TOXIC METAL SYNDROME: HOW METAL POISONINGS CAN AFFECT YOUR BRAIN

H.R. Casdorph and M.Walker (95)

FINDINGS:

Aluminum – Constitutes 8.4 – 14% of earth’s crust – but is of no value in animal metabolism. Aluminum, (specific gravity 2.7) in soda/beer cans, aluminum foil, pots and pans, leaches out in acidic or water-soluble circumstances. There are aluminum additives in cheese products, baking powder, deodorants, antacids, lipstick and other cosmetics, hair spray, pizza, cake mixes and more. Aluminum accumulates in the body over time, and in the brain where it’s considered a prime suspect in various brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Coffee tends to aggravate the brain problem, as caffeine increases stomach hydrochloric acid levels. When the stomach fluids become excessively acidic, any aluminum present in one’s diet or in one’s drugs will collect and be transported in the bloodstream to the brain. Coffee is also the major dietary source of cadmium, a toxic heavy metal. Even mildly elevated levels of aluminum can influence memory disturbances in adults and hyperactivity and learning disorders in children. Aluminum plus coffee is especially toxic. (The aluminum industry is a strong financial supporter (influencer) of ARDA, the (American) Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Association). In many municipalities, aluminum powder (alum) is added to the water supply to clarify it, and in some areas also iron, which can also promote dementia – some localities have correspondingly higher incidences of Alzheimer’s, and other brain diseases such as ALS in Guam and on Kii (Japan) – a 100 fold higher than normal incidence where the ground was exceptionally rich in aluminum and manganese. Children especially are at risk of absorbing aluminum and heavy metals from food, milk and water until the kidneys are at full filtering capacity. All cooking pots and pans should be non-aluminum. Much excess aluminum is stored in bones which, as a result, become brittle.

[Heavy Metals by definition have a specific gravity in excess of 5.]

Mercury – a most dangerous element, is packed as an amalgam into over 80% of all dental cavities, and comprises 50% of the filling material. The leached fumes of these dental fillings lead to symptoms such as dementia, arthritis, premature aging, immune system breakdown, chest pains, cardio-vascular problems, allergies, gastrointestinal and psychosomatic problems. Dentists, amongst professional groupings, have the highest incidence of suicide and marital breakdown. The authors recommend that mercury fillings be removed and replaced with porcelain, gold or plastic compound, as chewing with mercury amalgams releases mercury vapours into the mouth; these vapours then enter the bloodstream, and eventually reach the brain. While mercury was banned (1990) from interior latex house paints, it is still permitted in dental cavities. Amalgams contain 10% copper, 30% silver, 5% zinc, 5% tin and 50% mercury, and act like small batteries when bathed in saliva, generating an electrical current and, via the electrical charges, mercury vapour. Five year old fillings have just 28% of mercury content left in the filling material, the rest having already been released into the body and brain. 1990 tests on sheep with small implanted mercury amalgams (radioactive) showed the leaking of mercury over 140 days into all the organs, brain and jaw bones. Selenium and zinc are physiologically used by the human brain to protect against mercury toxicity. Even old mercury amalgams have to be treated as hazardous waste products before disposal. Germany and Sweden banned the use of mercury amalgams in 1992. **

Lead – Children absorb 50% of the lead they are exposed to (vrs. 10% for adults) because their nervous systems and other organs are still developing and vulnerable. One’s IQ level is affected by any level of lead in the brain. The major sources of lead are drinking water from old plumbing systems or through new dripless faucets made of metal alloys containing lead. Insecticides, pigments, enamels and glazes, solder, varnishes, certain plastics, gasoline additives and heavy greases are other sources. Lead has a special affinity for brain gray matter. The body pathway of lead is firstly spleen, then liver and kidneys; after metabolism, on into the bones where the lead is locked unless the exposed individual eats a diet low in phosphates, which releases the lead back into the blood and lymphatic system. With a high intake of calcium and without a corresponding elevation of nutritional phosphates, the elevated lead in the blood forces its way through the blood/brain barrier. (Vitamin D in the food supply helps promote the safer deposit of lead into bones, provided adequate phosphate is present.) Hair analysis is the best way to assess the presence of toxic metals of any kind.

Cadmium – Severe dementia can occur from cadmium poisoning as a result of cigarette smoking, tobacco containing an immense amount of cadmium. Cadmium inhibits the formation of many enzymes and the action of nutrients in the body, and produces high blood pressure, anemia, liver damage, and metabolic kidney dysfunction and can contribute to osteoporosis, dementia, calcium stones, hypertension, hair loss, low blood hemoglobin levels, etc. Other sources of cadmium are refined foods such as white flour, white rice, white sugar – because the refining process reduces the natural zinc levels, zinc being cadmium’s natural neutralizer and antidote. Soft water contains higher cadmium as a result of the water softening process, especially if passed through metal pipes (flowing water leaches the cadmium out of the pipes). Fungicides are especially dangerous – cadmium is one of the many additives present in cured tobacco. Cadmium weakens the immune system to allow encroachment by bacteria, viruses, fungi, worms, parasites and malignant tumors. Organ meats, oysters and other seafood, ceramics, evaporated milk, and pesticides are additional cadmium sources.

Iron – An overload of iron in the body potentially causes enlarged liver, skin discoloration, diabetes mellitus, heart failure (as a result of internal electrical miscueing) and brain damage. One in 500 adult American men suffer from iron deficiency anemia, but twice as many suffer from iron overload disease. High dose iron supplements should be taken only where there is a clear nutritional or medical need, not as part of any multi-supplement formula. Iron is available from plant foods but some vegetable-based foods such as uncooked grains, like muesli, contain phytates that bind to minerals, find iron like a magnet, and facilitate passage out of the body unused, via the stool. Vitamin C promotes absorption of dietary iron. Iron transport problems within the brain can aggravate the problem of aluminum removal. As the left hemisphere of the brain contains more gray matter than the right, proper iron status is necessary for analytical, sequential and verbal cognition - especially in children. To reduce blood iron overload levels (hemochromatosis), chelation therapy or phlebotomy therapy is recommended by the authors. Phlebotomy therapy removes blood (two 500 ml units of blood per week), and over time (12 – 18 mos.) massive iron stores of 20 – 30 grams can be normalized. However, if angina or bone marrow suppression exists, phlebotomy cannot be performed. Chelation therapy is the administration of a protein-like substance, combined with other nutrients, into a vein. The nutrients circulate through the 60,000 miles of blood vessels that feed the body’s organs, tissues and cells, gripping minerals and carrying them out of the body, mostly through the kidneys, thereby freeing the body of destructive metals, free radicals and radiation particles.

Manganese – Overload leads to ‘manganese madness’, a type of antisocial behaviour which at the early stage manifests as minor compulsive acts, emotional instability and hallucinations, generalized muscular weakness, impaired equilibrium, and slurred speech. Elevated manganese levels are associated with dementia, poor co-ordination and movement control. In the prison population, hair sample testing of prisoners convicted of violent crimes had average levels of 2.2 parts per million compared to non-prisoner controls at .30 ppm. Manganese poisoning looks exactly like Parkinson’s disease, and is the result of dopamine depletion caused by manganese-induced oxidation damage to dopamine-containing neurons.

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Chelation Therapy – Further to mention in the above “Iron” section, the authors’ choice of injection is 3 grams of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EPTA), a synthetic amino acid, in a (usually) 500 ml carrier solution, infused into the patient’s blood stream very slowly (25 gauge needle) over 3 hours, no oftener than once in 24 hrs. Treatment is usually 2 or 3 times per week, with a total of 20 – 30 episodes. It takes a longer course of treatment to effect a reversal of senile dementia because EPTA does not pass naturally through certain body and brain barriers such as cell membranes and the blood/brain barrier. While chelation therapy readily clears any lead and other metallics circulating in the blood, it can only indirectly remove any intercellular lead, particularly in the central nervous system, hence many more treatments to restore short and long-term memories affected by the pathology of neurofibrillary tangles. Nevertheless, at least 50% of people with senility problems are documented as showing improved mental keenness, greater memory retention, and increased IQ after receiving intravenous chelation. Chelation therapy is claimed to prevent Alzheimer’s onset and holds great potential for extending anyone’s life expectancy by 20 years. Along with the intravenous infusers, many orally administered anti-oxidants have chelating properties, e.g. Selenium, co-enzyme Q10, and vitamins C and E. Dietary fat restriction and the ingestion of such lightly processed seed and vegetable oils as wheat germ, sunflower seed, safflower and sesame is beneficial. Cod liver oil and marine-based omega 3 essential fatty acids (EFAs), as well as soy and flax oils, representative of l-based omega 6 EFAs are also very helpful. A particular combination of these EFAs, marketed as Alzene, has clinically proven beneficial as a learning/memory supplement, without toxic affects. Also, nutritional supplementation with phosphatidyl choline, zinc, ginko biloba, thiamin (B1) and L-tryphophan and DLS hydroxytryptophan helps brain function.

Referenced in A.R.E. Library:

H. Tomlisson – Aluminum Utensils and Disease (58)

J.I. Rodak – Prevention Method for Better Health (60)

Wilhelm Pelikan – Secrets of Metals (73)

H. Huggins – Mercury - It’s All In Your Head (93)

G.S.Fasciano – Are Your Dental Fillings Poisoning You?

Reviewed:

R.Casdorph/M. Walker – Toxic Metal Syndrome (95)

M. Weiner – Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer’s

Additional confirming articles on chelation therapy were in Vitality Magazine June/99 with reference to the Ontario Chelated Patients’ Association (519) 941-5912 (originated 1998, now 5 chapters) and Consumer’s Health Organization of Canada (416) 490-0986. These sources would provide names of other administering practitioners.

Toronto’s Dr. Fred Hui advocates chelation for heart disease, saying it precludes surgery in 90% of cases (cost Max. $5,000 vrs. surgery @ $45,000.

**Nation-wide class action suit (Canada) - contact Citizens for Mercury Relief (416) 410-6314.

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