There Has To Be Something Wrong! --- a careful look at heavy metal intoxication

Every once in a while we all get sick from a cold or the flu. As we age, we seem to get more muscle aches and joint pain. We become more aware of our limitations when we experience shortness of breath. Sometimes, the change in our mood or attitudes can be disturbing – we wonder if we are going insane.

No doubt about it, people get sick and suffer from all manner of disease and degenerative conditions. It's just part of living on a diseased planet. However, once in a while, someone will experience a change in their health and not know why. If they are afraid of some disastrous diagnosis, or simply don't want to feel as if they are pestering the doctor with trivial complaints, they will find an excuse for not seeking medical attention.

"I get headaches all the time. I guess I'm just that way." "My husband got the flu last January and 'just can't seem to get over it. He still feels tired. And boy is he grumpy!" "I'm tired all the time lately. Do you think I might be sleep deprived? Or, maybe I just need more exercise?" "I feel so depressed..."

Does this sound familiar? Am I describing you, or someone you know? First, I hope you understand that people really do succumb to common illness and even contract exotic ones. Not only that, but there are warning symptoms of disastrous diseases which should not be ignored. Everyone should do all that he or she can to stay in good health and be physically fit.

But what if none of these things explain your symptoms? What happens when you have been suffering from unexplained maladies for years? or you see someone you care about becoming a victim to strange changes in mental functions? Don't you want to know what is going on and how you can do something about it?

JJ's Story

(JJ's story and those of other patients from Odyssey Clinical Studies are true. They spoke openly and with tears about the awful, confusing, and frustrating ordeals they had been through while trying to find the answer for their mysterious symptoms.)

JJ coughed and sputtered. The dust under the building was incredible. He and Joey were working diligently to remove pipes under the high school, which were going to be replaced. They had been working on it for a couple of days already.

"What's that white powder?" JJ said to Joey.

"Well, Boss said it was lime dust."

"Whatever," said JJ, although he didn't really believe that. It smelled bad under the building and he wanted to get out. Joey kept working, hammering and chipping away at the block in a constricting space eight feet wide and only two and a half feet tall. Suddenly there was a crash as more blocks fell, and a fresh cloud of dust welled up around them. "Joey?" JJ called, "are you okay?" JJ couldn't see anything, not even his tools lying in front of him. But he could hear Joey coughing.

"Hey," Joey said, "I need some air. Let's take a break."

JJ and Joey backed slowly out of the crawlspace. In the afternoon sun they were white and frosted looking from the dust and limestone powder. JJ was tired; it had been a long day and he wanted to get home to his new wife. He looked at Joey and laughed.

"Hey, man, you look really funny," he said to Joey. Joey was still coughing and trying to clear his head from all the dust.

"You look pretty good, yourself," he said. JJ and Joey were working together for the first time under the building. JJ was new at pipe fitting, but he could endure tight spaces and funny smells. However, whatever they were breathing made his head hurt. After another 10 minutes, when they thought the dust would be settled, JJ and his partner bunched up and squeezed back under the building.

For dinner that evening, Angela made bar-b-qued burgers, one of JJ's favorites. He was still coughing and even though he had showered, he still thought he could smell the dust he'd been working in for the last several days. "These burgers are great, Angela." He looked at the pretty young woman whom he had married only a few months before. Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled. Roland and Marie, Angela's two young children were laughing and talking with their mouths full of food. This is the perfect life, JJ thought happily. He and Angela were both looking forward to having more children.

Within a week, his voice was gone but the coughing was not. Oh, great. Bronchitis, JJ muttered to himself. He always hated getting sick like this, it meant his singing would go on hold for weeks.

And what JJ really loved to do was sing. Even in the navy, when he was aboard that narrow little submarine, his soothing songs would hum along the metal walls. Joey's voice didn't sound any better when they met the next morning for work.

Joey smiled wanly at JJ and tried to say hi; he coughed instead. He said he felt awful. "I don't know what's wrong with me," he said at lunch. "I feel so tired and achy."

"Go home, Joey," JJ replied. "You must have picked up the flu all the kids have at school." Joey nodded. He looked hot and feverish. But then, so did JJ.

After Joey left, JJ started working with Mike. They were each lifting long lengths of 4-inch pipe up to the ceiling for the other guys to work on. This one was 22 feet long. JJ lifted it with ease and swung it over his shoulder up to the fitters overhead. Suddenly, he felt dizzy, like he was falling. "Mike!" he called hoarsely. "Come give me a hand, will you?" Mike steadied the other end of the pipe. "Thanks man." JJ said. He slowly crawled off the ladder and stood against the wall, gasping, trying to get his balance back. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Mike didn't seem to notice. It's just as well, thought JJ. He didn't want anyone to think he couldn't do his job.

But the rest of the day was hell. He stumbled over a rock and bruised his knee. He couldn't go back up the ladder without feeling like he was going to fall. He couldn't stop coughing and his chest was tight, like he just couldn't get enough air. When he finally left at two minutes before five, he was whipped. He thought constantly of peacefully failing asleep.

As the days progressed, JJ became weaker and weaker. Soon, he couldn't lift up the pipes past his waist anymore. He couldn't climb the ladders. He took frequent rests. He felt the other guys looking at him with disgust and irritation. He knew what they were saying: "Slacker," "Lazy SOB," "Slob."

"All I really wanted to do," JJ confided, "was my job. But I just couldn't. Pretty soon the boss sent me home, too, and all I could do was lay around, vomit, and realize I was loosing my mind."

JJ's mind was indeed becoming iffy. His short-term memory was sketchy at best, and some days didn't work at all. He often struggled vainly for the word he needed to complete a sentence, a word as simple as "lamp," or "kitchen." His doctor didn't know what else to do for him than treat the symptoms. He was miserable.

The one bright spot in all of this was Angela's swelling belly, evidence that a new life was blooming within her. JJ tried to concentrate on that happy thought and avoid the depression that now was his shadow. But rage welled up instead - unexplained and unreasonable. "I really am loosing my mind," he thought as he struggled to reign in his fear and anger towards anyone and everyone. It was no comfort to know that his buddy, Joey, was dealing with the same symptoms.

JJ worried about Christmas. The holiday was fast approaching and he and Angela were on a shoestring budget. JJ had been off of work for a month now, and the company was denying any workman's comp. Angela had taken on extra hours to try and help out, but JJ felt powerless and angry.

In spite of all this, they scraped together a few modest gifts, and JJ fervently hoped his parents would come through for the kids. The tension around the house was becoming unbearable. Then, on Christmas day Angela began hemorrhaging.

At the hospital Angela laid motionless as the sonogram technician rolled the monitor around on her abdomen. "I noticed the technician became very quiet," said JJ. "She stopped and wrote something down. It was 'No FHM' no fetal heart movement." Tears welled up in JJ's eyes. "Our baby was dead."

But there wasn't any time to dwell on that. The focus was on Angela who was hurried to the operating room to deal with the hemorrhaging. The procedure there became critical and Angela's blood pressure fell precipitously. JJ was in agony as he leaned against the wall in the waiting room nauseated and exhausted. His baby was dead, Angela's life was in danger, and his own health was broken. He didn't know if he could take any more. He stumbled to the bathroom and threw-up.

"The doctor told me it was 'touch and go' there for a while," JJ said. "But I knew I just couldn't loose Angela, too. Not after all that was happening to me. She was my lifeblood, the one person who kept me going." Angela, however, would recover. She convalesced quietly at home fighting the sadness that overwhelmed her when she thought of the tiny life that was now gone. JJ, knowing that something had to happen soon, looked again for help.

The next doctor was an allergy specialist who ran a series of tests on JJ. They all came back with negative responses: JJ didn't have any allergies. What he had was much more insidious. "It may be," his doctor told him, "that you have a chemical toxicity."

This doctor referred him to a detoxification clinic, Odyssey Clinical Studies in Maryville, Tennessee. The tests done there had much more chilling results showing that JJ had very high levels of extremely toxic substances in his system.

Within a week, JJ began the detoxification therapy. After six weeks, his memory loss was much less noticeable and his constant joint pain had lessened. He began to sleep better, "And," he said, "I haven't thrown up in about two weeks." Angela was back to work although JJ was not. He had to file for workman's compensation, and now had legal expenses to worry about since his employer denied any responsibility for his condition.

The white dust under the building was not lime dust. It was a pesticide to kill rats and other rodents under the school. That, and the other chemicals from sewage and the dust had set up a lethal combination in JJ. He went under the building without any protective gear and was told, falsely, that the dust was innocuous. He did not have a respirator, a protective suit, or any gloves.

He and Joey had received an acute and disastrous exposure to chemical pesticides and most likely cadmium. This along with mercury amalgams set them up for acute toxicity. Sadly, Joey and his wife also lost their unborn child.

Cadmium is very strongly retained by the body and can cause irritation to the stomach, nausea, diarrhea, kidney disease, kidney stones, and lung damage. Persons exposed to high levels of this toxin are at an increased risk for lung cancer and high blood pressure. (ref. 1)

It was after the acute exposure that he and Angela conceived their baby and JJ believes that the chemical poisoning he received doomed his unborn child.

He knows that he still has a far journey ahead of him. Pain persists in his left arm and at times he has no strength in his hips and knees. He still suffers from acute lethargy, but it is less and less. He is able to work a couple of hours every other day or so on his house but his patience is still taxed and he fights for control over his rage and anger.

"I want to go back to work," JJ said. "All I really want to do is my part, you know, like I'm supposed to. Do you know what it's like to depend on welfare and handouts from your parents? It takes away your dignity, man. I can't let that happen."

JJ knows it will take time to overcome the results of this poisoning, but that doesn't make it any easier. And having his employer try to cover up what really happened angers him. "Something like this," he said, "can cost you everything you've got." His hand brushed over his face, but it was too late. As I left him, right arm looped up with an IV, his tears fell steadily.

Chapter 2

Frequent headaches

Mental confusion

Short-term memory loss

Overwhelming tiredness

Dizziness

"Brain fog"

Hair loss

Tremors

Irritability

Unexplained rage

Pain in muscles and joints

These symptoms will cause people to wander from doctor to doctor looking for the root to their problems. Often, however, the doctors are not really able to help them. They end up prescribing painkillers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, and other drugs to treat the symptoms, but are not able to address the cause.

Labels are attached in order to help the patient, or the doctor, better cope with the confusing and inconsistent symptoms that present themselves: Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis. And although there are valid diagnoses for these conditions, clinical studies and extensive research are now showing that an increasing number of people formerly labeled with non-specific diagnoses like some of those listed above, actually have something else in common. Something, it seems, that CAN be treated.

When patients visit a doctor and describe their symptoms as nausea, headache, muscle aches, irritability, shortness of breath," very often they will be treated for the flu, even though that really won't explain the shortness of breath or moodiness. And for a while, they'll feel better, especially after they've rested for a couple of days. But, it never really goes away. The constant tiredness and fatigue will be explained away to a hectic lifestyle and not enough sleep. Or, maybe the victim does get enough sleep – once in a while – and so assumes they must be suffering from sleep deprivation.

The dizziness they don't share with anyone, and the constant anger or depression is handed off to stress. The unaccountable muscle pain gets explained away as, "maybe I slept wrong." The diarrhea comes from "That New Restaurant."

When some patients believe that there really is something wrong they consult their doctors only to have their concerns dismissed. The doctors themselves may become so frustrated by the mysterious maladies that they will refuse to see the patient any more. And so the patient goes to another and another seeking relief – until they, too, begin to doubt their own sanity.

One symptom or another can be treated, but not many think to pull the symptoms together and find an underlying basis for all of them. Recently, more and more doctors are beginning to realize that there might be an explanation for many of the symptoms – one they may not have considered before. A maxim once told in medical school was: "if you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras." In other words, think of the more common causes to explain the symptoms, not the exotic ones. And although it may not be the first thing a doctor thinks of, there is a possible explanation for all of the symptoms listed above.

Surprisingly, it is more common than exotic.

"It" is heavy metal intoxication.

Almost any metal can be toxic at some level, however most people who suffer from metal toxicity have abnormally high levels of cadmium, arsenic, lead, copper, mercury, tin, or a combination of these.

The big daddy of them all, though, is mercury.

Normally, the body takes care of its own detoxification process by using chemicals like glutathione and selenium. But when mercury enters the system, it will bind with selenium and inactivate glutathione. At this point, the bad guy is holding the guards captive.

There's more. The term free radicals refers to harmful substances that circulate in your system. They are atom groups that carry uncombined electrons. Mercury, when introduced to the body increases free radicals. Glutathione is an amino acid responsible for changing free radicals in your body into useful substances (for example, Vitamin E). When mercury enters your system, it will cling to sulfbydryl groups that are part of the amino acids (like glutathione) and prevent them from doing their jobs. (ref. 2)

Selenium is a major component of glutathione and other enzymes – like an engine for a car, or flour for a cake. Without it, you can't have glutathione. Mercury will bind selenium into an insoluble compound and thus prevent the production of glutathione peroxidase which scavenges Hydrogen peroxide, the same Hydrogen peroxide that the mercury is increasing in the mitochondria of the cell!

Wherever mercury goes it disrupts the body's system. The reason mercury is so dangerous to our bodies is because it affects all the body's functions at a very basic level – that of the cellular structure. At the very least, it interferes with basic metabolism, neurological processes, hormones, and glandular processes by binding with essential enzymes and other important chemicals in your system.

The cells of your body are in a state of disequalibrium. This causes them to constantly search for and attract the nutrients that make them grow and live (metabolism). Mercury will disrupt the basic metabolism function and cause cells to die. This doesn't occur en masse, or it would be immediately fatal. Rather, enough cells are disrupted from their functions to cause symptoms to occur. Where the dying cells are is what determines the symptoms.

Mercury will affect the immune system of the body. As a result, patients will commonly have a low total white cell count. White blood cells are responsible for fighting off diseases that try attacking your body. If you are mercury toxic, you may suffer from colds and flu, from bacterial infections, wounds taking longer to heal, etc. Complete Blood Count tests will also show lowered red cell counts and hemoglobin due to mercury's interference with your body's ability to manufacture hemoglobin. Because of this, your body may have deficiencies in "B" vitamins. Also, your blood level may be lowered, causing you to feel lightheaded and dizzy.

Candida (or systemic yeast infections) are a common result of immune dysfunction from mercury.

Interestingly, patients with mercurialism will exhibit cholesterol levels, which range from moderately elevated to severely elevated, or else unusually low. The liver may be responding to the mercury's binding with the essential enzymes and trying to compensate by releasing more cholesterol. Sometimes Triglycerides are elevated as well. (ref. 3)

Despite all the negative press cholesterol receives, your body actually needs some of it to manufacture hormones. Together with an enzyme called Cytochrome P-450, estrogen, estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone are created, along with others. Cytochrome P-450 and other enzymes are created in the liver. The liver is one of the body's main detoxification centers. However, when mercury enters it, the liver becomes toxic and unable to create necessary enzymes. This helps explain why women with mercury toxicity can experience premature menopause with hot flashes, erratic periods, emotional instability, water retention, change in body shape, increased cholesterol, lowered sex drive, and depression.

Hormones and enzymes throughout the body use unbound sulfur-hydrogen compounds for their reactions. Mercury atoms will bind sulfur compounds in hormones, enzymes and proteins throughout the system and disrupt everything. Mercury works so well at disrupting all these processes due to its high affinity to sulfur.

Women who experience symptoms that are consistent with hormone deficiency, especially progesterone, often times will have blood tests show they have normal levels of progesterone. There is some indication that mercury and progesterone compete for the same binding space on the cell and therefore create an abnormal need for progesterone and other fat hormones.

In other cases, mercury will interfere with hormone production and gland capabilities and cause the body to produce excess hormones, which it can hardly use. Nonetheless, blood tests will show hormone levels within normal ranges, but the patient will show signs of lacking those same hormones. (ref. 4)

For example, mercury, by binding Cytochrome P-450, will affect major gland function, like those of the thyroid and adrenal.

In the thyroid gland, the lack of useable Cytochrome P-450 leads to hypothyroidism. Symptoms can include:

· increased weight

· decreased mental and physical activity

· abnormally thick skin – skin that is dry, cold, and rough

· edema

· puffiness in the face

· hair becoming coarse, brittle, and falling out

· increased sensitivity to cold

· decreased perspiration

· slow wound healing

· painful and swollen joints

If the adrenal gland is affected, the symptoms might show up as Addison's disease, an autoimmune disease, the inability to handle stress, Lupus, and weight gain or loss. Adrenal imbalance might exhibit these symptoms:

· allergies

· low sodium, calcium

· low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

· potassium imbalance leading to muscle cramps or

· cardiac dysrhythmias

· diabetes

· fatigue

· lethargy

· mood swings and depression

· low sex drive

· low blood pressure due to low blood volume

· muscles painful and weak

· ulcers, or acid reflux disease.

There are no metabolic functions in your system that requires mercury. According to the World Health Organization, a level at which mercury exposure is harmless cannot be established. (ref. 5) Several studies show that mercury poisoning at any level will cause harm to the human system. (ref. 6)

Keep in mind that one person may be able to tolerate levels of mercury that another one cannot. Toxicity is only the state or degree of being toxic. In other words, everyone reacts differently to mercury poisoning. This is one reason why doctors have difficulty recognizing this intoxication, and why these symptoms are sometimes misdiagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and possibly even Alzheimer's. (Please bear in mind that there are valid diagnoses for these diseases.)

In one study of mercury-intoxicated patients, 66% of them were previously diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. All of the patients in the study complained of fatigue, from mild to severe. The results of the research suggested that the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in these test subjects was low oxygen in the blood, caused by mercury displacing oxygen in red blood cells. (ref. 7)

In another study the brains of patients who died from Alzheimer's disease were compared to the brains of other similar-aged patients who died of other causes.

The AD victims were shown to have a much higher percentage of mercury stored in their brains-about twice as much overall. (ref. 8)

In mercury toxicity, the "Big Three" hallmark symptoms are: Fatigue, Mood disorders, and Muscle and/or Joint Pain. Below are listed 40 complaints that victims of mercury poisoning commonly exhibit. (ref. 9) Not everyone will have all the complaints, but often patients will exhibit several.

Symptoms of Toxicity

1. Allergies (can be changeable)

2. Brain fog

3. Multiple Sclerosis

4. Alzheimer's Disease (premature)

5. Parkinson's Disease (early onset)

6. Yeast infections

7. Lupus

8. Periodontal disease

9. Bleeding gums

10. Stomatitis

11. CRS (can't remember stuff)-names and numbers

12. Tinnitus

13. Headaches

14. Migraines

15. Poor Dusk vision

16. Increased anger and frustration with small tasks

17. Hypothyroidism-cold, dry skin; thin hair, Wilson's Syndrome

18. Autoimmune disease

19. Shortness of breath in exertion and at rest

20. Chronic fatigue

21. Cardiac irregularity

22. Tremors

23. Insomknia

24. Loss of appetite

25. Symptoms of kidney disease

26. Dark pugmentation of gums and loose teeth

27. Swollen glands and tongue

28. Sensory disturbances

29. Facial pain

30. Vertigo

31. Gait disturbances, incoordination

32. Twitching

33. Hair loss

34. Night sweats

35. Nocturia (excessive need to void at night)

36. Loss of sex drive

37. Muscle pain

38. Joint pain and inflammation

39. Seizures

40. Indigestion comes and goes

41. GI complaints

Chapter 3

In 1991, the World Health Organization released information on the sources of mercury in the general population. They found that up to 17 micrograms of mercury were being absorbed per day through five important sources in this order:

· Dental Amalgams (for persons with an average number of fillings)

· Fish and Seafood

· Contaminated Food Sources

· Water

· Air

This, however, does not take into account the amount of mercury industrial workers absorb from their work environments, or from other industrial sources.

Case Study

Jimmie is a 40 something female that suffers from extreme fatigue. At one time, she was an energetic, successful realtor and fundraiser. She was a single mother raising her children in a positive atmosphere.

In 1982 she began to notice some short-term memory loss and a lower level of energy than she had been accustomed to. She noticed after several months that her output at work was less than the rigorous standards she had set for herself. This continued and worsened over several years, during which time she suffered repeatedly from colds and flu.

After several years, she began to experience dramatic physical symptoms. While standing or walking her legs would "turn to mush" and completely give out and she started experiencing debilitating fatigue.

"Soon I shortened my work hours," she said. "And oftentimes I would lie down on the floor of my office between appointments. Here I was, someone who was used to making complicated 5-year projections for my clients, and I couldn't add up my checkbook anymore."

She had no idea what was wrong but her doctor at least ruled out multiple sclerosis.

In 1994 she sold her home and took an emergency medical leave from her work. She began a long process of testing for whatever ailments her doctor could think of to test for. But all of these tests were normal.

By this time, she had forgotten how to cook and would often lose her way going to the store and back home. Soon, she found it increasingly difficult to find a doctor that would take her seriously. She began to hear labels of "lazy" and "unmotivated". She wasn't sleeping well anymore.

Through a series of events she met with Dr. David H. Saxon of Odyssey Clinical Studies in August of 1998. "He told me he wanted to help," she remembers "and I started crying. Here, at last was someone who would listen to what I had to say, and who took me seriously."

Through more tests, Dr. Saxon discovered that Jimmie was seriously malnourished due to extremely high levels of mercury and cadmium in her system.

She was remarkably sensitive to the chemicals overloading her system and was unable to tolerate the chemical therapy given intravenously to combat her metal intoxication. She is currently receiving nutrient IV's to help replenish her system and will eventually graduate to regular IV therapy.

Jimmie surmises that her exposure to mercury came from the well water she used in her first home. It was discovered years later that it was only a few dozen feet away from an abandoned and covered over toxic waste site.

Only time will tell how much of her previous activity Jimmie will regain. Sometimes, if the toxicity continues for years, its effects can be irreversible.

Chapter 4

Sources of Mercury Poisoning

The greatest number of mercury poisonings comes from three important sources: fish and seafood, dental amalgams, and industrial exposure. Exposure can be either acute or chronic. "Acute exposure" refers to a specific event that causes the victim to be exposed to mercury (or other intoxicant). "Chronic exposure" describes a continual, low or slow, exposure to an intoxicant. Unless there is an industrial accident, most victims in the United States experience chronic exposure and intoxication. There are three forms of mercury: elemental, inorganic, and organic.

Fish and Seafood

In 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a report: "Mercury Study Report to Congress, Vol. 1-8". In this report the EPA stated that of the three forms of mercury (elemental, inorganic, and methyl mercury) all have serious health effects on humans. The EPA report concerned itself mainly with methylmercurical (or organic mercury) poisoning from fish sources.

It is estimated that 30 percent of the population in the United States consumes fish at least once a week.

JP, a 34 year old female suffered from symptoms starting in 1993 including severe chronic fatigue, irritability, lassitude, and intolerance of people. Symptoms were progressive until 1995 when the patient sought medical intervention. She was found to have extremely high levels of mercury in her system.

Patient's mercury exposure included eating canned tuna fish five times per week. She claimed no other exposure. (ref. 10)

BC was a 9 year old female suffering from fatigue, low tolerance for stress, emotionally volatile, increased need for sleep (14 hours/day) and needed afternoon naps. She could not attend school and as a result was home schooled.

Patient's exposure to mercury was determined to be from eating canned tuna 2-3 times per week, and fungicides used for lawn care. Mother had amalgams during pregnancy. (ref. 11)

KM a 15 year old male with symptoms of severe fatigue, obesity unresolved by diet, recurrent rashes for 4 years. As a result of extreme fatigue, the patient was home schooled.

Patient's mercury exposure was solely from fish.

Patient consumed fish meals 10-12 times per week.

The fish was fresh – caught from a local river. (ref. 12)

NM, a 57 year old female, had symptoms of chronic fatigue, insomnia, eczema, periodontal disease and weight gain.

Patient's mercury exposure was determined to be from fish meals, 10-12 times per week. The fish source was fresh-caught fish from the Columbia River. (ref. 13)

As indicated above, an important source of mercury poisoning was eating fish, either fresh-caught or canned. Again, toxicity depended upon each person's sensitivity to the mercury he or she was ingesting. In some cases, only little was necessary to cause adverse reactions. In other cases, the exposure came from more than one source. Genetics is another important factor in determining an individual's sensitivity to heavy metals.

In fish sources, mercury will bioaccumulate. In other words, it may be found in a small fish in a small amount, but once a larger fish eats that fish, the mercury level actually concentrates more. When that fish is in turn eaten by an even larger fish, the effect happens again. By the time the largest fish is consumed by humans, the mercury found in the first smallest fish isn't "diluted", it's concentrated. And if you think about it, Tuna are very large fish.

Fish, on the other hand, quite often get their mercury from human industry. One of the most well known incidences of mercury poisoning from contaminated fish occurred in Japan.

From 1932 to 1968 the Chisso factory in Minamata used mercury as a catalyst for making acetic acid. Between 1941 and 1971 it was used for vinyl chloride production. During these periods the factory dumped an estimated 100 tons of mercurial wastes into the coastal bay of Minamata. This resulted in the acute mercury poisoning of the people who ate fish that were caught there. The families most affected were the poor, who consumed an average of three meals of fish per day. (ref. 14)

Industrial waste containing inorganic mercury had been discharged into Minamata Bay and was converted by the bay's ecosystem into organic mercury, which poisoned the local fish, a major food source of the surrounding population. In this incident 700 people died, approximately 9,000 suffered severe health effects, including paralysis, and thousands of others had minor symptoms.

Contaminated Food Sources

Similar epidemics in Iraq in 1956, 1960, and 1971-72 were the result of the consumption of contaminated food. (ref.15) About 8,000 cases of such poisoning have been reported in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Ghana, and Guatemala. (ref. 16)

In Iraq the contamination came from flour ground from grain treated with organic mercury fungicides and intended for planting. In the 1971-72 incident, more than 6,000 people were affected and 459 people died as a direct result of methyl mercury poisoning. (ref. 17)

Candace, a 40-year-old mercury detoxification patient, remembers growing up on a farm in the early 60's. There she played in great mounds of grain intended for planting – and that was treated with a mercurial fungicide. She and her family all have what she calls "weak teeth" and consequently Candace has a large number of amalgams. These two sources together presumably contributed to her illness.

She asked her doctor why her siblings have not also suffered the symptoms of mercury poisoning. The doctor replied that some people are more sensitive to the ill effects than are others. Candace's elderly father has recently exhibited signs of early stage Alzheimer's disease. She wonders if in fact, he has mercury poisoning as well.

Many aspects of the patient's individual biochemistry, such as nutrient status, hormone status, and enzyme levels will affect the level of damage that mercury can produce in an individual. (ref. 18)

Dental Amalgam

The major source of mercury poisoning in the United States is dental amalgam. Dental amalgams are usually alloys composed of mercury, silver, and tin with small amounts of copper and zinc. These alloys solidify at room temperature and are used to fill in cavities, or build up tooth surfaces for restoration. Dental amalgams contain about 50% mercury, and mercury has been shown to be more toxic than lead, cadmium, and arsenic. Mercury vaporizes at room temperature. (ref.19) The temperature in your mouth is much higher.

Fifteen Facts about Mercury and Dental Amalgams

1. Mercury vapor is the common manner in which mercury comes out of amalgam.

2. Mercury from amalgam binds to sulphydryl groups. These exist in almost every enzymatic process in the body. Mercury from amalgam will thus have the potential of disturbing all metabolic processes.

3. Mercury vapor is absorbed directly into the brain.

4. Mercury from amalgam will result in a slow build up of mercury in body tissue.

5. Mercury crosses the blood-brain barrier.

6. Mercury is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease.

7. Mercury crosses the placenta.

8. Mercury will cause an increase in number and severity of allergies.

9. Mercury from amalgam will migrate through the tooth.

10. This rate of migration is increased if a gold crown is placed over a tooth filled with amalgam.

11. In the brain, mercury from amalgam is stored preferentially in the pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

12. Micro-mercurialism is principally characterized by neurological symptoms.

13. Mercury from amalgam may be stored in every cell in the body. Each area affected will produce its own set of symptoms.

14. Brain levels of mercury are in direct linear proportion to the number of amalgam surfaces in the mouth.

15. Dental personnel are severely effected by exposure to mercury. (ref.20)

Ellie is pretty in her simpleness. Her short blonde hair bobbed to her jaw line and blue eyes soft and accepting. Her face is round and smooth with an easy smile. Not long ago, though, her cheeks were gaunt and her eyes haunted. She was slowly dying and at times she thought she would do anything to hasten that event.

At first, it was weakness in her arms that arrested her attention. She suddenly realized that she couldn't lift them over her head anymore. She felt tired more and more often. That, however, she was prepared to live with if she didn't have to put up with the paralyzing anxiety and fear. The smallest inconsistency or unknown would cause her to shut down with panic.

Once a robust and jolly size 22, she shrank to a size 5 in less than six months, mostly because she could no longer eat. She looked gaunt.

"I survived on those little cans of nutrients," she confided. "I couldn't cook any more." She began to feel that this was a nightmare. "This can't be my life," she thought over and over. "If this is hell, then let me die."

Ellie's five young sons became more and more worried, even though they didn't understand what was happening to their mom. They began to act out in school and seemed to live in a shadow of fear and anger. Her husband was supportive at first. But as the illness wore on, he began to look the other way when she came into the room. He started sleeping on the couch so his movements in bed wouldn't cause her pain and more sleeplessness. Eventually, he stopped speaking to her.