Do you currently have heavy metal toxins trapped inside your body? The answer is YES!

So what is a "heavy metal" and what do I need to know? If you're thinking of Ozzy Osbourne or Ted Nugent, you're not alone. The truth is that most people do not fully understand the real dangers of heavy metal poisons and just how common they are in our modern world. Fortunately, you can take steps to understand and minimize such threats through simple acts of education, prevention, and treatment that will help to lessen any negative impact on you and your family's health.

Remember chemistry class?

Heavy metals are simply a certain class of metallic elements. Our bodies require trace amounts of some heavy metals, including copper, zinc, and others, but even these can be dangerous at high levels. Other heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium have no known benefits, and their accumulation over time can cause serious illness and even premature death. The industrialization of our world has dramatically increased the overall environmental 'load' of heavy metal toxins. Today, heavy metals are abundant in our air, soil, and even drinking water. They are present in virtually every area of modern life from construction materials to cosmetics, medicines, processed foods, fuel, appliances, and even personal care products. It is very difficult for anyone to avoid exposure. However, you can take steps to understand and minimize this threat through acts of prevention and treatment that will help to lessen their negative impact on you and your family's health.

Heavy metal toxins contribute to a variety of adverse health effects. There are over 20 different known heavy metal toxins that can impact human health. Accumulation within the body can lead to a decline in the mental, cognitive, and physical health of the individual. The following paragraphs discuss three of the most common and dangerous heavy metal toxins:

Arsenic

The use of this toxic element in numerous industrial processes has resulted in its presence in many biological and ecological systems. Ground, surface, and drinking water are susceptible to arsenic poisoning from the use of arsenic in smelting, refining, galvanizing, and power plants; environmental contaminants like pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, desiccants, wood preservatives, and animal feed additives; and human made hazardous waste sites, chemical wastes, and antibiotics. After the absorption of arsenic compounds, the primary areas of distribution are the liver, kidneys, lung, spleen, aorta, and skin. Arsenic compounds are also readily deposited in the hair and nails.

Arsenic is a highly toxic element that has been used historically for purposes of suicide and homicide. Its health effects are well known and documented. Acute exposure to arsenic compounds can cause nausea, anorexia, vomiting, abdominal pain, muscle cramps, diarrhea, and burning of the mouth and throat. Garlic-like breath, malaise, and fatigue have also been seen while contact dermatitis, skin lesions, and skin irritation, are seen in individuals who come into direct tactile contact with arsenic compounds. Studies have shown close associations between both inhaled and ingested arsenic and cancer rates. Cancers of the skin, liver, respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal tract are well documented in regards to arsenic exposure. Several arsenic compounds have been classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a Class A - Human Carcinogen (IARC 1987).

Lead

Lead is the 5th most utilized metal in the U.S. Human exposure to lead occurs primarily through drinking water, airborne lead-containing particulates, and lead-based paints. The primary source of lead in drinking water is from lead-based plumbing materials. The corrosion of such materials will continue to increase concentrations of lead in municipal drinking water. The EPA actually allows small amounts of lead to be present in our tap water due to this insurmountable problem. Lead from water and airborne sources have been shown to accumulate in agricultural areas leading to increased concentrations in agricultural produce and farm animals. Cigarette smoke is also a significant source of lead exposure.

Lead is one of the most toxic elements naturally occurring on Earth. High concentrations of lead can cause irreversible brain damage, seizure, coma, and death if not treated immediately. Evidence suggests that lead may cause fatigue, irritability, memory problems, reduction in sensory and motor reaction times, decision making impairment, and lapses in concentration. In adults, lead is very detrimental to the cardiovascular system. Occupationally exposed individuals tend to have higher blood pressure and are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke. The kidneys are targets of lead toxicity and prone to impairment at moderate to high levels of lead concentrations. Other signs/symptoms of lead toxicity include gastrointestinal disturbances, abdominal pain, cramps, constipation, anorexia and weight loss, immunosuppression, and some liver impairment.

Children absorb lead much more efficiently than adults do after exposure and are susceptible to the most damaging effects of lead toxicity. Lead not only appears to affect cognitive development of young children but also other areas of neuropsychological function. Young children exposed to lead may exhibit mental retardation, learning difficulties, shortened attention spans (ADHD), increased behavioral problems (aggressive behaviors) and reduced physical growth. Lead has been determined by many health experts to be the #1 threat to developing children in our industrial societies.

Mercury

Mercury occurs primarily in two forms: organic mercury and inorganic mercury. Inorganic mercury and elemental mercury are both toxins that can produce a wide range of adverse health affects. Inorganic mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, dental fillings, batteries, electrical wiring and switches, fluorescent light bulbs, pesticides, fungicides, vaccines, paint, skin-tightening creams, antiseptic creams, pharmaceutical drugs, and other ointments. Humans have the ability to convert this inorganic mercury to an organic form once it has become absorbed into the bloodstream. Organic mercury is known to bio-accumulate due they body's inability to process and eliminate it. Organic mercury is found primarily in marine life (fish) and can often be found in produce, farm animals, processed grains, dairy products, and surface water sources.

Occupational exposure to mercury containing compounds presents a significant health risk to individuals. Dentists, painters, fishermen, electricians, pharmaceutical/laboratories workers, farmers, factory workers, miners, chemists, and beauticians are just some of the professions chronically exposed to mercury compounds.

Our understanding of the effects of methyl mercury poisoning comes primarily from epidemic poisonings in Iraq and Japan. In Iraq more than 6,000 individuals were hospitalized and 459 died as a result of methyl mercury poisoning. Adults experienced symptoms including parasthesia visual disorders, ataxia, fatigue, tremor, hearing disorders (deafness), and coma. Observations of exposed individuals have shown irreversible brain damage. Iraqi children poisoned through the consumption of mercury containing food products (grains treated with mercury containing fungicides) exhibited nervous system impairment, visual and auditory disorders, weakness, motor and cognitive impairment, and emotional disturbances. Individuals in Japan experienced many of these same symptoms after the ingestion of fish containing large amounts of methyl mercury.

Mercury has recently been implicated as being a contributing factor to the increasing prevalence of autism in American children. The Autism Research Institute has focused on mercury containing vaccines (TMS) and their relationship to autism. Over 2 million individuals are affected with autism, a neurodevelopment syndrome that typically produces impairment in sociality, communication, and sensory/perceptual processes. Recent evidence has found a positive correlation between complications seen in autistics and complications seen in mercury poisoned individuals (Bernard et al. 2000). Mercury poisoning has been implicated in the development of many other human dysfunctional states for many years. Among these are cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, psychosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Other heavy metal toxins include Aluminum, Antimony, Barium, Bismuth, Cadmium, Cesium, Nickel, Platinum, Rubidium, Thorium, Tin, Tungsten, and Uranium.

How to Safely Remove Heavy Metal Toxins:

We are just now beginning to understand the threat of long-term exposure to heavy metal toxins. However heavy metal toxicity is a condition that often goes overlooked in traditional medical diagnoses. Heavy metal toxins have the ability to impair not just a single cell or tissue but many of the body's systems that are responsible for our behavior, mental health, and proper physiological functioning. If undetected, these agents can cause immeasurable pain and suffering for any afflicted individual. Fortunately, there are avenues that we can pursue to detoxify heavy metals already in our system and to prevent additional exposures.

Testing Options:

Various forms of testing include urine, stool, hair, and blood analysis. Each method has different pros and cons and applications. Although testing is recommended for the patient to monitor their toxin exposure and elimination, it is not required for a successful removal.

Blood tests are useful for identifying ongoing chronic exposures. However, blood testing is not a good method for identifying past exposures stored in the body's tissues.

Hair testing measures the body's excretion of toxic metals over a long period of time. The length of hair determines what time period is being averaged.

Urine and Stool testing also measures the body's excretion of toxic metals, but is primarily a measure of recent exposure, usually during the last few days.

Provocation Testing is widely considered the most conclusive method. This testing involves the use of a detoxification agent, followed by a collection of urine. This test tells you two important facts: 1.) The metal was present in the body, and 2) It demonstrates that the detoxification agent can remove it. It is best to first take a baseline urine sample, followed by the provoked sample. This allows one to directly compare the effects of a provocation agent.

Removal Options

Traditional Chelation:

Popular therapies known as "chelation" often rely on intravenous (IV) solutions to help eliminate heavy metal toxins. EDTA, DMSA, and DMPS are three compounds that have traditionally been used for the removal of heavy metals. These therapies have been shown to be effective, but also potentially harmful due to their side-effects that compromise the body's nutritional status via mineral depletion. These therapies can also be very expensive, very time consuming, and extremely difficult for young children.

All Natural Zeolite:

An exciting, newly patented oral chelation option utilizes a purified form of the zeolite mineral, clinoptilite. Zeolite is a natural mineral formed over thousands of years from the combination of volcanic ash and sea water. Due to its negatively charged 3-D honeycomb-like structure, it acts as a 'cage' that allows it to trap a variety of harmful toxins and heavy metals. It has been shown to be incredibly effective in the removal of heavy metal toxins, but without the dangers of removing critical minerals. In fact, in animal studies it has been shown to actually improve their overall nutritional status. It is also conveniently administered in the form of liquid drops that can be added to water or any other liquid, and it does not require prescription or oversight by a physician.

Purified zeolite also offers other health benefits as a pH buffering agent as well as its ability to remove some allergens and viral components from the body. Anecdotal evidence and ongoing clinical studies also support the use of purified zeolite in preventing and treating most forms of cancer.

It is important to note that not all zeolite products are created equal. Only one product carries a United States Patent which protects the process used to purify the mineral. Because zeolite attracts heavy metals and toxins literally like a magnet, it is already "dirty" from exposure to environmental toxins while in its natural state. The patented purification process cleans the zeolite structure resulting in a much more powerful and inherently safe form of the mineral.