Natural Mercury Detox

Natural mercury detoxification from your body's cells is one of the most controversial areas of alternative medicine. Mercury is linked with everything from autism, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue to autoimmune disease such as Multiple Sclerosis, liver disease symptoms, gastrointestinal stress to even various types of dermatitis. A full spectrum, indeed.

The use of pharmacological agents such as DMSA, DMPS is harsh and old, ripping out the good and bad metals. I want to make something very plain here... the natural, healthy detox is THE way to go. In order to effectively and permanently accomplish a natural detoxification of mercury or any other 'non-self' substance (xenobiotics), one needs to follow the biochemical pathways of the human body and while doing this, repair what was sub-functional.

Again, as in any issue, the truth has to lie within the normal realm of biochemical and physiological function of the body. To assume that a particular herb or supplement will bind or chelate out mercury just because it does in the environment, (chlorella, for example) has absolutely no scientific or biochemical merit. On the internet, there are literally hundreds, if not more, formulations supposedly for mercury removal and yet none possess the actual ability to bind mercury as a disulphide can. (Having the chemical structure which includes two sulphur molecules... the structure needed to latch on and remove mercury).

Sources of Mercury:

Most mercury exposure for humans is from larger fish, preservatives in vaccines (thimerosal), industry (coal-fired manufacturing, dental amalgams and chlor-alkali plants which use mercury in the process of making plastics, pesticides, PVC pipes, etc.)

Methylmercury is the form mainly from fish. It is found mostly in the red blood cells, but the good news is that form is usually excreted fairly quickly... providing your mercury detox pathways are in order..more on that later.

Mercury vapor from dental amalgams and inorganic mercury (Inorganic mercury compounds are formed when mercury (symbol Hg) combines with elements other than carbon, such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen... the mercury from vaccines is this type.

Elemental mercury is a form of inorganic mercury.) is NOT eliminated well from your body and is the main form found in the brain. Methylmercury is ultimately converted to inorganic mercury if not excreted.

Clinical Symptoms of Mercury Poisoning:

Mercury does it's damage primarily by binding inside the cells to sulphur containing molecules (sulfhydryl groups) in critical enzymes (microsomes and mitochrondia for example) and enzyme building sites, literally causing havoc in one's basic body chemistry.

Central nervous system symptoms include irritability, over-sensitivity to stimulation, shyness, depression, anxiety, memory impairment, and inability to concentrate. It also manifests as other neurological disorders with Parkinson-like symptoms, tremors, inability to walk straight or balanced, numbness and tingling and the list goes on.

We also see chronic fatigue type of symptoms, headaches, joint pain, impaired hearing and sight. There are renal failure cases and many gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and colitis.

Skin rashes, gingivitis, stomatitis and excessive salivation also make the list.

In a review paper from the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, February 2004, one may be surprised at some of the findings of European investigators into this health issue, mainly because it's not being made widely known here in North America.

1) Mercury vapour is constantly being emitted from the filling, is absorbed and accumulates in your organs.

2) People with amalgams have 3-5X the mercury in urine, much higher blood levels of mercury (although this is cleared quickly..but then goes to your tissues) and 2-12X the mercury in their overall body tissues than people without amalgams.

3) It's not blood or urine mercury levels that we count on to determine mercury as a causal factor in disease..it's tissue levels.

4) The half-life (time it takes half of it to disappear) of mercury in blood is short, about 3 days. It quickly goes into other tissues... it's not that it's eliminated. Urine mercury only indicate the inorganic mercury levels in the kidney itself and has a very weak correlation to the overall mercury load in your body.

5) When mercury exposure stops, a half life for your body to get rid of it on it's own can range from 1-18 years, depending on your body's ability to handle heavy metal detox.

Natural Mercury Detox Process:

Phase I - The toxin is made more water-soluble and more biochemically reactive. This is accomplished by a group of enzymes (about 150 of them) collectively called "cytochrome P450's. In fact, at this stage the toxin is "opened" up by these enzymes so it will bind or conjugate with an acceptable substrate (an 'add-on' made probably from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and often sulphur..maybe nitrogen) in Phase II, forming a complex the liver will recognize as foreign and excrete via the bowels. There are a lot of free radicals produced in this process and we must have enough antioxidant present to offset it or else other negative implications to health will result.

Phase II - Conjugation

In phase II, the now very reactive toxin is bound to another molecule, in the case of mercury-glutathione- to form an excretable complex. There are a total of six compounds that toxins can bind to at this point, but glutathione is of most importance in this discussion on mercury. Dr Deb's Book on Glutathione

Actual protocols to follow are available at the website in the resource box below.