Mercury & Health

What Are the Effects of Mercury on Human Health?

Mercury is primarily stored in your brain, kidneys and liver. The nervous system is considered to be the most sensitive target organ for mercury poisoning. Mercury is a neurotoxic poison that kills brain cells and causes brain damage. When mercury binds to proteins in your brain it destroys the tubes that transport nutrients, thus starving your brain cells and killing neurons. The brain damage from mercury is persistent (some even say permanent) until it is removed from your body. It’s already damaging your brain, has been for years, and will continue to unless you take action.

Depending on your age, weight, and other factors mercury can have different effects. Recognized chronic mercury poisoning is linked to:

• Neurological & developmental disorders- autism, ADHD, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS or Lou Gherig's, cerebal palsy, and Multiple Schlerosis
• Diseases like heart disease & abnormal heart rhythm, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, human adjuvant disease, and mixed connective tissue disease. Crohn's, Raynaud's, systemic candidiasis, diabetes
• Many forms of cancer
• Autoimmune diseases like Grave's andHashimoto's
• Organ malfunctioning, especially the intestines, kidneys, and liver
• Immune system suppression from decreased production of white & red blood cells
• Damage to the circulatory system, including the heart and blood vessels
• Female infertility

Chronic mercury poisoning is routinely misdiagnosed because it mimics common symptoms of other medical issues, such as:

• Chronic fatigue and weakness

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Memory loss
• Foggy or cloudy thoughts
• Migraine Headaches
• Nausea and digestion problems
• Irritability and mood swings
• Allergies
• Sleep problems like insomnia or excessive sleep
• Eczema and skin rashes
• Nervousness
• Asthma
• Insomnia
• Hallucinations
• Lack of coordination
• Tremors and muscle weakness
• Metallic taste in mouth
• Aggressive behavior
• Excessive shyness
• Bloating
• Dizziness
• Slurred speech
• Blurred vision
• Premature ejaculation
• Yeast infections
• Sore throat and gingivitis
• Tingling, numbness and burning of the extremities such as “pins and needles”

In the dental world this combination of symptoms is now being called Dental Amalgam Syndrome or Amalgam Illness.

Why are there such broad effects of mercury? Viruses and bacteria have been around for millions of years and our bodies have evolved to handle them in a predictable way. Chronic mercury poisoning is so new that our bodies don’t know what to do with it. Your unique individual genetic makeup determines how your body deals with mercury. Mercury is a general stressor, so the weakest part of your body usually shows signs first. It’s a roll of the dice to know how it will affect you.

Pregnancy, Children & Development Disorders

The FDA warns pregnant mothers and your children of the dangers of mercury. Mercury has traumatic effects on all nervous systems, but developing children are at the greatest risk. Estimates of infants born with poisonous levels of mercury in their blood range from 300,000 to 480,000 per year. This exposure happens in the womb because of the mother’s toxicity. Fetuses absorb mercury from the placenta, and nursing infants can get it from breast milk. Studies show that chord blood levels of mercury are twice as concentrated as maternal blood levels. It takes 1-2 years of strict mercury avoidance for a woman to reduce the risk of poisoning their child when pregnant.

Vaccines containing marcury should be avoided at all costs. Although Thimerosal was removed studies have shown some vaccines still contain small amounts of mercury. Flu shots are still allowed to use Thimerosal and the risk to children increases when they are on antibiotics or have testosterone present (boys are affected much worse than girls).

Children who have been poisoned have problems with mental development and coordination, much like a mild form of cerebal palsy. Problem-solving and social skills are diminished. Developmental and neurological damage is irreversible for fetuses and young children. They typically do not recover completely, however preliminary findings and parent testimonials point to recovery if the mercury is removed from the child's body.

Autism

Making a comprehensive case for the correlation between autism and mercury is too extensive for this article. There are over 500 peer-reviewed scientific articles that conclusively link mercury and autism. I encourage you to do your own research if you are in doubt.

However, a quick review of history is appropriate. The historical correlation is impossible to deny. Autism in America was discovered in 1943, relatively few years after Thimerosal was added to childhood vaccines. Autism was not discovered in Europe until the 1950s, again only a few years after they started adding mercury to vaccines. By 1983 Thimerosal was increasingly being used in vaccines and the autism rate rose to 1 in 10,000. In the 1990s newborns were injected with the hepatitis B and other vaccines, with concentrations of mercury twice the levels in the 1980s. Autism increased to 1 in 350 children. By 2008 the rates of autism have increased to 1 in 150 by conservative estimates and 1 in 50 by other estimates.

Autism doesn't exist in Amish communities where vaccines and dental amalgams are rare.

The exact autism rate is debated today, but a recent US government study released in October 2009 sadly reports that about 1 in 100 children develop autism. A study released by prestigious Cambridge University in March 2009 found that 1 in 38 British boys showed signs of autistic conditions. Removing mercury from vaccines is no longer enough. Mothers are already toxic when they conceive, and the damage begins almost immediately. The problem will continue to get worse as more coal is burned for power, we eat contaminated fish, and inject ourselves with toxic vaccines.

Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ADHD

Research shows that people with Alzheimer’s disease have mercury levels 2-3 times higher than most people. A study by Pendergrass published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurotoxicology (1997) found that brain damage lesions in rats caused by mercury vapor was indistinguishable from brain damage lesions in human Alzheimer's brains.

If you are over the age of 50 can you remember ever hearing the term ADHD? Now estimates are that about 1 in 3 or 1 in 6 children in our school system suffer from this debilitating cognitive disorder. How can America lead the rest of the world with a third of it’s future generation unable to learn and think clearly?

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