Learn How Detoxamin Removes Heavy Metals
Our industrialized society has left a toxic footprint in our air, water, food, soil and, unfortunately, our bodies. In fact, there is no safe place left. As you are about to discover, these harmful toxic metals and chemicals enter our body every day of our lives. Once these toxic chemicals absorb into our bodies, they spread through our entire system where they get locked into our chemistry and start to create disease. The problem is that toxins are not meant to be metabolized or broken down by our bodies, so they start to stockpile, slowly building up. These environmental poisons overwhelm our ability to detoxify them, eventually causing disease. We don’t get cancer, heart disease, diabetes or any one of the other degenerative diseases overnight—we spend our whole lives saving up for them.
Toxic Heavy Metals
We have been exposed to heavy metal toxins for an immeasurable amount of time. The industrialization of our planet has drastically increased the environmental burden of heavy metal toxins, to the point that we are dependent upon them for proper functioning. Industry and commercial processes are actively mining, refining, manufacturing, burning, and manipulating heavy metal compounds for many reasons. Presently, heavy metals are abundant in our drinking water, air and soil due to our increased use of these compounds. They are present in virtually every area of modern consumerism. Toxic metals are found in construction materials, cosmetics, medicines, processed foods, fuel sources, appliances, personal care products and so much more. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to avoid exposure to any of the many harmful toxic heavy metals that are so ubiquitous in our environment. It doesn’t look like we will successfully neutralize the threat of heavy metal toxicity in our communities, nor diminish our use of the many commercial goods that they help produce. We can, however, take steps to understand and deal with this threat.
Cadmium, aluminum, mercury, antimony, lead and arsenic are some of the heavy metals added to our food chain from upstream industrial discharges, pesticide runoff, incinerator emissions, and smokestacks, as well as aviation. Heavy metals are found in the air we breathe, from factories, automobiles and in places you wouldn’t imagine. Low-level metal toxicity is recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as well as by individual state health departments. The American Heart Association states that blood-levels of lead and cadmium may increase the risk of peripheral artery disease — even at levels currently considered safe. Low-level toxicity from heavy metals and the resulting “oxidative stress” are associated with a depressed immune system, increases in infertility, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality. Emerging evidence shows that blood and bone lead levels, reflecting relatively modest exposures, are also associated with hypertension, renal insufficiency, and cognitive impairment. Studies conducted at the National Academy of Science (NAS) show clear and present danger of heavy metals in our bodies. Tuna, dental fillings and vaccinations containing mercury, can cause problems including birth defects, brain damage, depression, fatigue, hearing loss, vision loss, kidney damage and many more ailments.
The really bad news is that, according to the EPA, 99% of our population contains chemicals that are linked to the development of cancer. Most heavy metals are carcinogenic and can cause free radical damage. They can cause the energy factories in our cells (known as mitochondria) to stop working, which essentially causes cells to die. In the process, the DNA for those affected cells may also be damaged, causing a malfunction in the next generation of cells of this type. When cells are programmed to die off more quickly or to wildly multiply, we see problems such as weaker tissue, maligned function, or tumors. In short, heavy metals lead to serious illnesses and shorten our lives. There are more than twenty different heavy-metal (environmental) toxins that can impact human health—each toxin producing unique behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes in an exposed individual. The degree to which a system, organ, tissue, or cell is affected by a heavy metal toxin depends on the toxin itself and the degree of the individual’s exposure. Here we examine just five of the many hazardous heavy metals that we are commonly exposed to.
Mercury
Mercury is one of the most toxic elements on the planet, probably second only to plutonium, yet (worldwide) people have it in all tissues of their bodies. It continues to be dumped into our waterways and soil, placed into our teeth, and injected into our bodies through vaccinations.
Toxicity caused by excessive mercury exposure is now becoming recognized as a widespread environmental problem and is continuing to attract a great deal of public attention. A National Academy of Sciences study published in July 2001 estimates that up to 60,000 children born in the USA each year may be affected by mercury toxicity. In March of 2002, an environmental group had charged the FDA of failing to warn the public of the dangers of mercury contamination from eating tuna, which contains high levels of mercury. Texas researchers have found a possible link between autism and mercury in the air and water. In fact, the incidence of autism has grown in the past 20 years, from one in every 2,000 children to as high as one in every 166! Researchers have been hard-pressed to explain the increase, but many believe mercury to be the culprit.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the amount of mercury absorbed daily by the average human body is 0.3 micrograms (mcg) from water and air, 2.61 mcg from fish, and 17 mcg from dental amalgams (silver fillings). Research points out that 80% of mercury vapor is absorbed into the blood, going directly from the nose to the brain, following nasal nerve pathways. Dentists have four times as much of a body burden of mercury as an average non-dentist. Dental workers show 50-300% more mercury in hair and fingernails than the average population. Before public awareness campaigns started, it is a notable fact that the preservative thiomerasol (usually added to vaccines) contained mercury. In 1999, the CDC called for the removal of mercury from vaccines. Paradoxically, the CDC still continues to recommend the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
If you are one of the millions of Americans who has received silver dental fillings, take notice. Mercury makes up about 50 percent of every amalgam dental filling, also known as “silver” fillings. Amalgam fillings can release mercury for up to 70 years. Someone with eight amalgams, for example, could have 120 mcg released into the saliva per day. The maximum allowable by the EPA is less than 0.1 mcg per kilogram of body weight per day, to be absorbed into the human body. We now know that the dental mercury/silver amalgam filling is “chemically & electrically active.” Science has proven that every time we eat, drink, or breathe, we may be absorbing disturbing releases of decomposing, toxic particles—mercury included. This chronic, toxic accumulation is being shown to have serious, long-term consequences on our immune system, resulting in a variety of disease and conditions. Consider that while 78% of Americans have dental fillings, 95% of people with disorders of the central nervous system such as MS, epilepsy, paralysis and migraines also have silver dental fillings. This begs the question: Would you want mercury—one of the most powerful neurotoxins on the planet—embedded in your mouth, only inches from your brain? The answer is obvious. This is the same reason why you can no longer buy an oral or rectal mercury thermometer.
Lead
Lead is practically everywhere in today’s environment. It enters our bodies from many sources. Lead poisoning victims usually become anemic. Their symptoms usually persist for about two weeks from time of exposure, and then settle into the organs, bones & even hair. We still do not know the long-term effects of lead exposure.
Lead poisoning symptoms are commonly overlooked by doctors and are not properly diagnosed as lead poisoning, since they are vague.
Dr. Claire Patterson of the California Institute of Technology did a study in 1965 called “Contaminated and Natural Lead Environments of Man,” which offered first hand proof that high lead levels in industrial nations are man-made and endemic. In fact, the study showed that the average bone lead level of a deceased person today averages approximately 1000 times higher than that of deceased people who lived 400-500 years ago.
After phasing out lead in gasoline, reducing lead levels in food should be our greatest health priority. Lead intake from fresh vegetables and fruits can be reduced by thorough washing and by peeling root vegetables. Food produced close to heavy traffic or lead-emitting industries will have more lead. Fertilizers with sewage sludge added to them may boost soil lead levels — check with the supplier. Lead in processed foods is picked up at various stages from growing to packaging. There are estimates that 13 to 22 per cent of our dietary lead intake is from lead-soldered food cans. Unfortunately, the U.S. does not regulate and test for lead in all canned foods. Food in cans with lead-soldered seams can be dangerous; particularly cans that contain acidic substances such as fruit juices and some vegetables. Imported canned goods are more likely to have soldered seams. Cans with round bottoms (extruded cans) are safe and do not have a seam or use lead.
Cadmium
Cadmium is a widespread heavy metal in the environment and in our bodies. It is very poisonous, and we only excrete cadmium in very small amounts.
Cadmium can cause damage to all types of body cells. By damaging the cell membrane, cadmium increases the permeability of the cells, one of the consequences being that the transfer of other heavy metals into the cells is facilitated. In the acute stage, cadmium intoxication causes enteritis. A slow accumulation of cadmium takes place, mainly in the kidneys; the liver and bones are other important sites for cadmium storage.
Food products account for more than 90 percent of human exposure to cadmium, except in the vicinity of cadmium-emitting industries, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Cadmium has fast uptake through the roots to edible leaves, fruits and seeds. Cadmium builds up in animal milk and fatty tissues. A 1990 study showed that acute cadmium toxicity from food is rare, but chronic exposure at lower levels increases cadmium in certain body organs.
One source of cadmium in our environment, and main reason for cadmium accumulating in the body, is tobacco smoke. One cigarette contains 16-24 mcg. of cadmium of which the body absorbs approximately half. In addition to this, 5 - 10% of the cadmium from our food and other sources is absorbed; therefore, a substantial amount of cadmium is stored in our body system over a number of years.
Prolonged accumulation of cadmium in the body stains the teeth. It can cause damage to the nervous system, decrease the detoxification power of the organism, it can cause high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, damage the immune system; most importantly the antibody production, decrease fertility, cause anemia, emphysema, and cancer.
Increased concentrations of cadmium had been found in the placenta of women who have given birth to children with low birth weight, neural damage, and Down’s syndrome. Children who are exposed to large concentrations of cadmium in their environment often have learning disabilities.
Arsenic
Arsenic diagnosis, especially from low doses of inorganic arsenic (the type found in Chromated Copper Arsenate or CCA-treated lumber) is not easy. According to the EPA, CCA is a highly toxic chemical formulation that contains water, arsenic acid, chromic acid, and copper oxide, and is primarily used as a wood preservative and insecticide/fungicide. It is found virtually everywhere. It is sold in lumber and hardware stores nationwide and is used by consumers and contractors to construct decks, playgrounds and fences. There is no one set of symptoms; responses vary, depending upon exposure means and levels.
Arsenic can be inhaled, ingested (swallowed) or absorbed through contact. Arsenic poisoning is difficult to pin down; most of the arsenic leaves the body within three days of exposure. The arsenic that remains is stored in the brain, bones, and tissue and continues to do serious damage. Some people have no immediate symptoms but the exposure can cause diabetes and many types of cancer later on. There is new evidence that arsenic may also lead to heart disease and strokes. It may cause long term liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage.
Arsenic exposure, even at low levels, can result in a range of symptoms. Swallowing or inhaling low levels of inorganic arsenic can result in stomach ache, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It can also result in decreased production of red and white blood cells, which may cause fatigue, abnormal heart rhythm, blood-vessel damage (resulting in bruising), and impaired nerve function. One of the early warning signs of arsenic poisoning is a “pins and needles” sensation in the hands and feet.
Long-term oral exposure to inorganic arsenic can result in skin changes including a darkening of the skin and the appearance of small “corns” or “warts” on the palms, soles, and torso. Other signs and symptoms include skin thickening, fluid accumulation (resulting in puffiness) especially around the lower eyelids, face and ankles, diarrhea, garlic breath, perspiration, excessive salivation, generalized itching, oral inflammation, sore throat, runny nose, excessive tearing, numbness, skin inflammation, hair loss, weakness, and loss of appetite. Arsenic can also cause a range of neurological effects, including headaches and vision problems. It can cause noticeable behavioral changes, most commonly aggression or depression.
Aluminum
Aluminum toxicity is a serious condition that occurs when a person absorbs excessive amounts of aluminum—a metal that often deposits itself in the brain. Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in the earth’s crust and is introduced into the body through the digestive system, lungs and skin, before it is absorbed into the tissues. The highest exposure to aluminum is most frequently due to chronic consumption of aluminum-containing antacid products. Research shows that aluminum builds up in the body over time, creating an increased health hazard as people get older.
Aluminum toxicity can lead to symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis and can impair kidney function. Aluminum toxicity can also lead to colic, rickets, gastrointestinal problems, poor calcium metabolism, anemia, headaches and decreased liver function.
A disturbing pattern of aluminum accumulation and interference with normal neurological function appears to be supported in many scientific arenas. Recent studies suggest that aluminum contributes to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, senile and pre-senile dementia, clumsiness of movements, staggering when walking, and the inability to pronounce words properly. Autopsies, performed on people who have died of Alzheimer’s disease, showed accumulations of up to four times the normal amount of aluminum in the nerve cells of the brain. Levels were especially high in the hippocampus, which plays a central role in memory.
There are also geographical links between Alzheimer’s disease and high aluminum in drinking water. Elevated hair aluminum has been observed in Alzheimer’s patients. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, another neurodegenerative disease, may also be linked to aluminum content of water supplies. Behavioral difficulties among schoolchildren have also been associated with elevated levels of aluminum and other neurotoxic heavy metals. Studies show that dyslexic children have higher levels of aluminum in their hair, when compared with controls.
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