The Science Behind Dental Mercury and Other Environmental Toxicants
NOTE: My father was a dentist for a decade before becoming an orthodontist. I've often wondered about his (and my Mom's, who was his chair side assistant before their marriage) mercury burden from the 1950s as they relate to my own burden and my girls' autism. It was a hard subject to even bring up with my Dad. Thanks to World Mercury Project for this article. Please visit their site here.
By Amanda Just and John Kall, DMD of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT)
If everyone had the same reaction to environmental toxicants, these hazardous substances would probably be banned immediately. It would be obvious to everyone, as well as their doctors, that exposure to a specific toxic material results in a definitive outcome– the exact same illness shared by all of those who come into contact with the dangerous substance. However, research has demonstrated that individuals respond to environmental toxicants in a way that is unique to their own bodies.
This “personalized response” has been studied in depth in the case of dental mercury. In fact, examining the science behind dental mercury sheds light on the complex variability of environmental illnesses. It also offers hope that this newfound understanding can help heal the ailing state of 21st century public health.
What is dental mercury?
Often referred to as “silver fillings,” all dental amalgams consist of 45-55% metallic mercury. Mercury is a known neurotoxin. Amalgams are still used for about 45% of all direct dental restorations worldwide, including in the US.
What are some of the health risks that have been linked to dental mercury?
Properly diagnosing “adverse health effects” related to dental mercury amalgam fillings is impeded by the list of potential responses to the elemental form of the substance, which include over 250 symptoms. Not all individuals will experience the same symptom or combination of symptoms. Moreover, scientists have associated the mercury in amalgam fillings with Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), antibiotic resistance, anxiety, autism spectrum disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, infertility, kidney disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and other health problems. Read more here.
Freddie , will you do the Hennessy test too ? scoundrel
https://www.healthnutnews.com/vaccine-safety-activist-promises-to-retire-if-victorian-minister-is-vaccinated/
Meryl Dorey, the former president and founder of AVN (Australia’s national vaccine-safety consumer health lobby group) has called upon Health Minister Jill Hennessy to show that vaccinating our children carries no risk.
“I am asking the Minister to do voluntarily what she is forcing upon children – to take the entire vaccination schedule over the next 4 years, starting with the birth dose of Hepatitis B, and continuing on to the 4-year old dose of DTPa-IPV.
There are currently 41 vaccinations administered to children in Australia between birth and 4 years of age – more if you are of Aboriginal or Torres-Strait Islander descent. Ms Hennessy needs to take all of these vaccines and also receive an annual flu shot as recommended for all children over the age of 6 months to show her faith in the safety of this medical procedure.
If she agrees to this, and completes the schedule without any evidence of harm, I will resign from the AVN, retire from this issue and never speak publicly about vaccination again.”1Non Compulsory Vaccination, November 20, 2017.2
Posted by: Han Litten | November 23, 2017 at 10:37 AM
"Not to mention if you are having a filling replaced and the residue of the old one goes down your throat."
In Fred the frogs case that would be that would cause reptile dis-function.
Pharma for Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | November 22, 2017 at 01:17 PM
Hera,
Not to mention if you are having a filling replaced and the residue of the old one goes down your throat.
Posted by: John Stone | November 22, 2017 at 11:58 AM
Hi Frederick Chopin,
Your health choices are completely up to you and your dentist. But I do believe in informed consent, and that products should be safe rather than poisonous.
You say I am asking you to "prove a negative". But that isn't what I am asking you to do.
I specifically asked you whether you had any study that could show that in people with genetic inability to process mercury, hair level of mercury is an accurate way to determine mercury in the kidney or the brain. I showed you a study that demonstrated that people can process mercury differently. And that blood levels of mercury is not a guideline for mercury levels in the kidney or brain in such people.
That we all process things differently, should be pretty obvious since we all know that toxins effect some people more than others. In fact the infamous and cruel LD50 test, used as the baseline for toxicity, is based on how much of a product it takes to kill 50% of the mice given it. Why do half the mice survive what is a lethal dose for some of the others? Because even mice process toxins differently.
Or to use an even more down to earth example, some people will die if they eat peanut butter, but most of us can eat it just fine. Some people can, reasonably effectively, remove mercury vapor through their blood. Some people cannot remove anything like as much mercury, and in these people, it deposits in the brain and kidney. There is a point where no doubt a high enough dose of mercury would poison anyone, but the trouble is that population norms for safety don't apply to people who cannot process it normally. The two groups are going to react differently to the same amount of mercury.
Now, it has been accepted repeatedly that mercury amalgams give off mercury vapor. Amalgams can be made of different concentrations of mercury, they can break, and they can corrode. Hot drinks and lots of chewing ( chewing gum,etc) massively increase the amount of mercury released.
The number of amalgams in someones mouth is obviously also going to make a huge difference to the amount of mercury being given off. 8, 10, or 12 amalgams versus 1, which do you believe is likely to produce more mercury vapor?
To you believe a broken or corroded amalgam is likely to produce more mercury vapor than a well sealed one?
Now amalgams are not the only way people can be exposed to mercury. Thimerosal in injections, mercury in fish, occupational exposure in the dental industry or various factories, smoke or environmental pollution, creams etc containing mercury , can all lead to exposure from mercury..
So mercury content in the brain can occur in multiple ways.
Is it good for mercury to deposit in someone's brain or kidney? Would you consider that a possible health risk or not?
What kind of symptoms would you expect in someone with chronic low level mercury toxicity?
If blood isn't a good indication of mercury in the brain in people with specific mutations, then why are you relying on it to "prove" that the symptoms of mercury poisoning that they have are related to the mercury that you know is going into their mouth every day? Surely removal of amalgam, treatment of mercury poisoning, and subsequent loss of mercury poisoning symptoms, as in Kim's study, is a better guide?
In the end, you are welcome to believe what you want or need to believe. You might want to ask yourself though, given all the evidence to the contrary, why you are trying so hard to prove that a known neurotoxin is safe ?
Posted by: Hera | November 22, 2017 at 11:09 AM
Freddie I guess its that time of year now ...........
the easter bunny , the tooth fairy , santa claus , mercury amalgams , vaccination
all the same , a fairy tale (for children and the under educated)
Posted by: Han Litten | November 22, 2017 at 06:40 AM
"go get a mercury-preserved flu shot every single day for the next 20 years"
DonnaL , you are being ridiculous . No one would last longer than 5 . haha
Freddie , dude , where you gone ?
Mercury Amalgams is why so many people need spectacles nowadays .
Posted by: Han Litten | November 22, 2017 at 06:17 AM
Nota bene Frydereck .Your identity Tag for a kick off does not meet the entry criteria for credibility chum ,so if you can only see "The World in six songs" you might want to try practicing whistling into the wind for a season. You are most welcome to rejoin the conversation once you have outgrown your arsenic and old lace- short trousers mentality . Ach ma dear we got any amalgum fillings replaced about 20 years ago along with ditching our alluminium camping pots and pans and that ma dear was on the best expert advice going . The Singing Dentist Alistair Gillies The Loch Maree Islands youtube
You have got a long way to go before yer ready for this "Pitch " as there's no wilting wallflowers on these article pages .
Posted by: Morag | November 21, 2017 at 06:46 PM
I honestly cannot believe that for seven long-a** days people have been arguing about whether or not mercury is safe for humans (I can't even type that without bewilderment)with someone who calls himself Chopin -- and ironically, the REAL Chopin's music was the only thing on earth that would stop my mercury poisoned son from screaming when he was little. Chopin-dude, give it a rest. Go get every single one of your teeth filled with mercury amalgam, go get a mercury-preserved flu shot every single day for the next 20 years, until you cannot even remember your real name. You think mercury is safe? Have at it. Use it all up. Knock yourself out. Nobody cares.
Posted by: Donna L. | November 21, 2017 at 06:44 PM
Hera,
I've been asking for proof dental amalgam causes disease in humans and you all have countered by asking me to prove it doesn't. That's trying to prove a negative. It just seems to me that before advising people to have their fillings yanked you should be able to show it helps in some way. In the case report and the other larger study you all posted none of the patients were shown to have elevated mercury levels and the researchers diagnosed them with mercury toxicity due to a lot of common nonspecific symptoms. And then you claim, well, they all had gene mutations that deposited all the mercury in their brains and stuff and it wouldn't show up in the blood or urine or even the hair. So I showed you the cadaver study where the average mercury levels were the same if not higher in the people who didn't have amalgams.
So show me something proving dental amalgam causes disease in humans or admit you can't.
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 21, 2017 at 12:51 PM
Hi Frederic Chopin,
The study you cited had soem pretty large flaws, at least per the abstract.
Only 8 amalgam cadavers compared to 22 controls? Why not equal numbers?
No identifying how many amalgams were in each mouth, which would be pretty essential information.
No identification of whether the two groups had similar exposures to mercury from other sources.
what the study did show though as John Stone pointed out, was the 60% of people with amalgams had mercury in their brain ( not a good thing!)compared to 38 % of the controls, and that
"The average Hg level of the amalgam group was 0.97 ± 0.83 µg/g (minimum: 0.3 µg/g and maximum: 2.34 µg/g), and in the amalgam-free group, it was 1.06 ± 0.57 µg/g (minimum: 0.17 µg/g and maximum: 1.76 µg/g)."
And of those (only 8!) people who had amalgams, the maximum amount in the brain of either the controls or the amalgam group: 2.34 ug/g ! belonged to a person with amalgams.If you are looking for proof of amalgam safety, this study does not give it to you.
Posted by: Hera | November 21, 2017 at 11:23 AM
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 21, 2017 at 04:04 AM
Why , if there is no evidence about mercury amalgams , are they disappearing at a rate of knots across the western world ? Why is there talk of outlawing them altogether by 2020 ?
One day , the criminals you work for will be held to account for their crimes.
Why have people been complaining and campaigning against water with mass medicated fluoride since its inception in the 50s & 60s ? Why do people repeatedly link it with cancer ?
Isnt Sodium Fluoride used to poison rats ?
Hexafluorosilicic acid , it just makes no sense to ingest that ? even you can see that ? Are you going to argue these simple points ?
I have no idea about your communist notions , I am told we are living in the free west ?
Arent we ? sb277 enforced medical experimentation ?
Posted by: Han Litten | November 21, 2017 at 09:21 AM
Hans,
You're right, we should change the subject since no one has evidence dental amalgam causes disease in humans.
This fluoride thing...is it still a commie plot?
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 21, 2017 at 04:04 AM
Freddie , lets talk about the other great dental discovery of the 20th century . Fluoride "
https://www.sott.net/article/368385-New-mainstream-study-concludes-fluoride-lowers-IQ
New mainstream study concludes fluoride lowers IQ
The study referred to in this interview was published in Environmental Health Perspectives, in September 2017. It is titled: "Prenatal Fluoride Exposure and Cognitive Outcomes in Children at 4 and 6-12 Years of Age." It is often referred to as the Bashash study, after its first listed author.
The study concluded:
"...higher prenatal fluoride exposure, in the general range of exposures reported for other general population samples of pregnant women and nonpregnant adults, was associated with lower scores on tests of cognitive function in the offspring at age 4 and 6-12 y."
Posted by: Han Litten | November 20, 2017 at 10:46 AM
Fred
More of the brains in the amalgam group had mercury (60%) than the non-amalgam group (36.3%). That is quite a big difference, the trend that you talk about relatively slight. It was admittedly a very small study.
Posted by: John Stone | November 20, 2017 at 09:59 AM
Grace,
I found this article looking at mercury levels in cadaver brains, and the ones with amalgam fillings showed a trend toward lower mercury levels.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24178888
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 20, 2017 at 09:39 AM
Chopin,
Grace is right. Those of us who store vaccine mercury rather than excrete it have very little of it in our hair at any time: it's been stored in the bones, organs, and the brain. There is no easy way to assess mercury toxicity. By a few weeks after exposure, it's no longer in the blood or urine. Again, it's been stored, and it would require an invasive biopsy to measure the levels in the bones, organs, or brain. It's common to measure mercury in the blood or urine first, then give an oral chelator like DMSA or DMPS, and then measure again after the chelator has pulled mercury out. It would have to be one of the few chelators that can cross the blood-brain barrier to pull it from the brain to assess the level in the brain. Alpha lipoic acid and ascorbyl palmitate are some of the few substances which can do this.
Posted by: cia parker | November 19, 2017 at 11:33 PM
Hi Frederick Chopin,
The thing is we are talking about people who do not eliminate mercury normally. Urine is not a good guideline for mercury levels in the tissue such as the kidney and brain, when dealing with people with genetic or physiological inability to process mercury. Yet it is generally used in everyone, regardless.
In fact , urine levels of mercury as per the previously quoted study are actually lower in these cases. because the toxin removal system doesn't work. So the question is what scientific studies have shown that in people with impaired mercury removal, hair is a good guideline for the mercury content/ levels in the brain or kidney?
If the mercury can't make it into the urine in a typical fashion, , why do you think it will make it into the hair?
I am still researching this, so if you have research that links hair level, and brain/kidney mercury level in people with genetic problems with mercury removal such as MTHFR , please share them.
Please though, cite the study name. That way I can look at methodology , source of funding etc for myself. If the studies haven't been done for this specific population, , then neither you nor anyone else has any scientific basis for using hair levels of mercury to judge tissues levels of mercury in individuals with mercury removal disorders.
Posted by: Hera | November 19, 2017 at 08:28 PM
Hi Benedetta,
Re the Chopin name; yes. I wondered if this person is an Eindecker or Jbaby reincarnation; in which case the name is a huge improvement imo.
( hey, Baby steps...)
Posted by: Hera | November 19, 2017 at 08:08 PM
Grace,
Mercury is eliminated primarily in the urine, bile and feces - not the hair. Think about how long it takes your hair and nails to grow. This is why hair and nail samples are used to assess long-term exposure.
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 19, 2017 at 05:42 PM
You all know do know that you are all arguing with some one that has decided to call himself after a famous savant, famous composer.
Chopin's Dad really took care of him; I often wondered about the little thing.
He was only eight years of age when he became well known.
He then died very young - his illness a strange slow death, probably TB. Perhaps he had a frail immune system that could not fight it off, or came into contact - with too much TB at one time?
Mercury, arsenic, lead weakens that immune system. Well known fact, and really addressed by the research and writings of Dan Olmsted.
Posted by: Benedetta | November 19, 2017 at 03:58 PM
Chopin, easy If the toxin in question is found in the hair, blood or urine it has been excreted via those routes. If someone is unable to excrete the toxin it gets stored away in their fatty tissues primarily, including the brain. So, it doesn't appear in their hair, blood or urine until they take a chelation substance which grabs it and takes it out by the normal routes. I don't think you would get on too well reading those scientific papers.
Posted by: Grace Green | November 19, 2017 at 11:25 AM
Sorry; correction from the study, there were intially abnormal results in her blood, and post removal of the amalgam, they normalized. Level of mercury testing was only done once? after removal had already occured,
" Blood tests and symptoms normalized within three weeks of removal of the dental amalgam."
Posted by: Hera | November 17, 2017 at 12:46 PM
Hi Frederic Chopin,
In that case you are citing, they removed the leaking amalgam, and appear to have possibly treated the patient before re testing her levels,( they describe a 6 week treatment interval) though it is not clear (at least on my reading) on what day post amalgam removal they did the testing.
A broken amalgam leaking into the mouth ( on someone who chewed gum a lot) and who then developed mercury poisoning symptoms seems a bit of a no brainer in terms of causing harm. Or are you really trying to claim that the mercury she absorbed from a leaking amalgam was safe and that co-current signs of mercury poisoning were coincidence?
That seems a pretty biologically and scientifically implausible level of "coincidence" to believe in.
Re excretion of toxic substances in people who have genetic or physiological impairments.
Someone who has for example, working kidneys will effectively flush toxins out of their system via their urine. What however would you expect to happen to someone whose pathways to remove toxins are impaired?
Would you expect
a) Their urine would show high levels of the toxins,indicating they were being cleared from the body?
b) their tissues ( brain, liver etc) would show high levels of the toxins that hadn't been removed, but their urine would show low levels?
Of course, to further complicate matters, some people have a genetic predisposition to mercury poisoning ( mercury sensitivity) that means even very low levels can be toxic for them
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413404/
Not surprisingly, pink disease survivors have genetic mutations which effect pathways that could be used to detoxify mercury.
Interestingly, in rats
Effect of different renal glutathione levels on renal mercury disposition and excretion in the rat
From the abstract
The results indicate a higher HgCl2 renal clearance in N-acetylcysteine-treated rats compared to controls and less renal mercury accumulation. The data agree with diminished renal toxicity. On the other hand, renal mercury accumulation was higher and mercury renal clearance lower in diethylmaleate-treated animals, associated with higher renal toxicity.
So; more mercury in urine, less mercury accumulated in the kidneys, and less kidney toxicity.
Less mercury in the urine, more mercury in the kidneys, and more kidney toxicity.
And glutathione is used in one of the specific pathways that's genetically impaired in pink disease survivors. ( MTHFR)
Posted by: Hera | November 17, 2017 at 12:31 PM
Grace,
If someone was not able to excrete a toxin I would think they'd have more of it, not less. But as you say I',m just a beginner. Please explain.
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 17, 2017 at 09:30 AM
Chopin, you're such a beginner at this. Everyone knows that those who suffer from mercury poisoning have a genetic make-up which prevents them from excreting such toxins. So that's why they don't have more, indeed they usually have less, mercury in their hair, blood and urine.
Posted by: Grace Green | November 17, 2017 at 07:30 AM
Kim,
It's a single speculative case report and they state, "In order to examine potential exposure to inhaled mercury vapor and subsequent systemic toxicity, we determined the levels of total mercury in blood, urine, and scalp hair by using atomic absorption spectrometry for blood and urine and inductively coupled plasma for scalp hair. Her levels of total mercury in the biological matrices were within the normal range."
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 16, 2017 at 04:16 PM
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2288608/
Frederick - here's a study showing amalgam vapor and connection to fever and illness.
Posted by: Kim Rossi | November 16, 2017 at 01:47 PM
Hera,
You're saying I should link what study exactly? Your own reference from Medscape, under "etiology", is what I quoted - it describes several studies on dental amalgam and references them. You should read it.
John,
I never said mercury (in high enough doses) isn't toxic, I asked for someone to link a study showing dental amalgam causes disease in humans.
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 16, 2017 at 01:42 PM
Hi Frederic Chopin,
It would help if you provided a link to this study you feel is definitive proof of safety and non toxicity. As you describe it , there seem to be multiple issues, including the fact that you don't describe it addressing the possibility of genetic mutations leading to increased sensitivity in a subset of people, why the authors believe mercury is safe, or why they believe amalgams can't corrode or give off gases, and whether the "battery of noncognitive tests" were in any way normed or was even capable of picking up signs of mercury poisoning.
The lack of a true placebo group as you describe it, is also noted, and another question is whether an attempt was made to identify those who had high fish intake or were exposed to external mercury. Is the study actually designed to pick up the kind of long term health issues caused by chronic mercury toxicity? Which of the symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning did they check for? How did the study differentiate between kids with one amalgam, and kids with multiple mercury amalgams, or did they just put them together in one group, potentially losing the ability to detect if increased amalgams cause more problems?
These kind of questions need to be answered,and should be in any "definitive" study.
On my quick search (unsuccessful) for your study though, I hit study after study demonstrating mechanisms of harm and increased mercury load linked to amalgams.
I didn't know that mercury concentrates in breast milk, linked to amalgams in the mother's mouth, for example.
Or that mercury vapor can be present in the breath of some people with amalgams.
Then there is the study that shows increased mercury in the human brain and kidneys in autopsies, linked with amalgam surface area.
And who knew that chewing increased mercury vapor discharge compared to those with no amalgams? If we are going to say they are inert as long as people don't chew, that is not very encouraging.
Please then, I would appreciate the link. Do you feel though that your study actually addresses all these issues?
Posted by: Hera | November 16, 2017 at 09:47 AM
John, your description of the effect of mercury on the great composers is so like the "absent-minded professor". Extraordinary in their field of speciality but hopeless at everyday life. Unfortunately, most autistic people don't have the genius side.
Posted by: Grace Green | November 16, 2017 at 09:31 AM
Posted by: John Stone | November 16, 2017 at 06:30 AM
Edvard Munchs the Scream captures my experience of Autism exactly .
It also doubles as my opinion of vaccination .
Posted by: Han Litten | November 16, 2017 at 08:16 AM
Hans
I would only go so far as to say that the biographies and perhaps some of their works would have been different with different experiences. I certainly don't think they were crazy - certainly not when producing great art, which requires control.
Posted by: John Stone | November 16, 2017 at 06:30 AM
Posted by: John Stone | November 16, 2017 at 05:33 AM
In agreement with you actually (but never this Chopin imposter) .
It is possible and feasible that mercury and other toxicities have contributed to the arts (you know the term that Crazy genius ).
Posted by: Han Litten | November 16, 2017 at 06:15 AM
Chopin, that's exactly my point. You need to read the studies because you have no personal experience of mercury poisoning. I don't because after a lifetime of hearing doctors and dentists telling me my illness was "all in my mind" I found descriptions of the symptoms of mercury poisoning which exactly matched mine, and when I had my amalgams removed and started to chelate the remaining mercury in my body, hey presto, I start to recover my health. But I suppose you would call that a coincidence!
Posted by: Grace Green | November 16, 2017 at 05:45 AM
Hans
Probably overstating. Lots of people were treated in the 19th century with mercury. The results were no doubt personally horrific for Schubert, Schumann, Gauguin etc. but they continued to produce great work. But I don't think our Frederic Chopin would opt for amalgam fillings. He is playing the no evidence game when there is plenty evidence that mercury is highly toxic. Does he really want to suck it and see?
Posted by: John Stone | November 16, 2017 at 05:33 AM
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 15, 2017 at 08:58 PM
If the real Chopin had had mercury amalgams he wouldn't have been able to write so much as a nursery rhyme.
Posted by: Han Litten | November 16, 2017 at 04:32 AM
Clara (or Lisa?),
"The first study stopped at age 15 but already the kids with amalgam were showing the first signs of kidney disease as well as lower I.Q." - how do you figure that?
"The second study was supposed to stop at age 17, but the majority of children had already dropped out by then." - so what?
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 15, 2017 at 08:58 PM
Okay, Frederic, now you're just being dishonest. Read my previous post, in which I described the two studies of children that you subsequently cited, and why they failed to prove the safety of amalgams. (The first study stopped at age 15 but already the kids with amalgam were showing the first signs of kidney disease as well as lower I.Q. The second study was supposed to stop at age 17, but the majority of children had already dropped out by then.)
Posted by: Clara | November 15, 2017 at 05:17 PM
And now we are making it worse with Wifi and other electromagnetic wave exposure, which increases off-gassing from mercury amalgams.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4795328/
Posted by: Health Bites Online | November 15, 2017 at 04:19 PM
Grace,
So after claiming I clearly didn't read or understand the gish gallop of 217 references from the IAOMT, when I ask which reference most impressed you that mercury amalgam fillings cause disease in humans you respond, " I don't need convincing by reading lots of studies..." SMH
Hera,
Wojcik et al apparently diagnosed these people on clinical grounds, only testing mercury levels in 26 patients and then only after a "DMPS challenge test", which is not even mentioned in the Medscape article. You should have read the part about etiology:
"Even the mercury vapors from dental amalgam have been of concern as a possible, although controversial, source of exposure among dental workers and the general population. A study of 1663 veterans used a wide battery of noncognitive tests and found no clinically evident deficits associated with amalgam exposure. However, a subclinical decrement in vibration as measured by an automated device correlated with amalgam exposure and accounted for 15% of the variance in a multiple regression model. [29, 30] Furthermore, no consistent correlation could be established between urinary mercury levels and nerve conduction parameters among dental professionals. [31]
Two randomized studies of a total of 1041 children aged 6–10 years whose dental caries were treated with either amalgam or resin composite fillings showed no group differences on extensive batteries of neuropsychological tests after 5–7 years of follow-up. [32, 33] After an exhaustive investigation and review of the evidence, including the form of mercury in question, the route of exposure, and the dose, the Public Health Service concluded that dental amalgams do not pose a serious health risk. [30, 34] "
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 15, 2017 at 03:08 PM
Rereading my comment I saw that I had said that none of the three homeopaths whom I had consulted was willing to design a mercury detox protocol, but that wasn't right. The Indian homeopath did, and I don't know how well it might have worked had I been able to continue more than one day on it. And I don't know if any homeopath would be able to control how much mercury the remedy pulls out at once. I had thought that the body would respond gratefully and appropriately, but apparently that's not the case in cases of poisoning.
I just looked to see the dose I took of ALA and DMSA. On my Amazon account I see that I've ordered both 25 mg and 50 mg bottles of ALA, and I didn't realize until now that they were different dosages. I looked at the Regarding Caroline website where I first read about it. I wasn't sure if I should mention where I get the DMSA. Five years ago I got it from a US company, but a few years ago, even though it's widely reported that studies have shown it's a safe, effective way to chelate mercury and other toxins from the blood and organs (except the brain, the ALA is for the brain), the US decided to pass a law prohibiting its sale here. I googled it and was relieved to find that I could buy it from South Africa, from Living Supplements. Regarding Caroline has changed the source to buy it from to Living Supplements. I've ordered from them for several years now, and it's been safe and reliable.
So that's another question. Why would the US prohibit its sale here? Thousands of people use it for mercury detox. It's a grey area, meaning it's all right to buy it from abroad, just illegal to sell it here. Trying to prohibit people from even knowing that they're mercury-toxic, but there's a safe, relatively inexpensive way to get it out?
Posted by: cia parker | November 15, 2017 at 01:48 PM
I didn't have many fillings in my teeth when I was diagnosed with MS in September 1990, but my boyfriend said he had seen on 60 Minutes that removing mercury fillings would improve MS. And I got my fillings taken out and replaced with non-mercury composite within a couple of weeks. I have told dentists ever since that I don't want mercury in my mouth. I still had several severe mercury/MS attacks. The one in October 1994 when I had severe dizziness for a week and couldn't turn my head to the left without vomiting, and then one which started in October 1996 which paralyzed my left arm and leg for about a month before they started to recover. I was in the hospital for three and a half weeks, getting out right before Thanksgiving. And now in the last three years the mercury attacks which I described yesterday. Getting out the fillings doesn't do anything about the stored thimerosal mercury in your brain. The worst attacks always occur in the fall when the weather is starting to get colder. Heat brings on attacks, and the attacks also raise the heat: I sweated during the attacks I described, and when I stopped sweating I knew I could try to turn my head to see if the attack was over. I think the body turns its inner thermostat up when the weather gets colder, which can mobilize the mercury.
I don't think homeopathy can be used to treat mercury poisoning safely. I've specifically asked three homeopaths for guidance in using homeopathy to detox the mercury, and none of them was willing to even try to design a protocol. I found a product on Amazon a year and a half ago: homeopathic Mer Detox. I sprayed it twice under my tongue in the middle of May 2016, and thought that I would never know if it worked or not. Ha ha. Three hours later at the health food store I suddenly felt very dizzy and nauseated, I had to lean on the cart since I had lost my balance. I sat down for a few minutes but it only got worse. I decided to go straight home and not go to the supermarket. And I threw up six times in the car driving ten minutes to get home. Crawled up the stairs reeling with dizziness and into bed, after turning on the fan at the end of the bed and asking Cecily to bring me a pot to throw up into. And I threw up another six times, before it finally stopped a couple of hours later. But that was just the first of another series of mercury attacks which occurred twice a week for two months. I thought well, I can see that the homeopathic remedy really was effective in pulling mercury from my brain. I'm going to contact that homeopath in India who conscientiously designed a protocol for chronic insomnia eight years ago, before I realized that it was mercury poisoning. His protocol didn't help at that time. So I explained everything to him and asked if he could design a protocol to get the mercury out more slowly and safely than the Mer Detox. He compounded his own remedies and mailed them from India, arriving about July 20. Anyway, it was the same story. Took the first dose, couldn't sleep at all. The next day ataxia and continued inability to sleep even taking the normal ten sedatives. I stopped taking them, but too late. Another series of two attacks a week for two months had started.
So yes, homeopathy can pull the stored vaccine mercury from where it's stored in your body, including your brain. I don't know if it only mobilizes it without causing it to be excreted from the body. Maybe it does, but the toxicity symptoms I experienced were so severe that that was not a practical treatment for me.
Posted by: cia parker | November 15, 2017 at 01:34 PM
Hi Frederick Chopin,
Thanks for linking to the article. While I am with you about the fact that homeopathy probably provides more of a placebo effect than anything else, here is what Medscape ( as main stream as they come) recommends for mercury toxicity
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1175560-treatment
"Treatment of mercury toxicity consists of removal of the patient from the source of exposure, supportive care, and chelation therapy. Patients with cognitive and emotional sequelae may require psychotropic medications."
So, removal of source ( check) followed by treatment with oral chelation ( check)
And the Medscape article states that oral chelation is a viable outpatient therapy.
" Chelation treatment may be administered in the outpatient setting with an oral chelator, such as DMSA. [93]"
Not sure why you feel that is a mess.
It makes sense that signs of mercury toxicity are at least partially resolved by treating mercury toxicity.
If you discount the homeopathy, you are left with a mainstream treatment for mercury toxicity, that following removal of the amalgams, resulted in improved health.
Is it a perfect study design? No. But you will be hard put to ever find a perfect study design, when dealing with the huge number of variables that make up human health. Is it interesting, and does it describe a plausible mechanism for mercury poisoning via amalgams, and include a mainstream treatment for mercury poisoning that resulted in improvement? Yes.
The Medscape article may not believe , despite all evidence to the contrary, that amalgams cause mercury leakage, but it seems clear on the fact that oral chelation is an acceptable treatment for mercury toxicity.
What is even more interesting, in the article you linked to, is that the manufacturers of the amalgam updated the MSDS sheet to include
https://www.dhpionline.com/msds/100-61001.pdf
Chronic Health Effects: The following chronic (long-term) health
effects can occur at some time after exposure to Mercury and can
last for months or years.
• Repeated low exposure or a very high single exposure can cause
Mercury poisoning. Symptoms include tremors (shaking), trouble
remembering and concentrating, gum problems, increased
salivation, loss of appetite and weight, and changes in mood
and personality.
So, the symptoms being reported seem to be related to chronic mercury exposure.
It is also interesting to note that there is a specific gene mutation which appears to be linked to increased risk of toxicity, leading back to an explanation as to why some people react differently than others to the exposure to mercury from their teeth.
So, while I appreciate your response, I would still like to read your favorite study ( or studies) that prove that mercury is non toxic when placed as amalgams in the mouth.
Posted by: Hera | November 15, 2017 at 11:03 AM
Chopin, I don't know what's "yikes" about oral chelation. These products are food supplements, which are basically anti-oxidants, but I dare say you would turn your nose up at a healthy salad! I've had a rather more positive experience than Cia Parker. Since removal of amalgam fillings in May 2016 I've sporadically taken 6.25mg DMSA and 6.25mg ALA every three hours for 22 doses. Apart from a couple of bouts of what I call "toddler diarrhoea" (the new name for mercury poisoning) after which I felt much better! I haven't had any unpleasant side effects. I have noticed improvements; gums stopped bleeding immediately after amalgam removal, short-term memory improvements, and after the last "round" of treatment a sudden return of my fine motor function (ie doing and undoing buttons). I don't need convincing by reading lots of studies which would be preaching to the choir.
Posted by: Grace Green | November 15, 2017 at 10:08 AM
I am surprised that Frederic Chopin would favor the use of mercury - one of the most toxic substances known to man - in any medical procedure.
Posted by: Primum non nocere | November 15, 2017 at 06:34 AM
Hera,
It's not 166 and it's behind a paywall but I found a link with a lot of its details:
http://www.optimalfunctioning.com/research/wojcik-et-al-2006-mercury-toxicity-presenting-as-chronic-fatigue-memory-impairment-depression-diagnosis-treatment-susceptibility-outcomes-zealand-general-practice-setting.html
They had a bunch of people with a bunch of nonspecific symptoms who they diagnosed with "chronic mercury toxicity" somehow. Then they pulled out their fillings and administered "appropriate treatment" which included homeopathy, oral chelation (yikes), antioxidants, nutrients and supplements. It's a mess.
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 15, 2017 at 01:16 AM
Why so do many defenders of antiquated, neurotoxic mercury amalgam remain? Because it’s profitable, and for some less-than-ethical people science is always for sale. Even trolls can earn money by posting comments designed to manufacture doubt about non-industry research that raises alarms about mercury’s toxicity to consumers.
Apropos of outdated science, consider this industry-friendly column on mercury amalgam by the noble-sounding National Capital Poison Center. That’s not a government agency; it’s a private company run from a small DC office. The column was written by a nurse toxicologist formerly with the volunteer American Association of Poison Control Centers.
https://www.poison.org/articles/2010-dec/do-fillings-cause-mercury-poisoning
To see how many topics this writer covers, search for keywords “DABAT emerita” — a phrase that’s apparently exclusive to NCPC’s rep. One might conclude this writer is a generalist of retirement age leveraging past professional connections for paid op-ed pieces. Particularly ludicrous is are these talking points parroted by NCPC; her list of scientific references reads like a Who’s Who of vaccine research fraud.
http://stmarksnurseryschool.com/downloads/ms_3209.pdf
Makes one wonder just how “expert” this expert advice is, regarding life-or-death treatment for poisoning. The AAPCC manages the National Poison Data System (NPDS), which supplies information to the CDC and FDA and pharmaceutical companies. Given such a circular data exchange route, the buck never stops if consumers suffer problems from these agencies’ questionable information.
Posted by: nhokkanen | November 14, 2017 at 09:33 PM
IAOMT criticized the 2008 amalgam opinion of the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks, saying its members were few and had ties to the dental industry. In 2014 SCENHIR backpedaled:
“The SCENIHR recognises that there is a need for further research, particularly relating to (i) evaluation of the potential neurotoxicity of mercury from dental amalgam and the effect of genetic polymorphisms on mercury toxicity.”
Also: “To reduce the use of mercury-added products in line with the intentions of the Minamata Convention (reduction of mercury in the environment) it can be recommended that for primary teeth alternative materials to amalgam should be the first choice.”
https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consultations/public_consultations/scenihr_consultation_24_en
SCENIHR acknowledges in responses to critics that new research is becoming available and has yet to be consolidated. Still, the committee can’t resist blaming other mercury sources as causal agents.
https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/scientific_committees/emerging/docs/followup_cons_dental_en.pdf
Posted by: nhokkanen | November 14, 2017 at 04:18 PM
Hi Frederic Chopin. ( like the name, by the way) Personally ,I haven't even started to read through them all, though 166 caught my eye., though I am sure Grace probably has her own favorites.
The title:
Mercury toxicity presenting as chronic fatigue, memory impairment and depression: diagnosis, treatment, susceptibility, and outcomes in a New Zealand general practice setting (1994-2006).
This line from the abstract
In a group of 465 patients diagnosed as having chronic mercury toxicity (CMT), 32.3% had severe fatigue, 88.8% had memory loss, and 27.5% had depression. A significant correlation was found between CMT and the Apo-lipoprotein E4 genotype (p=0.001)
and this one
Removal of amalgam mercury fillings when combined with appropriate treatment resulted in a significant symptom reduction (p<0.001) to levels reported by healthy subjects.
Seem to be relevant to your question. the paper describes a genetic susceptibility coupled with mercury exposure through amalgams resulting in chronic mercury toxicity, with symptoms improving upon amalgam removal.
Out of interest, are there particular studies of mercury amalgams that you have you read, that have convinced you that mercury in the mouth is non toxic?
Posted by: Hera | November 14, 2017 at 02:22 PM
To Frederic Chopin, If you go to the DAMS website, you can read the many accounts of people with symptoms and disorders that improved and also vanished after removal of mercury amalgams. One of the most interesting stories is that of Kip Sullivan, a person who suffered from a variety of symptoms, including intestinal cramping and bleeding for at least 20 years. Kip lived a very healthy lifestyle but he could not solve his health issues, until he saw a tv program on illness caused by mercury amalgam. After Kip got his toxic fillings removed, his many symptoms improved or disappeared.
Another persons story is simply stated : "When I got my dental amalgams removed, my fifteen year headache vanished "
It is very interesting to google on University of Lichtenstein + Dental amalgam removal. In their study they had a list of about 20 symptoms and then they watched what happened when the patients had their amalgams removed. For most people there was about an 80% improvement in symptoms . The study went back two years later and found that the patients continued to have the improvement and in many cases had improved further.
The mercury toxicologists know that mercury can cause both heart attacks and strokes. The mercury in the blood causes damage to the lining of the arteries, resulting in some heart attacks and strokes. Other heart attacks are a result of irregular heart rhythm caused by mercury.
Posted by: cherry Misra | November 14, 2017 at 01:41 PM
This is my area of interest. Chopin is correct. There is a gaping hole in the research on the health effects of dental amalgams. It is very similar to the gaping hole in the research on the health effects of vaccines. Namely, in both cases, there has been no long-term study of a control group -- those who got no vaccines, or those who got no amalgams. In fact, regarding the latter, among the hundreds of published studies attempting to gauge the toxicity of amalgam fillings, there are currently just TWO published studies that attempted to compare the disease burden in a large group of people with fillings to a large group without filings. The first study, done in the U.S., started at around age 10 and stopped when the children turned 15. Already by that point, the amalgam group was showing the first signs of kidney disease, as well as a depressed I.Q. But the researchers conveniently dismissed these rather startling findings as "insignificant" and then declared the entire issue "case-closed." The second study was done in Portugal and also attempted to follow a large group of children into adolescence. This study stopped at age 17, but unfortunately the majority of teens had dropped out of the study by that point. Still, the authors attempted to use their non-findings to declare amalgams safe. It should be noted that neither study attempted to follow the children through decades of their lives, during which time they would still have their fillings, and those fillings would still be emitting mercury vapors. Nor did either study even manage to see the children through the end of puberty and the major hormonal changes (read: testosterone surge for males) that take place during that period -- changes which can directly affect mercury toxicity.
So, yes, the correct study has not yet been done, which is pathetic, in my opinion.
Posted by: Lisa | November 14, 2017 at 01:25 PM
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 14, 2017 at 11:23 AM
Don't call Grace out . Fred
I'm here . Call me out ? Big man
Would you take a mercury amalgam ?
I bet you anything you like none of the ruling classes would ever have a mercury amalgam ,
here in the UK only the working classes are getting them . The government is giving them free
and no doubt putting them into good healthy teeth (like they caught doing in Holland) .
Are you seriously defending Mercury anywhere near a human being ? Seriously ?
Posted by: Han Litten | November 14, 2017 at 12:49 PM
I have a lot of vaccine mercury in my brain which caused my multiple sclerosis, a disease which, as Hans notes, was first diagnosed in 1840, after mercury dental amalgams came into use. And a lot of industrial mercury was in the environment.
I have been on the Andy Cutler mercury chelation protocol for four years now (starting in October 2012): low-dose ALA and DMSA every three (four at night) hours for three days a week, Thursday evening to Sunday evening. Both FDA-certified to chelate mercury, based on the half-life of the chelators. You take more so it can pick up the mercury the old chelators are starting to drop, and hold onto it until it's excreted from the body. The ALA can cross the blood-brain barrier and pull it out of the brain. I got tired of going for so long with no results, and stopped tasking it in October 2014. That was a mistake: the mobilized mercury was no longer being steadily excreted. In those months I got double vision when driving at night and lost the hearing in my left ear (both from mercury toxicity). I had the first dramatic mercury attack in February 2015. I tried several other agents which pull mercury from the brain, but, I guess, don't actually chelate it, meaning to excrete it from the body: ascorble palmitate, Mer Detox (homeopathic), an Indian homeopath's compounded remedies, Citra Pectate, and then once this past June, I took too much ALA several times, not remembering if I had already taken that dose. Theoretically it's all right to double the dose you take, although they say it doesn't really get it out much faster.
And every time they set off serious mercury attacks which were identical to the symptoms of my second MS attack diagnosed by a neurologist. They all came on very suddenly, all at once severe dizziness, vertigo, and nausea, loss of balance, sweating, frequent urination, and unrelenting vomiting. Lasting for two to four hours, then it suddenly lifted and I could get up and keep going. In each case the attacks increased to twice a week for two months. Then they stopped, presumably the mercury was redeposited. The last series, from inadvertently taking too much ALA, was from mid-June of this year to mid-August. The worst was in September 2016, when I couldn't sleep, and an attack came on suddenly at three in the morning, and made me vomit twenty times in forty minutes. That was a result of the Indian homeopath's remedies which turned out to indeed be very effective in mobilizing mercury in the brain: I took them for one day in mid-July and then stopped when they completely eliminated my ability to sleep even with the fifteen sleep remedies I always take to cope with the mercury-induced insomnia, and when I started walking crooked at Pet Smart. But even taking two remedies as prescribed, one once and the other twice, in one day, was enough to set off another two months of attacks. I went back on the AC protocol at the end of August 2015, when I finally realized that the attacks were caused by the ascorbyl palmitate I was taking. I took our new puppy to puppy kindergarten, felt great, but arriving home had another severe attack, so severe that I couldn't get to the bathroom to vomit, just vomited on the bed and had to call my neighbor on the phone to ask her to use her key to let herself in and tell my daughter downstairs that I was very ill.
One interesting thing is that in my second MS attack in 1994, I experienced extremely severe dizziness and vomiting unless I kept my head turned to the right and then didn't move it. Turning it even a quarter of an inch to the left caused an exacerbation of the dizziness and vomiting. Several years ago I got this symptom again, but permanently. I couldn't turn my head to the left and couldn't try to sleep on my left side without waves of extremely severe dizziness. But three weeks ago I realized that the dizziness when I turned my head was gone. I once again tried turning to my left side at night, and I was able to do so without vertigo! I think the AC protocol has finally succeeded in getting enough mercury out that I no longer have that symptom. I keep turning my head to the left or turn onto my left side at night just for fun, just to see if it's true, if the vertigo is really gone, and so far it looks as though it is! I read on an AC forum five years ago, before I started, that it took an average of seven years to cure MS. So I just have to keep going.
I told a doctor about my attacks in February when I wanted a prescription sleeping pill for a trip to Tampa. She did not believe a single word out of my mouth. Nothing. Said my insomnia must be caused by anxiety and wanted to put me on Zoloft. LOL. I told her that I had been afraid I was going to die during the attacks and she asked, completely surprised, Why would you think you were going to die? Give me a break. Completely unaware that if you are poisoned by too much mercury, it can kill you? Another doctor three years ago (before Disneyworld) said there was no way anyone could store vaccine mercury, that it was all always completely eliminated from the body in a short time. Again, give me a break. The medical minions have ZERO ability to think and reason for themselves, completely indoctrinated with the pharma propaganda. Vaccine mercury causes autism and MS. The AC protocol is very long, like the ESL therapy I do with Cecily for her language disorder, but I think it's the safest way to detox the mercury and possibly recover. I hope.
Sharon is right. There's a genetic propensity to store mercury rather than excrete it. Everyone in my family has it, and we've all had severe reactions to vaccines. My father paralyzed by a flu shot and my mother got Alzheimer's from the yearly flu shots they went to the mall to get.
Posted by: cia parker | November 14, 2017 at 12:34 PM
Grace,
I did read through the article. Most of the references are about mercury levels but I don't see one proving mercury amalgams cause disease in humans. Which numbered reference most impresses you?
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 14, 2017 at 11:23 AM
Something people may be unaware of is that dental ceramic is often made of aluminum oxide. The ceramic is used in crowns, bridges, and composite fillings. I have a front tooth that I broke on the playground as a child, and I think the material used to repair the tooth played a factor in my sons’ development of autism. My first son was vaccinated according to the CDC schedule and developed autism. Our second son was also diagnosed with autism even though he was unvaccinated, but his autism is much milder. I have great-grandmothers on both my mother’s and father’s sides of the family who had Alzheimer’s, so I think we’re particularly vulnerable to aluminum toxicity. (I don’t have any mercury fillings.)
Posted by: anonymous | November 14, 2017 at 09:55 AM
Sharon & Frederic , the Romans knew 2000 years ago that sending people (slaves or criminals) to the mercury mines in Italy or Spain meant certain death .
Hal Huggins & Andy Cutler both made it their life's work to warn us all .
May they both Rest In Peace for the great things they did for us all .
Or ask the amazing Boyd Hayley . Mercury is so toxic the argument is a non event .
No further discussion is necessary . We don't need to test anything.
Huggins began to promote his ideas in the 1970s and played a major role in generating controversy over the use of amalgam.[2] Huggins had his license to practice dentistry revoked in 1996 after a panel found him guilty of gross negligence.[3][4] Since then, he continued to publish on the topic of mercury and human health and believed that dental amalgam and other dental practices were responsible for a range of serious diseases.[5]
Apparently Mercury Amalgams were invented in Paris around 1830 , and the first documented cases of multiple sclerosis were recorded in Paris in 1840 .
---------------
Everyone you have to listen to the very brilliant internet radio shows by Del BigTree (Highwire).
These are the best comedies I have listened to in quite some time .
Listen to Del drive a coach and horses through the "science is settled" . Quite wonderful .
Posted by: Han Litten | November 14, 2017 at 09:54 AM
Chopin, did you read the original IAOMT article and the 217 references to toxicological and other studies? Gosh, you're a quick reader, but did you understand them all? Clearly not.
Posted by: Grace Green | November 14, 2017 at 09:41 AM
Any studies proving mercury amalgam fillings cause disease in people? Wouldn't that be a good place to start?
Posted by: Frederic Chopin | November 14, 2017 at 08:42 AM
Response Factor #5 is so important to consider -- genetic predispositions. I have a family -- me included -- who all suffered from mercury toxicity. This was among one of the largest reasons that we all struggled with chronic Lyme disease. Mercury's effects in my family ranged from chronic illness, chronic fatigue, thyroid disease and cancer, hormone imbalances, autism spectrum, and mental illness. I believe mercury toxicity is one of the most heavily under-diagnosed problems today.
Posted by: Sharon Kistler | November 14, 2017 at 08:00 AM