The Great Mercury Debate

by Glen Depke

First off, I really hope that there is not a great debate in your mind on the potential damage that mercury toxicity can cause. Mercury is a known neurotoxin and for those the are not familiar with the definition of a neurotoxin, here it is; a substance that damages, destroys, or impairs the functioning of nerve tissue. Also remember that your autonomic nervous system is the master regulator of your entire body. 

Obviously this is important.

Believe it or not, there is still a debate ongoing on the dangers of mercury. While there is already a host of information in regard to mercury available on the Internet, I wanted to give you some first hand client and personal situations tied into mercury toxicity. I will also share some opinions on why mercury seems to be huge challenge for some, while seemingly non challenging for others.

Enjoy!

First my story. I had a seizure when I was 17 and went though all the conventional testing to understand what caused the seizure. Everything came back negative and it was left as a rare occurrence that was not likely to happen again. 

Well, it did not work out that way.

I continued to have seizures and of course more testing, while still coming back negative. At this time I was put on medication and instructed to abstain from alcohol use. I started to take the medication but was not convinced that alcohol was and issue until I had another seizure while on the medication. At this point, I took the advice of the doctors and stopped drinking any alcohol at all. Much to my unpleasant surprise, I still has seizures on medication and off alcohol. You could probably imagine how distraught I was with the continuing seizures.

This is when I took matters into my own hands and also looked for the advice of some alternative health practitioners. While I quickly recognized that there were many simple fundamentals of health that needed to change, it was brought to my attention by a holistic dentist that the 9 silver amalgams (mercury fillings) that were in my mouth were potentially creating a mercury toxicity and playing a significant role in my seizures. 

From there I followed through on focusing on my fundamentals of health and eventually had all 9 silver amalgams replaced with composites. Under the direction of alternative practitioners, I followed a detoxification protocol and was eventually taken off all my seizure medications.

Once the amalgams were removed, my overall health was balanced and I detoxified the mercury, I was seizure free and able to enjoy a good glass of wine with absolutely zero concerns of ever having a seizure again.

While I know that there were many aspects of my health that needed to be addressed, I am very confident that one of the biggest challenges for me was the mouthful of mercury fillings. My known neurotoxin.

Another example is a patient that I saw back in my days at Dr Mercola's office. I had a woman walk into my office in her younger 30's actually walk in as if she was an unhealthy 80 year old woman. Once she began to share her story, I quickly recognized that this woman was a picture of health just a short time ago. She was very proactive in taking care of her own health, which in the end, caused her some major challenges.

You see, she ran across some information on the Internet sharing the dangers of silver amalgams and wanted to be proactive by having them removed. Without understanding the importance of proper extraction, she went to her usual dentist, who actually put them in, for removal. To make the long story short, she was exposed to high levels of mercury poisoning due to a less than optimal procedure in removal and she paid the price. 

Because this women was very lean and small, the mercury did not have much fat tissue to store this neurotoxin, so it ended up in her connective tissue and nervous system tissue, thus creating extreme pain and discomfort.

Thankfully after actually fattening her up (I know, it sounds odd) and working through a healthy detoxification process, we were finally able to get some of the mercury out of the connective and nervous system tissue to either exit the body or at worst move it to a less symptomatic storage in fat tissue. Once the detoxification process was over we were able to assist her in losing the fat that was put on and she had her life back.

Sometimes what you don't know, can actually kill you. Thankfully not the case here.

So let's be clear, mercury is a known neurotoxin and no level is really healthy for you.

There is one more point to make though. 

Why is it that once person can be overly reactive to mercury toxicity and another little to no reaction?

I find that some of my clients have a poor blood/brain barrier function that leads to these challenges. Understand that when you have a toxin in your tissue such as mercury, the body can move this to the lymphatic system. From there, this is moved into your blood for removal via the skin, lungs, kidneys via your urine and liver via the colon.

The problem though when the blood/brain barrier is not functioning properly, the mercury can move from the blood into the brain and cause a whole host of challenges. Thankfully there is a simple and extremely cost effective way to assess and address this blood/brain barrier.

If you have any comments or questions to this article, post them below and I will address this personally. 

Toxic Effects of Excess Mercury

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Cardiovascular System

Excessive ingestion of Mercury can cause Angina.

Ears/Hearing

Mercury toxicity can be an underlying cause of Tinnitus.

Excretory System

Mercury accumulates in and damages the Kidneys.

Immune System

	Mercury weakens the Immune System by depressing Helper T-Cells.
	Excessive exposure to Mercury causes Hodgkin's Disease (a form of Lymphatic Cancer).

Metabolism

	Exposure to Mercury (or its vapors) can cause Fatigue.
	Mercury stimulates the production of Free Radicals.
	Mercury damages the Liver.

Musculoskeletal System

	Mercury increases the risk of Arthritis.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Muscle Tension.

Nervous System

	Exposure to Mercury causes impairment in Abstract Reasoning ability.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Aggressiveness.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Anxiety.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Apathy.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause decreased Attention Span.
	Mercury concentrates in and damages the Brain:
	- Mercury damages the Blood-Brain Barrier. - Mercury concentrates in and damages the Cerebral Cortex.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause impairment of Concentration.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Depression.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Drowsiness.
	Mercury can cause Epilepsy.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Hallucinations.
	Exposure to Mercury (or its vapors) can cause Headache.
	Exposure to Mercury (or its vapors) can cause Insomnia.
	Exposure to Mercury can lower Intelligence.
	Exposure to Mercury (or its vapors) can cause Irritability.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause impairment of Learning ability.
	Exposure to Mercury (or its vapors) can cause Memory impairment.
	Mental Retardation can occur as a result of excessive exposure to Mercury.
	Exposure to Mercury is associated with poor (“bad”) Mood.
	Mercury can cause Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Nervousness.
	Mercury can cause Numbness.
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Speech Impairment (in the form of slurred Speech).
	Exposure to Mercury can cause Tremor.

Respiratory System

Mercury concentrates in and damages the Lungs.

Sexual System - Females

Exposure to Mercury during Pregnancy increases the risk of Birth Defects.