Content Library Articles How to Rid Your Body of Heavy Metals: A 3-Step Detoxification Plan

How to Rid Your Body of Heavy Metals: A 3-Step Detoxification Plan

May 19, 2010

AFTER MY PREVIOUS BLOG ON Dr. Haley’s website.

As compelling as Dr. Haley’s presentation was, it is only the beginning of the story that connects mercury exposure to autism…

Mercury and Autism, Part Two

Jane El Dahr, M.D., is the Chief of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology at Tulane University Health Sciences Center. She also discussed the possible link between thimerosol in vaccines and autism. (The data she presented is available at Safeminds.org). In California, rigorous standards for reporting autism have been put in place because social benefits are tied to accurate diagnosis — so the increases there are very likely to be accurately recorded.

During the first 25 years this reporting was put in place, 6,527 cases of autism were reported. But then the rates skyrocketed. It took only 3 years during the 1990s to add another 6,596 cases. From 1987 to 1998 there was a 273 percent increase in autism cases in California!

In response, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Autism released an “Autism Alarm” stating that 1 in 166 children in the US have autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Currently, one-sixth of all children under the age of 18 have a developmental disability. That means nearly 20 percent of the population may suffer from this problem and may not be able to be productive members of society as a result.

Much of this could be due to mercury toxicity.

That’s not just a guess — it’s based on the analysis of the actual doses of thimerosol received by children after the change in the vaccination schedule mentioned above. In people with a genetic susceptibility, such as a defect in the enzymes responsible for detoxifying heavy metals, prenatal and early postnatal exposure to mercury leads to neurologic damage resulting in autistic symptoms (vii).

Acrodynia, or “pink baby syndrome,” from exposure to calomel or mercury in teething powder has similar symptoms to autism, providing us yet another link between mercury exposure and autism.

Other potential sources of early exposure in fetuses or infants include maternal amalgams, fish consumption, eardrops, and nasal drops. But vaccines may be more problematic than all of these. They present a significant source of mercury exposure in Rho-gam, influenza vaccines during pregnancy, and childhood immunizations.

It has been found that the maximum exposure from these vaccines in the first six months of life is 187.5 micrograms of mercury — far exceeding limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Dr. Cave reported on the increased incidence of autism in the last 30 years — up from one out of 10,000 children to one out of 150 children and one of just 30 males in the United States.

According to the EPA, the “safe” daily level of mercury exposure for a five kilogram, two-month-old infant is 0.5 micrograms or 0.1 micrograms per kg. But these limits are set for methyl mercury primarily from fish, not for ethyl mercury from vaccines. The typical two-month vaccination schedule for a baby includes DTP, Hib, and HepB. Combined, these vaccines contain 62.5 micrograms of mercury.

That’s a whopping 125 times the EPA limits for a single day exposure!

Like lead, there may be NO safe level — and children are more susceptible to toxic effects than adults.

Dr. El Dahr said that there appears to be correlation between immune system malfunctioning in both autism and mercury toxicity. These specific immune abnormalities have been found in 30 to 70 percent of autistic children.

So what do we do about all of this mercury in our children and the resulting health problems?

Mercury in Children: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Stephanie Cave, M.D., is on the clinical faculty of Louisiana State University Medical School, and since 1996 has treated over 2,300 children with autistic spectrum disorder. Her recent book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations, outlines the data and debate in this highly charged field.

Dr. Cave reported on the increased incidence of autism in the last 30 years — up from one out of 10,000 children to one out of 150 children and one of just 30 males in the United States.

The major toxicity from mercury that contributes to this epidemic, she said, is its ability to severely inhibit enzyme function and structural integrity.

At the conference, Dr. Cave critiqued a well-publicized study in the Lancet, which concluded that there was no toxic effect from thimerosol. She pointed out numerous problems with this study, including the fact that it used various amounts of thimerosol exposure and only involved 33 people.

Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association also reported no increased risk of autism with thimerosol (viii). But the problem with this study was that the authors were affiliated with the state-run Statens Serum Institute. Eighty percent of the Institute’s profits are from vaccines! The methodology was also called into question because of inconsistencies in their reporting system (ix).

Yet another study had even more ominous findings. A case control study of 221 children with autism and 18 controls found that after a DMSA challenge test, vaccinated autistic children had THREE times the level of mercury in their urine compared to controls (x).

The question that remains is how these kids with ASD should be treated. Dr. Cave reviewed her approach …

Besides taking a developmental history, she does a thorough laboratory evaluation, testing for numerous things. Her treatment protocols include casein- (from dairy), gluten-, allergy- and seafood-free diets, removal of amalgam fillings, and detoxification support.

Key to the treatment is careful detoxification of heavy metals after repletion of cellular nutrients, repair of gut dysfunction, and enhancement of liver detoxification chemistry. Supplements and treatments may include multivitamins and minerals, essential fatty acids, magnesium, digestive enzymes, Coenzyme Q10, and antioxidants like selenium, zinc, and vitamins C, E, and A.

She also suggests bowel ecology restoration which may include anti-fungal drugs, antibiotics, herbs, probiotics, and glutamine.

Enhancement of liver detoxification is facilitated by Epsom salt baths, magnesium sulfate creams, and oral, intravenous, or topical glutathione.

Mercury and other heavy metal detoxification is achieved after a DMSA provocation challenge of 20mg/kg with a 10-hour urine collection. DMSA is given at a dose of 10mg/kg every eight hours for three days, with 11 days off. The cycle is repeated four times, followed by another provocation challenge test.

The results of this protocol were impressive. Dr. Cave presented a number of cases where these treatments showed significant benefit and reductions in autistic symptoms!

But autism isn’t the only disease related to mercury toxicity. There are many others.

Mercury and Adult Illness: From Alzheimer’s to Heart Failure

We’ve now seen the devastating effects that mercury toxicity can have on kids. The effects on adults are no less severe.

Robert Nash, M.D., is a practicing neurologist and the Chairman of the American Board of Metal Toxicology. At the conference, he reviewed mercury-associated diseases, mechanisms, controversies, and therapeutic options.

He suggests the toxic effects of mercury spread across a broad spectrum of diseases including autism, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, neurodevelopmental diseases, nephrotoxicity, and cancer.

The mechanism of mercury toxicity in the adult brain may be related to proteins involved in mercury excretion, including biological dentist to evaluate the extent of your mercury fillings and options for replacing them.

This can be done slowly over time, but must be done VERY carefully and only under a trained biological dentist’s supervision to avoid burdening yourself with more mercury during the removal process.

• Get a test to assess your total body load of mercury. This is called a challenge or provocation test. This is done with a doctor’s prescription and under a doctor’s supervision. The easiest and safest way to do this is to take 500 mg of DMPS in one dose first thing in the morning after emptying your bladder, followed by a six-hour urine collection. DMPS is a prescription drug and is not FDA-approved in the US, although it has been approved and used for decades in Europe.
• The other option is to use DMSA, which is FDA-approved. It pulls out a lot less mercury and needs to be taken at a dose of 30 mg/kg for the challenge test. I find this is not as effective to get a true reading on what is in the body.
• Use binding agents to pull the mercury out of your body. There is a lot of controversy about the best way to do this. But after helping people detox from heavy metals for 10 years, I’ve found the safest and most effective treatment is oral DMSA. It is taken as follows: One 100 to 250 mg capsule of DMSA orally three times a day before meals. Take it for three days. Then take 11 days off. Do this for six months. Then recheck your level of mercury through the challenge test.
• Do saunas daily — especially on those days when doing DMSA.
• Consider getting intravenous vitamins and antioxidants for three months while undergoing this process this to administer glutathione, phospholipids, vitamin C, and B vitamins to boost detoxification. This is harder to get, but can help the process work better and help you feel better throughout the process.
• Drink enough filtered water and fluids to make urine clear.
• Make sure you have bowel movements twice a day. This is very important or you will reabsorb mercury from the gut. You can add ground flax seeds to shakes or foods, or take one to two 150-mg magnesium citrate capsules twice a day if you are not going regularly. You can also try even stronger laxatives if you have to such as senna or cascara.
• Consider whey protein to boost glutathione if you are not allergic to dairy.

Understand that I am simply sharing my experience and knowledge with you here. I recognize this is a controversial area. Unfortunately, there are no large controlled studies looking at this problem. I am working on getting studies on this and other areas of systems medicine and functional medicine funded so we can have better answers. For now, we have to go with what we know and the experience and knowledge of many physicians over many years of doing this.

Realize that we DO know how to help you detoxify effectively and deal with the effects of low level mercury toxicity! While it may be difficult you MUST find a doctor skilled at dealing with heavy metal toxicity to undergo the protocol above safely.

What I have outlined in this blog are only my guidelines. They may be the same or similar to what you find others are using. What is essential is that you get assistance. I DO NOT recommend you detoxify from mercury without a doctor’s supervision!

But I DO recommend you find out if mercury toxicity is a problem for you. It is an essential step to achieving lifelong vibrant health.

Now I’d like to hear from you…

Are you surprised by the links between mercury and conditions like Alzheimer’s disease?

Do you agree with childhood vaccinations? Why or why not?

Have you tried detoxifying from mercury? What was your experience?

References

(i) Wakefield AJ, Ashwood P, Limb K, Anthony A. The significance of ileo-colonic lymphoid nodular hyperplasia in children with autistic spectrum disorder. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2005 Aug;17(8):827-36.

(ii) Uhlmann V, Martin CM, Sheils O, Pilkington L, Silva I, Killalea A, Murch SB, Walker-Smith J, Thomson M, Wakefield AJ, O’Leary JJ.Potential viral pathogenic mechanism for new variant inflammatory bowel disease. Mol Pathol. 2002 Apr;55(2):84-90.

(iii) Kawashima H, Mori T, Kashiwagi Y, Takekuma K, Hoshika A, Wakefield A. Detection and sequencing of measles virus from peripheral mononuclear cells from patients with inflammatory bowel disease and autism. Dig Dis Sci. 2000 Apr;45(4):723-9

(iv) J.J. Bradstreet, M.D.; J. El Dahr, M.D.; A. Anthony, &nbspM.B., Ph.D.; J.J. Kartzinel, M.D.; A.J. Wakefield, M.B. Detection of Measles Virus Genomic RNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Children with Regressive Autism: a Report of Three Cases. J. Am . Phys. Surgeons 9 no. 2 (2004) 38-45

(v) Taylor B, Miller E, Farrington CP, Petropoulos MC, Favot-Mayaud I, Li J, Waight PA. Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. Lancet. 1999 Jun 12;353(9169):2026-9.

(vi) Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. Int J Toxicol. 2003 Jul-Aug;22(4):277-85.

(vii) S Bernard. Autism: A novel form of mercury poisoning. Medical Hypothesis. 2001:56 (4): 462-471.

(viii) Hviid A. Association between thimerosal containing vaccine and autism. JAMA. 2003; 290: 1763-1766.

(ix) Rimland B, Bernard S. Letters. JAMA. 2004; 291:180-181.

(x) Bradstreet J. A case-control study of mercury burden in children with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Volume 8 Number 3 Summer 2003.

(xi) Frustaci A, Magnavita N, Chimenti C, Caldarulo M, Sabbioni E, Pietra R, Cellini C, Possati GF, Maseri A. Marked elevation of myocardial trace elements in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy compared with secondary cardiac dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1999 May;33(6):1578-83.