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The Toxic Metal Hazard Today

by Lawrence Wilson, M.D.

Today, everyone has excessive levels of toxic metals, regardless of what any test reveals. In fact, humanity today is exposed to the highest levels of them in recorded history, up to several thousand times higher than even several hundred years ago. The toxic metals are minerals that have no known function in the body and are very harmful for health. They include two dozen or more minerals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, aluminum, nickel and many others. They are particularly damaging because they are persistent and cumulative. The late Dr. Henry Schroeder, MD, a world authority on minerals, wrote that “most organic substances are degradable by natural processes. However, no metal is degradable…they are here to stay for a long time”. Toxic metals are a major cause of all disease in both human beings and animals. They cause inflammation, infection, irritation and tissue damage. They do this by replacing essential or vital minerals in enzyme binding sites. This, in turn, cripples or even destroys the enzymes that are needed for every body function. Sources of Toxic Metals
Toxic metals are acquired through our food, water, air and by direct contact with the skin or other parts of the body. In addition, an enormous problem is that all of the toxic metals pass easily through the placenta from mother to child. As a result, all children today are born with excessive amounts of toxic metals in their bodies. These are called congenital toxic metals. They are a very important cause for every imaginable childhood problem from birth defects and delayed development to ADD, ADHD, autism, infections and childhood cancers, all of which are increasing rapidly in America and around the world. Toxic metals compete for absorption and utilization with vital minerals. Therefore, eating a diet with any white flour, white sugar or other mineral-deficient food will increase one’s absorption of toxic metals found in foods, water, air or elsewhere. Individual Toxic Metals
Lead
Lead may be called the violence and horror toxic metal. It is the most researched toxic metal and has been mined and used for thousands of years. Common sources of lead include pesticides, printing, inks, lubricants, paints, dyes and leftover lead from leaded gasoline. Unfortunately, some lipsticks and dark hair dyes still contain lead as well. Eating fish, especially shellfish of any kind, is another important source of lead. Symptoms
Lead is associated with over 100 symptoms. A popular book, Beethoven’s Hair, discusses many of the problems with lead, as it was found that Ludwig von Beethoven was poisoned with lead, probably from drinking from pewter cups. Lead replaces calcium in the body, leading to many cases of osteoporosis. It can cause ADD, ADHD, violence, lowered IQ, and almost every imaginable neurological and neuromuscular symptom. It can affect the adrenal and thyroid glands, and cause anemias, Alzheimer’s disease and many others. Lead and Violence
Lead is intimately connected with violence on earth. Lead replaces calcium and even magnesium and zinc, which are the sedative elements. Mercury
Mercury may be called the “mad hatters” toxic metal, as it was used in hat making 150 years ago and caused a form of madness or craziness in those who worked in this industry. Today it is everywhere, and everyone breathes, drinks and eats some of it. The two most common sources are silver dental amalgams and fish of all kinds, especially larger fish like tuna. If you have dental amalgams, also called silver fillings, have them replaced unless you have active cancer. Wait until cancer is in remission, as amalgam removal can occasionally worsen cancer. Fish
The hair tests of everyone who eats a lot of any fish reveal high mercury. Some rivers and streams are better than others, but figuring out which are best is nearly impossible. Small fish have less mercury. However, strictly avoid tuna, shark, king mackerel, mahi-mahi, ahi and sashimi used in sushi. Sushi is one of the worst dishes because it often combines raw fish (a source of parasitic and other infections), with tuna, mahi mahi or ahi, and nori (mercury toxicity). Shellfish are often worse than other kinds of fish. In addition to mercury, most shellfish contain excessive cadmium, arsenic and other toxic metals. Please do not eat any shrimp, muscles, crab, scallops, lobster, oysters, eel or other shellfish. The problem is just getting much worse in most areas. Mercury Symptoms
These are extremely varied. Mercury particularly affects the kidneys, liver, brain, endocrine glands and muscular system. However, it can affect any organ and system of the body. Most neuromuscular diseases such as multiple sclerosis, most mental illness and hundreds of other conditions are related to mercury toxicity. Aluminum
Aluminum is the “soft in the head” metal because it is a soft metal that affects the brain. It is very widely distributed in the environment in industrialized nations. Common sources are table salt, aluminum cans and foils, uncoated aluminum cookware, antacids, all antiperspirants, some cosmetics, all tap water and mineral supplements from the earth such as fulvic or humic acid, zeolite, bentonite, montmorillonite and others. Aluminum Toxicity Symptoms:
The skin, the nervous system and the digestive tract are often most affected. Aluminum toxicity can affect memory and cognition, and is associated with some dementias. I have seen memory loss in teenagers that improves dramatically when the aluminum is removed with a nutritional balancing program. Fluoride
Fluoride may be called the bone destroyer. A tiny amount in food can be helpful for the bones. However, today everyone in America and Great Britain gets far too much fluorides. The toxic dose is also very close to any therapeutic dose. The main source is adding fluorides to water supplies. The source of the fluoride is often smokestack effluent from plants that make fertilizers or refine aluminum and uranium. This waste product also adds a little cadmium, lead, benzene, radiation and other toxic chemicals to your tap water. Water fluoridation has been shown to be ineffective against tooth decay around the world, and has been phased out in almost all nations except America and Great Britain, where powerful lobbies hold sway over health authorities. Other sources are fluoridated toothpastes and mouth washes, and fluoride treatments done at dental offices. These may be given to children without parental consent. All are very toxic and unnecessary for tooth decay prevention. Fluoride added to drinking water has found its way into all the groundwater, the food and the food chain in America and Great Britain. The idea that more is needed is insane, in my view. Studies indicate that some foods, such as reconstituted fruit juices and baby foods, can have as much as 40 parts per million fluoride. A ‘recommended safe level’ in drinking water is 1 ppm, which is too high, according to many studies. Symptoms of Fluoride Toxicity
Fluoride is a powerful enzyme inhibitor. It replaces iodine in the thyroid gland and it replaces calcium in the bones. Common symptoms are low thyroid activity, impaired IQ, fatigue, and many more cancers. Fluoride is corrosive. Boiling fluoridated water in aluminum pots increases the etching of aluminum 600%. Fluoride in the drinking water also increases the leaching of lead from solder in water pipes and increases lead toxicity. The only water free of it is distilled, RO or spring water. RO water, however, is not suitable for drinking as it does not appear to hydrate the body nearly as well as a good quality spring water or as well as most distilled water. Cadmium
Cadmium is the “macho or tough cookie” mineral because it toughens or hardens both the personality, along with the arteries and the kidneys. It is extremely poisonous, and found everywhere today in refined foods, tap water, and smoke from cigarettes and marijuana. Shellfish and coffee also have a little of it. Symptoms of Cadmium Toxicity
Cadmium is associated with all of the modern ‘killer’ diseases. It tends to harden and inflame the arteries leading to arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, impaired circulation, hypertension and heart failure. Elevated hair cadmium is highly correlated with cancer, in my experience. It is also important for hypoglycemia, diabetes, mental illness, especially paranoia and violence, and many other problems. Arsenic
Arsenic may be called the slow death metal. It is used commonly in pesticides. It kills certain insects, but is also deadly for human beings. Even organically grown food may have residues because the crops were often grown on land that was formerly sprayed with arsenic-containing pesticides. Symptoms of Arsenic Poisoning
Most symptoms are vague, including weakness, malaise, aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhea, ringing in the ears, headaches, vertigo, pallor, coma and death. Uranium and the Other Radioactive Elements
The radioactive minerals may be called the stealth killers because they offer no signs or symptoms in low doses. They include about 60 radioactive variants or isotopes of common elements that are either shorter or longer-term emitters of radioactive particles. They include iodine-131, platinum-190 and -192, samarium-147, -148 and -149, rubidium -87, rhenium -187, thorium-231 and -232, strontium-90, uranium-235 and -238, potassium-90, vanadium-50, zirconium-96, lead-211 and others. Sources
Environmental sources include nuclear bomb tests, medical use of radioactive materials, waste from nuclear plants such as runoff water used to cool the plant, cesium-containing smoke detectors, perhaps food irradiation equipment, and war-related nuclear material such as depleted uranium used as ammunition. Radioactive minerals are the most damaging to human health in that they damage tissue at the DNA level. However, they are not as toxic chemically as lead, mercury or cadmium, fortunately. All babies are born with some radioactive elements in their bodies, though they may be hard to detect. Radiation toxicity receives little attention today even from holistic doctors. Reasons for this are that it is so silent, so subtle and hard to detect. Also, few methods exist to remove them. Overcoming Toxic Metals
While we live in a sea of toxic metals, it is quite easy to avoid most of them. It is also not difficult to remove many toxic metals from the body without a need for chelation therapy, which I consider less safe and less effective. Avoiding Toxic Metals
This is quite simple if one is willing to avoid tap water completely. Only drink distilled or spring water. While spring water may contain some arsenic, it is in a form that the body can handle much better than all the chemicals that are in tap water. Carbon filters remove very few toxic metals. Any water filter that begins with tap water is not acceptable if one wishes to avoid toxic metals, including all alkaline water machines and others. These are quite dangerous for long-term use in my clinical experience because they add platinum to the water, another deadly toxic metal. The other way to avoid toxic metals is to eat only organically grown food. This is a must today, as the commercially sprayed food often contains much more pesticide residues, many of which contain lead and arsenic, and some mercury compounds. Finally, one must avoid handling toxic materials. This is more difficult for those working in the building trades, for example, or auto mechanics. These individuals need to wear gloves, use respirators on dirty jobs, and wash one’s hands and clothing often. Removing Toxic Metals
The common medical method to remove toxic metals is chelation. This is the use of a drug or natural substance that grabs onto toxic metals and pulls them out of the body. Problems with this method are 1) the drugs are somewhat toxic, 2) chelation only removes some of the toxic metals, and 3) all chelators remove some vital or essential minerals along with the toxic ones. This can be a serious problem, at times. One cannot simply replace the zinc and calcium, for example, with a vitamin pill or IV drip because the chelators can upset body chemistry at deeper levels. Three methods that remove all of a person’s toxic metals in a gentle and much safer manner, even some radioactive minerals, are: 1) Nutritional balancing science that uses hair mineral analysis. It removes all the heavy metals by gently balancing body chemistry. As this occurs, the body’s energy increases and this enables the body to eliminate all the toxic metals. 2) Near infrared sauna therapy using heat lamps. This can remove all toxic metals by dramatically improving circulation, by inducing sweating and many other means as well. Most people need to use a sauna daily at least for two to five years to remove the bulk of the toxic metals. The sauna and nutritional balancing will also slowly remove hundreds, if not thousands, of toxic chemicals which all of us have in our bodies. Near infrared light saunas will also slowly get rid of dozens of infections that most everyone has as well. 3) Colon cleansing and/or daily coffee enemas. This is also an excellent method to reduce toxicity in the liver and colon, in particular. For much more information about toxic metals and their removal, visit www.drlwilson.com.

Lawrence Wilson, M.D.