even precursors to hormones, without unbalancing the system is difficult. As a general rule, it is a safer and more effective long-term plan to feed the body a fresh and varied diet, and supplement the organs and systems with the minerals and vitamins they use, so they produce the hormones they need.
If a body needs still more support, there are different herbs and plants than can gently stimulate and support different organs in the body without directly affecting them as hormone supplements would.
The best book to guide you through building and maintaining your health is:
Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, 3rd edition
By Paul Pitchford
The Bastyr University Book Store is a good place to get health books from:
www.bastyr.edu/bookstore/order/books.asp
As you work though the information on the links below, remember – it is your health at stake.
Even the best people make typos as they present information, and there is a lot of misguided evangelism going on. Double-check all information, and try to read between the lines. If they aren’t trying to present the upside and downside, then it is one-sided and you are missing important information you need. When you read warnings, try to discern between standard warnings written by layers and warnings written by a person who had some serious concerns.
Do you have Mercury Poisoning?
Marie's story and struggle with poisoning from amalgam fillings
This web site provides a firsthand account of one woman’s struggle with mercury poisoning, and provides resources to inform and help others.
San Francisco Medical Society has some good articles on mercury issues with references
The Danger of Mercury Poisoning From Fish
Mercury and Autism in Children
There are many articles health professionals will find useful that can be found by searching with google. Since there are sources of mercury in healthcare institutions, it is important professional and personally to people who work there to understand these issues.
Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish
www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Efrf/sea-mehg.html
Mercury levels in about 60 common fish. This is very useful for people that need to eat some fish so they can avoid the worst fish.
Steve Emerson Articles
These are of use to almost everybody with mercury, immune, or nervous system issues
FMS/CFIDS: A Form of Mercury Toxicity
www.ariplex.com/ama/amafm001.htm
What is useful is that in straightforward language he responds to the common myths that misinform people and cause their problems to go unaddressed.
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NOTE: If you are discounting mercury poisoning as a complicating issue with your health issues, you must read this paper. |
Alternative Treatments for Fibromyalgia
http://website.lineone.net/~jimbyrne/Alternative.htm
Most people with any kind of immune or nervous system issue will find this article useful because all of these system issues are interrelated. It describes many types of treatments and has many links and references to support further research.
U.S. National Library of Medicine
This site has an encyclopedia and dictionary that generally are very useful. Due to the politics, they have avoided the issue of chronic mercury poisoning. However most of the tests that indicate damage or unbalances that indicate possible lead poisoning are also possible indications of mercury poisoning. All tests that directly test for the presence of toxic metals test for both lead and mercury. So this database can be useful if you are concerned about mercury by searching it for ways to test for lead poisoning.
These fact sheets provide a very in-depth set of source studies to backup all the statement made.
DAMS Fact Sheets on Mercury Exposure from Amalgam and Adverse Health Effects
www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/indexd.html
www.dams.cc Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome – a nonprofit organization
www.amalgam.org A detailed coverage of the whole amalgam issue by DAMS
An On-Line Store and Extensive Health Encyclopedia
This is one of the more ethical online sources of supplements I have found, have reasonable prices, and useful information. They have a very extensive encyclopedia on health, supplements, and drugs. They take a fairly conventional approach to health information, which means they discount or don’t mention any benefit if there isn’t conventional statistical proof. Unfortunately they also underrate the seriousness of chronic mercury poisoning and don’t provide any real help in this area. However it is a great place to read up on more conventional supplements that the mercury focused sites recommend taking.
Shirley’s Wellness Café, Holistic Healthcare for People & Animals
www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com
This site is a good place to search for information on alternative strategies and therapies which aren’t commonly known about or supported.
Quackwatch
“Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions”
A very traditional medical site, so they are against everything the medical business establishment is against. However, its one thing to know there isn’t formal substantiation; it’s another to know people get real sick from it. I would use this site to find out if there are real dangers, then use other sites to assess the dangers and mitigation strategies.
Searching specific web sites for information
Some web sites don’t have a search function, or have a not very useful one. This makes it very time consuming to find information on them.
www.google.com has an advanced search function where you can search only on a specific web site. This makes it much easier to quickly find what you are looking for. The web site address is pasted in the box for “domain name”.
As long as Roger Padvorac is credited as the writer, and www.skilledwright.com/Essays.htm as the original source, feel free to share this essay in any nonprofit context. For sharing this in any other context, contact Roger Padvorac for permission through the contact information provided on www.skilledwright.com/Essays.htm