Reasons Mercury May be at the Root of your Symptoms & Illness.

Exposure to mercury is toxic to our health. Studies have shown that exposure to this heavy metal poisons our central nervous system. Mercury levels can build up in your body, causing immune dysfunction, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, irritability, muscle issues, cognitive loss, sensory impairment (vision, hearing, and speech), profuse sweating & other bodily changes.  This almost sounds like PMS or menopause symptoms too right?  It’s really much more severe. This heavy metal poising comes from fish (high in mercury like tuna) metal fillings for teeth & environmental exposure. It’s typically not an overnight threat but one that has accrued over time.  It wreaks havoc on your body. Learn why you need to stay away from it.

 

YOU’RE FINE! NOW TAKE AN ANTIDEPRESSANT

In searching for the underlying cause of a chronic condition, high levels of toxic metals, especially mercury is a frequent culprit.  Since autoimmune diseases are (mostly) triggered by toxins, stress & infection it’s important to steer clear of this toxin and remove its threat on your health. A lot of time we don’t know what triggered an autoimmune disease so you need to look at all the possible triggers.  Many people struggle with a long complex list of symptoms that don’t fit inside the usual diagnostic categories of conventional medicine.  As a result, we are frequently told we are fine and an antidepressant prescription is shoved in our hands when in reality the trigger is either infection, toxin exposure or stress (or all 3).

Our diet and amalgam fillings in teeth are the main sources of methylmercury  and mercury vapor/gas exposure today. There are other sources though: local pollution, the work place, and traditional medicines, cosmetics & nutraceuticals (mostly made outside the US). There are 3 types of mercury toxicity/ poisoning: 1) organic mercury, 2) elemental mercury and 3) inorganic mercury.

 

ELEMENTAL MERCURY

Elemental mercury is the form in “silver” fillings, or dental amalgams. These fillings are about 50 % mercury with silver, copper & tin added in.

Causes of elemental mercury exposure:

• Barometers
• Batteries
• Bronzing technique (as in baby shoes – not sue if people still do this)
• Calibration instruments
• Dental fillings
• Electroplating
• Fingerprinting products
• Fluorescent and mercury lamps
• Infrared detectors
• Jewelry industry
• Paints
• Photography
• Silver and gold production
• Thermometers

 

INORGANIC MERCURY

Inorganic mercury compounds are formed when mercury combines with other elements (like oxygen) to form compounds or salts. When inorganic mercury compounds enter the body, it is accumulated (mainly) in the kidneys. This produces kidney damage. Go figure! Inorganic mercury is absorbed through the skin by the transport of mercury across the epidermis and /or sweat glands, sebaceous glands, hair follicles or you can inhale it from a mercury filling that mixes with oxygen in your body. Mercury poisoning has been reported after skin lightening products were used too. You can find out more from the FDA at https://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm294849.htm

A few examples of inorganic mercury toxicity/ exposure

• Chemical laboratories
• Cosmetics
• Disinfectants
• Embalming process
• Explosives
• Fur processing
• Ink manufacturing
• Mercury lamps
• Mirror silvering
• Perfume industry
• Photography
• Skin lightening cream
• Spermicidal jellies
• Tattooing inks
• Taxidermy
• Wood preservation

 

ORGANIC MERCURY

This one is also called methylmercury. Is the type of mercury found in seafood. When we eat fish, the methylmercury is delivered directly to our intestines. Yuck.  Through the molecular mimicry we have talked about before it can be mistaken by our body for a nutrient. Then the stomach/ gut sends it into circulation.

Causes of organic mercury toxicity:

• Antiseptics
• Embalming agents
• Farming industry chemicals
• Insecticides
• Diaper products (who knew)
• Wood preservatives

 

CRAZY BUT TRUE

This may sound crazy but it takes a LONG time for the body to naturally rid itself of mercury. This is true even if you stop eating it today. Sure, the body will expel it through urine, feces and breast milk but it can take up to a year or longer to rid your body of this evil. Consider that eating seafood containing methyl-mercury means mercury is absorbed into your bloodstream. It can then travel throughout your body in cells, tissues and organs. It can remain stored there for years.

Chronic inflammation suffers have a hard time with detoxing in general. This would make Mercury slow to excrete from the body. This will cause symptoms that you may or may not realize are the result of mercury poisoning. To make matters worse, chronic inflammation leads to impaired detox – which when you add mercury to this ingredient list – causes inflammation. In other  words, it’s a vicious cycle.

 

A CASE FOR WHITE FILLINGS

OK so you don’t eat a lot of tuna or shell fish you say? Do you have any dental fillings? Most of us don’t think about that mercury being in our body. You probably got most of your fillings in childhood. After about 10 years those things can crack. Mine did. This leaches mercury into your blood stream. One day I noticed I had a metallic taste in my mouth… again.  Coincidentally, I had a dental cleaning/checkup scheduled. When I told the DR he checked my fillings and sure enough one of the fillings had cracked.

What I learned after I researched this baby is worst. Dental amalgams continuously lose trace amounts of mercury anyway. Its primarily mercury vapor, which we inhale. Similar to the way we inhale oxygen, this gas is transported from our lungs to all of the tissues in our body, and transported throughout our body. Lovely eh? So get your silver fillings removed and replaced with the white stuff. Its prettier too!

There is no way to entirely avoid mercury as long as you live on this planet. There may be other planets with less opportunity for exposure but until ET takes there, we are stuck here.  Since Mercury serves zero nutritional value and serves no positive purpose in our bodies you want to stay away from it.

 

REDUCE YOUR EXPOSURE

There are many ways to naturally reduce the threat of exposure. Here are a few:

• Stay away from coal burning
• Lessen your tuna intake &other mercury loaded fish
• Get rid of your amalgam fillings
• Don’t break a mercury thermometer (old fashioned kind with the red line)
• Don’t break florescent bulbs (I used to know someone who would break the long office bulbs so they would fit in the trash. They are dead now. Probably not related but who knows? They did it for 20+ years.
• Stay away from infrared detectors
• Stay away from mercury lamps
• Don’t do your own photography development

 

PREGNANCY DANGER & MERCURY

High levels of mercury & pregnant women spell disaster. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, pregnant women who consume high-mercury fish regularly risk permanently damaging their developing babies. This compound readily passes both the placental barrier and the blood-brain barrier. These children have cognitive deficits, sensory & motor skill issues.  Some studies suggest that even small increases in methylmercury exposures may cause adverse effects on their cardiovascular system.

When I was pregnant (3 moons ago… or maybe 20 moons ago. Lets not get hung up on age.) my doctor did tell me NOT to eat Tuna. So I asked him about spicy foods and sweet tea… apparently that was fine so I proceeded to eat lots of that — over 60 lbs. worth!…. But that’s a story for another blog post.

 

SYMPTOMS OF TOXICITY

Because everyone is different, the way in which mercury affects us will vary. This will cause a differing in symptoms too. Here are the most common symptoms of mercury poisoning:

• Allergies
• Anxiety
• Ataxia – decreased control over muscular movements: walking or picking up objects
• Autoimmune disease
• Brain fog or decreased concentration
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Frequent headaches
• Hair loss
• Hormonal imbalances
• Kidney dysfunction
• Movement disorders
• Muscle tremor
• Neuropathy issues
• Sensory loss

So, do you know more now?  Who else would benefit from your sharing this with them? It’s important to your health. Exposure to mercury is toxic.

If you are healthy – stay that way. Protect yourself. The body starts to de-compensate when it gets older. You don’t want to find out something has been lurking in the background for years.

If you have a list of symptoms that haven’t been diagnosed yet or you suffer from an autoimmune disease find out what the trigger is. Often this means looking at possible infection, possible toxins and stress factors one by one. It’s worth it. Below is a link to an online lab so you can get tested. I have NOT used these guys. I went to a functional doctor. You can do either.  But if you have been exposed or you have silver fillings & odd symptoms – get tested.

https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/mercury/tab/test/

 

 

 

 

 

October 6, 2016

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