Mercury Amalgam Fillings
I had thirteen mercury amalgam fillings removed
holistically in June 2002 . Prior to that I was forgetting the names of
my co-workers and locked my keys in the car four times in one year. My
memory was failing, I couldn't retain anything I read and finding the
right words was difficult at best so you can imagine what that did for
my self confidence.
My health problems began a few years after a dozen
fillings were placed in my mouth at age eighteen while in the military.
At age twenty-one I was diagnosed with Crohn's and lost eighteen inches
of small bowel to that disease. Eventually I was diagnosed with Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome and totally bedridden. I have since recovered through
dietary changes (SCD Diet)
and the help of Naturopathy to eliminate a bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine resistant to six different antibiotics.
Mercury sensitivity was proven through blood tests by the Clifford Materials Testing Lab
in Colorado. What affect does long term chronic mercury exposure have
on those individuals who test positive for a sensitivity to mercury? (My lab results)
The primary pathway for mercury excretion is the liver.
Heavy metals (mercury) are excreted through the common bile duct
directly into the digestive system affecting the entire
gastrointestinal tract. Doctor's Data of Illinois has been performing fecal mercury testing for over four years. Their fecal test results (sample report)
show two reference ranges which proves to me that mercury does leach
out of those fillings that the American Dental Association claims are
safe. I questioned the lab about their test results and here was their
response:
"Thank you for your inquiry. We noticed that our mercury levels in the Fecal test varied a lot when we first introduced the test about 4 years ago. That prompted us to look at a population with amalgams to assess their average mercury levels and those without amalgams as well. We obviously found a significant difference in mercury values with vs. w/out amalgams therefore came up with two different reference ranges."
How can the American Dental Association ignore those findings?
Until recently, the
American Dental Association held patents on mercury amalgam fillings.
Every manufacturer of dental fillings wants the ADA seal of approval,
so these manufacturers write them a check for that privilege. Although
their patents have expired, it is the use of that endorsement that
makes the money. During this time the ADA issued a gag order telling
dentists not to criticize mercury's health effects to the patients and
as a result the dentists feared the loss of their license to practice.
The mercury escapes continuously during the entire life
of the filling primarily in the form of vapor. Chewing, brushing, and
the intake of hot fluids stimulates this release. High levels of
mercury were isolated in my hair and urine.
Here is what the lab had to say about my 24 hour urine test:
MERCURY HIGH
This individual's urine mercury
equals or exceeds twice the maximum expected level. Presentation of
symptoms associated with excessive mercury can depend on many factors:
the chemical form of absorbed Hg and its transport in body tissues,
presence of other synergistic toxics (Pb, Cd have such effects),
presence of disease that depletes or inactivates lymphocytes or is
immunosuppressive, organ levels of xenobiotic chemicals and
sulfhydryl-bearing metabolites (e.g. glutathione), and the
concentration of protective nutrients, (e.g. zinc, selenium, vitamin E).
Early signs of mercury contamination include: decreased senses of touch, hearing, vision and
taste, metallic taste in mouth, fatigue or lack of physical endurance, and increased salivation.
Symptoms may progress with moderate or chronic exposure to include:
anorexia, numbness and paresthesias, headaches, hypertension,
irritability and excitability, and immune suppression, possibly immune
dysregulation. Advanced disease processes from mercury toxicity include:
tremors and incoordination, anemia,psychoses, manic behaviors, possibly autoimmune disorders, renal dysfunction or failure.
Mercury is commonly used in: dental amalgams, explosive detonators, in pure liquid form for
thermometers, barometers, and laboratory equipment; batteries and electrodes ("calomel"): and in
fungicides and pesticides. The fungicide/pesticide use of mercury has declined due to environmental
concerns, but mercury residues persist from past use.
Here is what the lab had to say about my hair analysis:
Mercury
Mercury (Hg) is toxic to humans and animals. The accumulation of Hg in the body is generally
reflected by the hair Hg levels, but hair Hg levels can occasionally be
high in association with the use of certain hair dyes and sprays. The
concentration of Hg in hair is typically 200-300 times greater than
that in blood. Organic Hg, such as methylmercury derived from fish, is
incorporated into hair at a much higher rate than is inorganic Hg
(dental amalgams). Therefore, very elevated levels of hair Hg are most
often associated with high end fish consumption or occupational
exposure. As a result of DDI experience in a large multi-center trial
of Hg detoxification, it is apparent that hair Hg may be deceptively
low or even nondetectable in some individuals who do not have adequate
endogenous detoxification capacity. Apparently, such individuals are
unable to efficiently mobilize/excrete Hg.
Individuals vary greatly in sensitivity and tolerance to Hg exposure. At hair levels below 3 ug/g, Hg can suppress biological selenium function and may cause or contribute to immune dysregulation. Hallmark symptoms of excess Hg include: loss of appetite, decreased senses of touch, hearing, and vision, fatigue, depression, emotional instability, peripheral numbness and tremors, poor memory and cognitive dysfunction, and neuromuscular disorders. Hair Hg has been reported to correlate with fish consumption and acute myocardial infarction. On average each 1 ug/g of hair Hg was found to correlate with a 9% increase in AMI risk (Circulation 1995;91:645-655).
Sources of Hg include dental amalgams, fish, contaminated water supplies, some hemorrhoidal preparations, some vaccines, skin lightening agents, instruments (thermometers,electrodes, batteries), combustion of fossil fuels and hospital wastes, some fertilizers, and the paper/pulp and gold industries. After dental amalgams are installed or removed a transient (several months) increase in hair Hg is often observed. Also, "baseline" hair Hg levels for individuals with dental amalgams are higher (about 1 to 2 pg/g) than are baseline levels for those without (below 1 pg/g).
Confirmatory tests for elevated Hg are measurement of Hg in packed red blood cells as an indication of recent/ongoing exposure (does not correlate with whole body accumulation), fecal mercury levels, and measurement of urine Hg following use of a dithiol chelating or mobilizing agent such as DMPS/DMSA (an indication of total body burden). Greater than 90% of Hg is naturally excreted into the feces via the biliary route.
The International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology has made public a disturbing video of an amalgam filling seen in black light which makes it perfectly clear that mercury vapor is released at the slightest provocation.
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Mercury is locked into the tissues and withheld for years just as it is with tuna and swordfish. Conventional blood and urine lab tests are drastically flawed and unless a chelating agent such as DMSA is used to draw out that mercury those lab tests are unreliable. Yet these are the same tests conventional medicine has been using year after year to perpetuate the idea that mercury fillings are safe. There are no safe levels of mercury as reported by the World Health Organization. NONE!My personal letter voicing my opposition towards the FDA declaring
that mercury amalgam fillings are safe has been posted to the FDA's
web site.
A recently published document from the Swedish Dental Material Commission
concludes: "Amalgam must be considered to be an unsuitable material for
dental restoration".
From that document......
Clinical studies of the effects of mercury on occupationally exposed workers,
using modern diagnostic methods, have elucidated the connection between
dose and effect. They have also identified and quantified neuropsychological
symptoms at low exposure levels.
The lowest exposure, in terms of urinary mercury secretion, that has been
found to give rise to a demonstrable toxic effect has fallen from 30-50 µg/l
to 10-25 µg/l. Accordingly, the safety margin that it was thought existed
with respect to mercury exposure from amalgam has been erased.
Studies of workers previously exposed to mercury have shown that
prolonged exposure to mercury vapour, with mercury concentrations in urine
of some 100 µg/l, may result in symptoms emanating from the nervous
system that persist decades after exposure has ceased. This suggests that
exposure causes lasting damage to the central nervous system, which
complicates the interpretation of results of low-dose studies of occupationally
exposed populations.
3.3 The immune system and blood cells
Amalgam fillings in the teeth of mercury-sensitive rats give sufficiently high
mercury exposure to provoke an autoimmune syndrome with a rise of
immunoglobulins in plasma and immunocomplex deposition in the kidneys
(Hultman et al. 1998).
In animal experiments, mercury can modify the functioning of the immune
system in various pathological states. Mice treated with injections of subtoxic
doses of HgCl2 are, for example, more susceptible to leishmaniasis infestation
than untreated animals (Bagenstose et al. 2001).
Both mercury-sensitive and mercury-resistant mice show reduced immunity
against malaria protozoa after injection of subtoxic doses of HgCl2 (Silbergeld et
al. 2000). In mice with a genetically conditioned tendency to develop the
autoimmune syndrome systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), development of the
disease is accelerated if mercury is injected in subtoxic doses (Pollard et al,
2001).
3.5 Thyroid and muscular atrophy
Ellingsen et al. (2000b) reported finding impaired thyroid function in a group of
47 chloralkali workers, whom they compared with 47 controls. The exposed
workers showed a statistically significant rise in reverse T3 (rT3) - a rise that
was dose-related. The mean urinary concentration of mercury was 5.9
nmol/mmol creatinine, with a range of 1.1-16.8.
I
want to point out something here that I believe is important and may be
a marker that actually proves mercury toxicity from amalgams. Serum
bilirubin has been chronically elevated and diagnosed as Gilbert's
Syndrome since 1996.
I may have had this condition for years but never knew
of it until I took charge of my health and requested copies of all lab
reports. I was advised by doctors that Gilbert's Syndrome is supposed
to be an asymptomatic and benign condition.
Chemicals
and toxic heavy metals are processed through the liver's detoxification
system, primarily the phase II glucuronidation pathway. It is this
pathway that becomes sluggish and unable to process bilirubin which is
the pigment that makes
blood cells red. A liver burdened by heavy metals
cannot process the bilirubin and a buildup can lead to a yellowing of
the eyes and skin. Three to five percent of the population have this
disorder. The majority of cases are identified in adolescence or early
adult life.
The ADA has acknowledged that there is a small
percentage of the population sensitive to mercury. Would that be around
three to five percent? Aren't most amalgam fillings placed in the mouth
between adolescence and early adult life? The military repaired my
teeth at age eighteen. Dental insurance is offered at this time when
entering the work force. As for heredity and Gilbert's Syndrome,
parents or grandparents most likely had the same mercury sensitivity.
I experienced a sensitivity to chemicals including latex paint fumes (volatile organic compounds) BHT, Sodium Benzoate, TBHQ, PGPR (food preservatives) and Zinc Oxide found in the temporary dressing used to fill a dry socket after a tooth extraction. Exposure to the above mentioned chemicals will bring on the fatigue requiring an increased dose of Liothyronine (T3). I understand that T4 (thyroid hormone) is converted to T3 by the enzyme 5'-deiodinase, a process that also takes place in the liver. A sluggish liver will have difficulties with thyroid conversion as well. I experienced low body temps (96 degrees) along with fatigue until I supplemented with T3 hormone following Dr. Denis Wilson's protocol.
Wilson
discovered a connection between the production of Reverse-T3 and low
body temperature. Although the thyroid is responsible for producing
thyroid hormone (T4) it is the peripheral tissues that convert T4 to T3
which is the active form of thyroid. T4 can also be converted to
Reverse-T3 (rT3) and when rT3 levels increase metabolism slows down and
body temperatures decrease.
Wilson's treatment protocol corrects the T4 to T3 conversion problem
and resets the metabolism. Individuals who are unable to wean
completely off T3 however, usually uncover some underlying medical
condition.
(For those who are skeptical about the correlation between thyroid and body temps let me remind you that in hyperthyroid storm patients run fevers and in hypothyroid coma, patients are hypothermic…..Look it up!!!!)
I have attached a personal thyroid panel
showing my levels of rT3 (278) on the rise while T3 (58) is falling.
This test was taken after weaning off Wilson's T3 for approximately
sixty days. Shortly thereafter the fatigue returned requiring
additional T3. At that time I had thirteen "silver" fillings and knew
nothing about the affects of mercury on Reverse-T3 production as
outlined in the Swedish Dental Commission Report.
Others
like myself have found that eliminating grains improved their lives.
Carbohydrate metabolism is also affected by this sluggish liver.
Seven out of the eight individuals who responded to my
poll on that message board had mercury amalgam fillings and Gilbert's
Syndrome. Those so called "silver fillings" are 53% mercury.
I am convinced that Gilbert's Syndrome is a marker for liver damage caused by mercury amalgam fillings.
Mercury
is becoming an increasing problem worldwide and is found in high
concentrations in tuna and swordfish as well as all the fresh water
fish here in New England. Mercury that is released into the environment
can be transformed through biological processes into methyl mercury
which is much more dangerous.
There are over 400 species of bacteria in the colon
alone so wouldn't it make sense that the same transformation could take
place in the intestines as well? It has been suggested that mercury
resistant gut bacteria are antibiotic resistant as well. One monkey
study by Anne O. Summers Department of Molecular Biology and
Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens and Dr. Stuart B. Levy at
Tufts University found that before having mercury fillings, an average
of one percent of the monkeys' oral, and nine percent of their
intestinal Enterobacteriacae were antibiotic-resistant. After receiving
mercury fillings, 13 percent of oral and up to 70 percent of intestinal
bugs became antibiotic resistant. The study was funded from 1993 to
1995 by the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research
under the following grants, Grant# 1R03DE010784-01 and Grant# 5R03DE010784-02
The ADA responds by reiterating its stand that mercury fillings are
safe, and arguing that animal studies "cannot be viewed as affecting
humans."
In 1990 mercury was banned as a preservative and fungicide in latex paint but it is OK to put in our mouths?
A mercury thermometer contains about one gram of mercury, enough mercury to contaminate all the fish in a 20-acre lake. The Senate voted on Sept. 5th 2002 to ban the sale of mercury fever thermometers in order to curb a source of environmental contamination. There is approximately one gram of mercury in each filling. At one time I had seventeen "silver fillings" enough mercury to contaminate all the fish in a 340-acre lake.
Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, was removed from vaccines just last year. Hearings are currently underway to uncover why mercury-based preservatives were not discontinued in children's vaccines prior to 2001. Congressman Dan Burton is calling for criminal penalties for any government agency that knew about the dangers of Thimerosal in vaccines, and did nothing to protect American children.
When removed from the mouth dental amalgams are considered toxic waste by the Environmental Protection Agency and must be handled in a certain way to protect dental office personnel from mercury poisoning. This is the same material which was just in your mouth!
Sweden has banned mercury amalgam dental fillings, effective January, 1997, after determining that at least 250,000 Swedes have immune and other health disorders directly related to the mercury in their teeth. Denmark banned amalgams in January 1999.
In 1991, Germany's Health Ministry recommended to the
German Dental Association that no further amalgam fillings be placed in
children, pregnant women, or people with kidney disease, and in 1993
this was extended to include all women of child-bearing age, pregnant
or not. Austria has also phased out mercury fillings.
(San Francisco, CA) - For the first time anywhere, dentists will be required to post a warning about the dangers of mercury in their dental fillings. A California Superior court judge finalized the language for the warning to be posted in dentists' offices.
The warning will read as follows:
Notice to Patients, Proposition 65:
Warning on dental amalgams, used in many dental fillings, causes exposure to mercury, a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.
I am
doing well as long as I avoid the chemical preservatives and VOC's
previously mentioned. It took six long years and thousands of dollars
to understand and isolate my health issues. Having a squeaky clean diet
allowed me to easily trace my steps back and isolate the offending
chemical. I was eating a whole food diet without any processed foods
for over 5 years. Recently I reintroduced chocolate which had a
beneficial side effect on my digestion helping to form the stools. Not
thinking to read the labels led to disastrous results. As it turns out
most of the well known manufactures are using chemical preservatives or
emulsifiers in their processing.
The latest episode involved PGPR which is used by Hershey's as an emulsifier.
Not all Hershey's products include PGPR and that is why I didn't think to read
the ingredients on the package of "Hershey's Miniatures".
PGPR is the abbreviation for Polyglycerol
Polyricinoleate. It is a derivative of castor oil which comes from the
castor bean. Incidentally, the deadly poison Ricin is also manufactured
from the castor bean and in recent news we heard of arrests made in the
UK involving the manufacturing of this lethal poison. Look closely at
what PGPR stands for and you can see that it contains the word "ricin".
Do we really need a derivative of castor oil in our food?
The liver is the primary pathway for heavy metal
excretion and my liver had to deal with over 20 years of mercury from
as many as seventeen "silver fillings". That burden damaged the phase
II glucuronidation pathway in my liver's detoxification system
identified as Gilbert's Syndrome.
When I ingest any chemical additives or preservatives symptoms of profound fatigue and brain fog are experienced until the offending chemical is cleared through my system. There is a good reason why these manufacturers are abbreviating the chemicals they use. I have had similar experiences with BHT, TBHQ, and Sodium Benzoate. Now I understand why I did so well on the whole foods diet in the first place. These chemicals are in everything!!!
Everything
that we eat, drink, breathe and comes in contact with the skin is
eventually filtered out by the liver. Take for example the nicotine
transdermal patch. We know that nicotine enters the bloodstream right
through the skin and what is in the blood makes it's way to the liver.
Birth control is now offered through a patch. The number one chemical
used in deodorants today is Propylene Glycol.
Propylene Glycol is an Anti-Freeze used in brake and hydraulic fluids which keeps them from congealing at temperatures below freezing.
We are applying this directly to the skin so we are
effectively wearing a Propylene Glycol patch! I do not use deodorants
at this time for that very reason. Propylene Glycol has found it's way
into our food supply. Carvel is using it in their ice-cream cakes.
Drakes has it listed as an ingredient in their coffee cakes and the
pickles in a Burger King Whopper also contain Propylene Glycol.
These chemicals should include a product warning label on the foods and
cosmetics that they are added to so that individuals like myself with
Gilbert's Syndrome know to stay away from these offensive chemicals.
One additive that I am aware of requires just that.
Phenylalanine requires a warning label for those who are
"Phenylketonurics" The term used to refer to people that have the
metabolic disorder Phenylketonuria (PKU). People that have the disorder
PKU cannot consume any product that contains aspartame. People with PKU
have a deficiency of an enzyme which is necessary for the proper
metabolism of an amino acid called Phenylalanine.
Do we really need all these chemicals in our diet? It
is reported on Gilbert's Web that avoiding fluoride alone can eliminate
the yellow skin and eyes found in Gilbert's sufferers. And we have
added fluoride to our drinking water!
Yet another major blunder!
Don't take my word for all this!...Check out these important links:
Is Mercury Toxicity an Autoimmune Disorder?
