Published December 1, 2001 in the North Island Weekender
In my last article I spoke about Martha who complained of feeling toxic. I explained why we may become toxic and in this article I would like to explain how we can evaluate toxicity and what we can do about it.
The easiest test to do for the evaluation of heavy metals is a hair analysis. A hair sample taken from the occiput is evaluated for heavy metals such as aluminum, cadmium, barium, lead, mercury, nickel, arsenic, antimony, silver, bismuth, thallium, tin and uranium. The advantage of doing a hair analysis is that it is also a good test for the evaluation of mineral status in the body. If a person has a high level of a toxic metal then this will inhibit the absorption of certain minerals in addition to other factors such as poor digestion or poor nutrition. The hair analysis is a good test for evaluating the response to treatment. Using a good company for this test is crucial. I have just received a recent hair analysis that showed a mercury toxicity that didn’t show on the previous two hair analysis tests done with a lab that I am not familiar with. Another way to determine heavy metal status is an intravenous challenge with a chelating agent then collecting a 6 hour urine test afterwards to see how much is excreted. This test is used by ND’s who are doing chelation by intravenous.
Another test that I find helpful is the liver detoxification test. Why is it that not everyone gets Parkinson’s disease when exposed to pesticides? The answer may well be in the way the liver is able to detoxify these poisons. With this test, the two detoxification pathways in the liver are evaluated and deficiencies are corrected aiding the body in its’ detoxification pathways.
I started Martha with our standard two week detoxification program. During these two weeks we have people eliminate coffee, alcohol, sugar, meat, dairy and wheat. Martha was type O blood so we allowed eggs and fish as a source of protein. I find that type O blood people miss their protein too much after two weeks. Adequate protein is found in vegetarian sources for most everyone else for those two weeks. Martha complained of feeling terrible for the first few days as she withdrew from her addictive foods, then she began to feel better and better. She was also taking herbs and fiber to assist her liver, kidney and bowels to eliminate. After she had completed the two week program her organ testing still showed stress in the kidneys and liver so I kept her on liver and kidney support for two more months. In the meantime I had noticed that she had a mouthful of old mercury amalgams. I suggested she go to a dentist familiar with mercury removal. When these teeth are drilled free of mercury, more mercury is released and if the body is not protected during this process, toxic reactions can worsen. Once her appointments for amalgam removal were set, we augmented her program.
As soon as her teeth were clear of mercury we did a hair analysis. Her result showed elevations of lead, mercury and cadmium. Vitamin C gets rid of lead in the body, and some oral chelating agents we used for mercury and cadmium were alpha lipoic acid, glutathione, garlic, cilantro, and Green Alive. This oral process can take a long time, and over the next few years we did hair analysis every six months and the lead came down first, then cadmium and finally mercury.
We didn’t do the liver detoxification test on Martha as she responded very well to the program above. She now does a 1-2 week detoxification program every season change. She has lost weight and she is back to her favorite sport racket ball, as she now has her energy back!
It is impossible to avoid all of the environmental health hazards so give yourself added health insurance by considering detoxification programs on a regular basis.
You will be glad you did!
Dr. Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com