Radical Medicine

This article is an excerpt from "Radical Medicine" and taken from the website www.innertraditions.com

DETOXIFICATION OF TOXIC METALS AND CHEMICALS

MERCURY
Government Response to Environmental Toxicity

There is no longer any question that toxic metals in our air, water, soil, and food supply have a clear and deleterious effect on our health. In fact, when the words ecology and environment first began to become part of our everyday speech in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. government responded with numerous antipollution controls. Although environmental groups would argue that many of these regulations and programs have been inadequate and only implemented after intense lobbying and political pressure, the vast federal response to pollution measured in sheer numbers--agencies, employees, and funding--cannot be denied.

No Governmental Response to Dental Amalgam Toxicity

In dramatic contrast to this industrial and environmental response, however, is the government’s extraordinary lack of response in regard to an even more insidious and quite personal toxic insult--the placement of mercury amalgam fillings directly into our mouths. This exposure of toxic mercury is significantly more damaging than toxic mercury emissions in the environment. In fact, studies have found that even when the environment is heavily polluted, the most significant factor that affects the levels of mercury stored in the body is the amount of mercury amalgam fillings in one’s mouth-- not the polluted food, air, or water. It has been estimated that approximately 85 percent of the U.S. population has received one or more of these mercury amalgam fillings at their dentist’s office. In fact, there are an estimated 144 million adult U.S. citizens with mercury amalgam fillings and two billion worldwide. Yet the government’s silence on this subject--probably the greatest health controversy since Thalidomide and DES*--continues to be deafening. Despite the glaring scientific evidence that has mounted over the past few decades as to the clearly poisonous nature of this toxic metal, the Food and Drug Association (FDA) has still not classified “dental mercury” in any category; that is, as a Class II device (requiring no proof of safety) or a Class III device (requiring proof of safety). The FDA has proposed that dental mercury amalgam be classified as a Class II device, which does not require proof of safety but would be subject to certain controls (but would not be banned from use in dentistry). Consumer activists and holistic dentists and physicians contend that mercury amalgam should be classified as a dangerous Class III device, which would need to demonstrate safety to be used in dentistry. Since the scientific research has incontrovertibly proved that mercury amalgam fillings are not safe, this would then lead to these toxic fillings being banned.

*Thalidomide, a prescription drug commonly used in England and Germany in the 1950s and 1960s, was pulled off the market in 1962 due to the horrible birth defects it caused in infants. DES, a synthetic estrogen formerly prescribed to prevent miscarriage and premature labor, was banned in the United States in 1971 after many daughters of women who had taken it later developed vaginal cancer.

MERCURY-RELATED DISEASES
Alzheimer’s Disease

“No one knows yet what causes Alzheimer’s disease, believed to affect as many as 4 million people in this country. Experts believe that by the year 2050, the number may reach 14 million.”
--Marin Independent Journal December 17, 2001

On the contrary, many people who keep up with the scientific literature do know that one of the major causative factors underlying the onset of Alzheimer’s is mercury toxicity. This fact has been published in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Dr. Boyd Haley and his colleagues’ animal studies at the University of Kentucky were so clearly definitive in proving that mercury produces the identical brain aberrations and dysfunctional behavior seen in Alzheimer’s patients that he stated: “The results of this experiment are terrifying. I’m getting the rest of my mercury fillings taken out right now, and I’ve asked my wife to have hers replaced too.”

Dr. Sam Ziff, one of the leading holistic dental researchers writing about mercury toxicity states: “How long can this blatant and contrived ignorance of peer-reviewed research demonstrating conclusively that mercury, regardless of source, is a major factor of Alzheimer’s disease, continue?”

Cardiovascular Disease

The occurrence of heart disease did not become statistically significant until the the 1920s. During the next forty years the incidence of coronary heart disease rose dramatically and became the leading cause of death in the United States. During this period not only did the use of margarine and refined oils increase approximately 400 percent, but so did the implantation of mercury amalgam fillings. Although many are aware of the dietary connection, few are informed about the correlation of mercury amalgam fillings and heart disease.

In one study, individuals with amalgam fillings were found to have significantly higher blood pressure and a greater incidence of chest pains (angina), rapid heartbeat (tachycardia), and anemia than those who were dentally mercury-free. Two dental researchers, the Ziff brothers, found through their extensive research that the existing scientific evidence firmly establishes that mercury amalgam exposure damages the tissues of the cardiovascular system and could be the “missing link” in the etiology of the devastating prevalence of heart disease.

FINDING A HOLISTIC DENTIST

When interviewing a potential dentist, one should always ask first about the mercury amalgam issue and reject any dentist who is still using this toxic material. Even if the dentist offers to use alternative materials, it’s very difficult to trust a dentist to completely and thoroughly drill out all the amalgam material when he is still placing it into some of his patients’ mouths. Further, it’s more likely that this dentist has not taken any (or enough) classes or attended seminars to learn how to remove mercury safely. The removal of toxic metals from the body is an essential step in the protocol of every holistically oriented individual. However, this removal must be done at the appropriate time, when patients are strong enough to detoxify these heavy metals from their bodies with the help of the correctly prescribed nutritional supplements and remedies.