Mercury Rising

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=DisplayFiltered&DB=pubmed

[Amalgam risk assessment with coverage of references up to 2005]

[Article in German]

Mutter J, Naumann J, Walach H, Daschner F.

Institut fur Umweltmedizin und Krankenhaushygiene, Universitatsklinik Freiburg. joachim.mutter@uniklinik-freiburg.de

Amalgam, which has been in use in dentistry for 150 years, consists of 50 % elemental mercury and a mixture of silver, tin, copper and zinc. Minute amounts of mercury vapour are released continuously from amalgam. Amalgam contributes substantially to human mercury load. Mercury accumulates in some organs, particularly in the brain, where it can bind to protein more tightly than other heavy metals (e. g. lead, cadmium). Therefore, the elimination half time is assumed to be up to 1 - 18 years in the brain and bones. Mercury is assumed to be one of the most toxic non-radioactive elements. There are pointers to show that mercury vapour is more neurotoxic than methyl-mercury in fish. Review of recent literature suggests that mercury from dental amalgam may lead to nephrotoxicity, neurobehavioural changes, autoimmunity, oxidative stress, autism, skin and mucosa alterations or non-specific symptoms and complaints. The development of Alzheimer's disease or multiple sclerosis has also been linked to low-dose mercury exposure. There may be individual genetical or acquired susceptibilities for negative effects from dental amalgam. Mercury levels in the blood, urine or other biomarkers do not reflect the mercury load in critical organs. Some studies regarding dental amalgam reveal substantial methodical flaws. Removal of dental amalgam leads to permanent improvement of various chronic complaints in a relevant number of patients in various trials. Summing up, available data suggests that dental amalgam is an unsuitable material for medical, occupational and ecological reasons.

Publication Types:
Review

PMID: 15789284 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

.............................................................................................

Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2005 Oct;26(5):439-46. Related Articles,
Links

Mercury and autism: accelerating evidence?

Mutter J, Naumann J, Schneider R, Walach H, Haley B.

Institute for Environmental Medicine and Hospital Epidemiology,
University Hospital Freiburg, Germany. joachim.mutter@uniklinik-freiburg.de

The causes of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders are unknown.
Genetic and environmental risk factors seem to be involved. Because of an observed increase in autism in the last decades, which parallels
cumulative mercury exposure, it was proposed that autism may be in part caused by mercury. We review the evidence for this proposal. Several
epidemiological studies failed to find a correlation between mercury exposure through thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, and the risk of autism. Recently, it was found that autistic children had a higher mercury exposure during pregnancy due to maternal dental amalgam and thimerosal-containing immunoglobulin shots. It was hypothesized that children with autism have a decreased detoxification capacity due to genetic polymorphism. In vitro, mercury and thimerosal in levels found several days after vaccination inhibit methionine synthetase (MS) by 50%. Normal function of MS is crucial in biochemical steps necessary for brain development, attention and production of glutathione, an important antioxidative and detoxifying agent. Repetitive doses of thimerosal leads to neurobehavioral deteriorations in autoimmune susceptible mice, increased oxidative stress and decreased intracellular levels of glutathione in vitro. Subsequently, autistic children have significantly decreased level of reduced glutathione. Promising treatments of autism involve detoxification of mercury, and supplementation of deficient metabolites.

Though I have heard about mercury and lead poisoning before, this article makes me determined and anxious to have both my son and myself tested for mercury. I have an entire uncapped molar made of amalgam, plus many more regular sized ones. Thanks for sharing this information. I cut and pasted it for my friends as well.

Know that mercury is a very difficult metal to test (unlike lead) and commonly used blood screenings can only determine very recent exposure. Mercury clears the blood rapidly, going into long-term storage in the organs of the digestive track (especially when eaten, as in fish) or in the CNS (when injected like thimerosal or inhaled like the vapour from leaching amalgam fillings). Hair testing is likewise a poor method for determining past exposure orcurrent body-burden.

The only way to test for mercury is to do a provocation test. You take DMSA for several days under Federal guidelines for patient weight and after 3-5 days of consitant dosage collect a 12 or 24 hour urine sample for testing. Should you choose to do this, make sure they test for a full battery of metals, including arsenic. aluminum, cadmium, anitmony, nickel and both metallic and organic mercury.

DMSA is an oncredibly safe medication, without a single loss of life attributed to it in over 60 years of usage on both sides of the Atlantic. You do need to be able to tolerate sulfer based medicines. Should you wish to "cheat" a bit, you can add ALA (alpha-lipoic acid) an OTC anti-oxidant which increases DMSA's abilitiy to draw from across the blood barrier.

We treated my boy for several years for lead. It was the addition of ALA to the DMSA rounds that gave him the ability to use expressive language (he has autism). It wasn't until I insisted on testing for organic mercury in round 9 that his post-treatment testing registered a hit for mercxury. Mainstream medical practice in the US is still shooting in the dark on a great many topics, toxic metal treatment included. That being said, under NO circumstances should you attempt chelation without the oversight of a competant dr.

Good luck to you and please let us know how things turn out.

-may I ask how you treated your son after finding out about themercury?
chelation and what kind...how did it work...

I know it may be premature, but my son is 4 months and lost all his continuos babbling the day of his 4 month shots... his 2 month shots also bought on a metabolic change that was permanent....I keep diaries and videos, it's not my imagination

I am concerned and drs say.. wait till he is a year old...

Patrick, I sure would stop those shots for a few years or at least spread them out!!!

I agree. Don't have the third shot. I have met two children in my life who have had very adverse reactions to these shots. One was practically a vegetable and the other sufferred hearing and processing lossses. In fact, if I had met them before my children had DPT shots, I don't think I would have had my kids get them. But my kids were very typical--some reaction--fussiness but nothing really.

Your child on the other hand, seems to me to be at risk. I wouldn't take that risk.

beth

http://www.danasview.net/cheltest.htm

This is my experience chelating my son through round 5. At the time the only metal he tested positive for was lead, as only lead stores in part in the blood. Other metals store in the organs, and unless exposure was very recent you cannot test for them without provocation by administering a chelator.

Mercury did not show up on my boy's mid-round urinalysis until round 9 (last year about this time), and then it would not have shown up unless I had told the lab personnel to test for organic mercury as well as metallic mercury (previous tests were all for metallic, a poor assumption on the part of the medical profesionals considering 2 of the 3 chief exposures to children, thimerosal and methyl mercury passed through the placenta and mother's milk are both organic forms).

If your child is an infant now, chances are very sligyht that his problem is with thimerosal, as most of the pediatric vaccines used in the last couple years are thimerosal-free. I cannot say that your child was indeed injured by the DTaP; that requires specific tests by a neurologist that it is doubtful your insurance will cover or your dr. will order. I would advise you to be alert for seizure activity, especially absense seizures, which present as spacing out rather than grand mal.

I am very sorry that you are facing the questions you have. I wish you good luck with the future, and please let us know what you find out.