What Is Heavy Metal Toxicity?
There are many individual metals causing varying degrees of illness based on acute and chronic exposures. Heavy metals is the term used for a group of elements that have particular weight characteristics. They are on the “heavier” end of the periodic table of elements. Some heavy metals – such as cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, strontium, and zinc – are essential to health in trace amounts. Others are non-essential and can be harmful to health in excessive amounts. These include cadmium, antimony, chromium, mercury, lead, and arsenic – these last three being the most common in cases of heavy metal toxicity.
Heavy metals enter the body through the air we breathe, food we eat, Dental amalgams, vaccines, cosmetics, cookware etc.
Heavy metal toxicity can contribute to neurological disorders, a variety of degenerative diseases, inflammation, a compromised immune system and auto-immune conditions.
It is also linked to chronic fatigue, memory loss, hypothyroidism, insomnia, unexplained tremors, depression, joint pain and chronic headaches.
In addition, heavy metals and pathogenic microorganisms are often found in combination. The heavy metals not only increase the virulence of the microbes but many pathogens hold and harbor large amounts of these toxic metals. Both should be addressed concurrently.
Signs and Symptoms of Heavy Metal Toxicity
As an example of the scope of a heavy metal’s toxicity, lead can affect the nervous system, gastrointestinal system, cardiovascular system, blood production, kidneys, and reproductive system.
Symptoms of heavy metal toxicity include mental confusion, pain in muscles and joints, headaches, short-term memory loss, gastrointestinal upsets, food intolerances/allergies, vision problems, chronic fatigue, and others. The symptoms are so vague that it is difficult to diagnose based on symptoms alone.
Arsenic
Symptoms include nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, garlic odor on breath, excessive salivation, headache, vertigo, fatigue, paresthesia, paralysis, kidney failure, progressive blindness, and mental impairment. Signs include mottled brown skin, hyperkeratosis (increased pigmentation) of palms and soles, cutis edema, transverse striate Leukonychia, perforation of nasal septum, eyelid edema, coryza, limb paralysis and reduced deep tendon reflexes. Mental symptoms include apathy, dementia, and anorexia.
Lead
Signs and Symptoms include combinations of gastrointestinal complaints, hypertension, fatigue, hemolytic anemia, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, weight loss, peripheral neuropathy, cognitive dysfunction, arthralgias, headache, weakness, convulsions, irritability, impotence, loss of libido, depression, depression of thyroid and adrenal function, chronic renal failure, gout. A patient with lead poisoning may have a combination of symptoms – or no symptoms at all until the condition has progressed. Mental symptoms include restlessness, insomnia, irritability, confusion, excitement, anxiety, delusions, and disturbing dreams.
Mercury
Mercury toxicity has been linked to, among other things, mercury dental fillings, particularly when people have a large number of them. Symptoms include a metallic taste in the mouth, excess salivation, gingivitis, tremors, stomach and kidney troubles. Mental symptoms include shyness, irritability, apathy and depression, psychosis, mental deterioration, and anorexia.
Treatment for Heavy Metal Toxicity
At Integral Medicine in Sarasota Fl. We believe in a conservative approach to heavy metal detox. An aggressive approach can result in massive mobilization of metals that overwhelm the detox pathways and therefore lead to a redistribution of the metals. We use natural binders and detoxification agents to rid the body of these toxins