Hair Test Interpretation: Finding Hidden Toxicities
by Andrew Hall
Cutler,
PhD, PE
© 2004, 2008, 2009
Andrew Hall
Cutler
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Textbook of Clinical
Neurology,
by Goetz, second edition, 2003,
says in the section on mercury poisoning:
“Psychotic episodes with delirium, hallucinations, and motor
hyperactivity have been reported.”
Lead, mercury, carbon
disulfide are
listed as possible causes of acute psychosis in
table 11-2 on page 107 of the Textbook of Primary Care
Medicine,
Noble, third edition, 2001.
Several other standard
medical texts
say that mercury exposure should be ruled out in anyone showing up at
the
hospital with an unexpected psychotic episode. In
addition to this, there is journal literature directly
linking mercury amalgam dental fillings to schizophrenia1.
The sixteen year old boy
whose hair
test is presented on page 49 started out as a happy and friendly child. He was athletic, he enjoyed sports a
lot and he was quite involved in them.
He would sometimes play more than one sport in a season – great
fun for
him but his parents still remember how tiring it was to bring him to
all the
practices and games! School often
did not come easy to him. He would
spend long hours doing homework (without the need for parental
pressure) and
get by with average grades despite this great effort.
He was able to relate to people of all ages, was well liked
and got along with everyone. He
passed the lifeguard test and planned to be a lifeguard the next summer. One of his goals was to play college
football.
Around
his sixteenth birthday he started to complain to his parents that the
kids at
school were talking about him. The
parents didn’t recognize this as suggesting any mental disturbance and
simply
hoped things would work themselves out.
Then suddenly one day the boy was locking doors and saying that
people
were trying to break in to get him.
He told his parents that the people on TV were talking to him. He was also hearing voices.
He was very upset by this. Realizing
at this point that something
was seriously wrong, the parents took him to the emergency psychiatric
ward,
where he was kept as a patient for three weeks until he was stabilized
on
medication.
He was initially
diagnosed as having
manic depression2 and treated aggressively
with Risperdal and lithium. He gained
weight, paced constantly, couldn’t focus on anything, showed no
emotions and
had a very different personality.
The parents thought he was overmedicated and, with physician
supervision, started reducing the Rispderal dose. The
boy subsequently developed heavy breathing, stopped
talking, and acted like a zombie.
He was brought back to the doctors who decided he was having
another
psychotic episode. By this time
the parents had educated themselves, declined to let the doctors keep
their son
as an inpatient, and convinced the doctors to treat him as a
schizophrenic
rather than bipolar since his symptoms fit that more closely. The lithium was dropped, and Abilify
was substituted for the Risperdal in hopes of lowering the side
effects, and he
was released to his parents’ care.
The boy still had
profound
personality changes, still paced a lot, and did a lot of smiling for no
apparent reason. He could not stay
focused on anything and really couldn’t do his schoolwork.
He would show up and dress for sports
but didn’t play in competition. He
didn’t talk much and couldn’t really carry on a conversation.
His new psychiatrist
asked the
parents not to dismiss the diagnosis of bipolar disorder too quickly,
but held
out no real hope of anything other than a lifetime of being medicated
to the
gills and nonfunctional regardless of whether they eventually decided
the boy
was schizophrenic or bipolar. From
the parents’ perspective the first year was Hell. The
(mainstream medical) doctors offered little help, seemed
to have a narrow view of the possible differential diagnosis, and
mostly seemed
to make their son worse with their prescribed treatments.
These doctors told the parents that
their son would be like this for the rest of his life and the parents
needed to
prepare for that.
Based
on their own research regarding possible etiologic agents for their
son’s
condition, the parents decided to get a hair test done to check for
heavy metal
problems since some of these (mercury, manganese) are well known to
cause
mental disorders and are mentioned in standard textbooks as problems
that
should be ruled out when someone unexpectedly has a psychotic episode. The boy’s hair test is shown on the
facing page
...
Giving chelation a try
seemed like a
reasonable thing to do on this basis as a possible alternative to a
lifetime of
dysfunction and heavy medication.
...
The father was
immediately convinced
that his son needed chelation, but the mother resisted it at first
because the
doctors told her it was dangerous, couldn’t possibly help, that a lot
of people
got hurt by it, that DMSA was not an FDA approved drug (it is), and
managed to
frighten the mother into believing that she would hurt her son in some
manner
if she tried to chelate him.
The father had read
enough on
chelation and mercury – mostly on the internet – to be able to discuss
these
issues intelligently with the doctors.
He would attempt to have reasoned discussions with the doctors
while his
wife listened in. A typical encounter would go like this: first the
doctors
would say that the son couldn’t possibly have a mercury problem because
he
didn’t have high levels in his blood or urine. The
when the father pointed out that even mainstream medical
textbooks like Harrison’s Textbook of Internal Medicine and Cecil Textbook
of Medicine
said that blood levels only showed
current exposure the doctors would reluctantly admit he was right, that
they
weren’t familiar with the subject, then would refuse to prescribe DMSA
because
they weren’t familiar with it!
The mother became
convinced that
chelation was worth trying when her husband showed her on the FDA
website that
DMSA was an approved medication for heavy metal chelation, and when she
saw her
husband argue rings around doctor after doctor, none of whom offered
any
reasonable discussion as to why heavy metal toxicity should not be
considered
and treated. Eventually the
parents were able to find a doctor who was willing to prescribe DMSA
and
provide appropriate care for their son.
After 6 months and 23
chelation
rounds ... the parents have been able to lower their son’s dose of
Abilify
substantially. The school called
and said the son was suddenly talking to people again!
School officials continued to call
every so often reporting further improvement. The
wrestling coach said he could see the boy growing up
before his eyes – by the end of the season he was acting somewhat
normal, was
able to compete in wrestling, and took first place in one of the
wrestling
tournaments.
While their son still has
a ways to
go, the parents could see after 23 chelation weekends that their son
would
become normal again in the foreseeable future. In
fact, they were able to see progress after the third
weekend. In addition to behavioral
improvements, chronic acne on the boy’s back suddenly disappeared and
hasn’t
come back. The parents say the
difference in their son’s condition after six months of chelation is
like night
and day.
The parents report that
chelation
can cause increased symptoms as a side effect. While
the symptoms come and go, they don’t all come at once,
and when they go, they are usually gone for good.
The boy’s psychiatrist
continues to insist
that chelation can’t possibly be doing any good and now offers the
explanation
that the boy must never have had bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and
is just
getting better on his own.
This is what the father
has to say
about his experiences over the last year and a half:
“This whole situation with my son really opened my eyes.
These mainstream doctors will talk against chelation like they are
experts.
But, I will sit and talk the facts with them. They will then tell me
that they
really do not know much about it. You would think that they see the
improvements in my son and look into it.
With what happen to my son my eyes are now open to the toxic
metal
problem. I am amazed at how many people I see that they or their
children could
possibly have this problem and are not being treated properly. My
sister has
found out that her problems could be due to this toxic metal poisoning.
She had
her fillings taken out and will be chelating. Too bad a doctor did not
look
into this possibility for her years ago. I
believe chelation saved my son a life of misery. Look
at how many other people who are
suffering that could be helped as well. I try my best to let other
people know.
I just hope some of them will give it a try and look into it as a
possible
solution to their problems.”
1)
Psychometric Evidence that
Dental Amalgam Mercury
May be an Etiological Factor in Schizophrenia, Siblerud, Motl and
Kienholz,
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine,
volume 14, number 4, pages 201-9, 1999.
2)
The medical term is bipolar disorder.
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Read some excerpts from
the book: |
||
|
|
||
|
Other books of
interest (vaccines cancer autism hormone balance etc) |
||