Overview of Mercury Toxicity - Medical Books

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My Dentist Hurt My Feelings (for Several Decades) a small treatise on the nasty psychological side effects from the mercury vapor emitted from silver dental fillings

by Stevenson Munroa Fifth Business Production

Nineteen fillings by the age of 16. All my life Ive struggled with being tired, anxious, moody, spacey, forgetful, reclusive and uncoordinated.

German Chemist Alfred Stocks First-Hand Account of Mercury Vapor Poisoning. P. Stortebecker, MD, PhD, Mercury Poisoning from Dental Amalgam A Hazard to the Human Brain, Bio-Probe, Orlando, FL, 1986First Stage :Predominantly psychic symptoms. Fatigue. Diminished working capacity. Irritability. Slight swelling of mucous membranes in upper nasal region. Second Stage:Extreme Fatigue. Lack of concentration. Impaired memory for names, numbers, etc. Irritability and moodiness. Sensation of a sheer stupidity. Nasal obstruction and dryness, a stuffed nose. Nasal discharge, viscous, sticky, sometimes bloody. Ringing in the ears. Hearing impairment. Headache, often frontal. Stomatitis, bleeding gums on tooth-brushing. Irregular heart activity. Sometimes diarrhea. Frequent urination. Slight tremor. Third Stage: Troublesome headache. Dizziness. Vertigo. Tremor. Mental incapacity. Despondency and depression. Back pain. Painful and difficult urination. Colitis with diarrhea. Nasal catarrh, with bloody nasal crusts. Loss of smell. Stomatitis, bleeding gums. Paradentosis, loose teeth. Increased salivation. Pharyngitis and laryngitis, etc.

Stocks worst complaints were his EXTREME FATIGUE and lack of working capacity. I personally experienced all of Alfred Stock's reported symptoms.

Metallic mercury has been known since ancient times, as has its capacity for producing illness. The metal is appreciably volatile, so that toxicity results from inhalation exposure of the vapor. Often, the earliest signs of neurotoxicity are personality changes. At first subtle differences in mood and behavior may be noted only by family members or close friends or associates of the affected individual. As exposure continues, behavior may become increasingly neurotic or even psychotic. Pathological shyness or reclusiveness is a characteristic sign, sometimes alternating with exaggerated irritability. Mild sensory loss may appear early, with tingling in toes, fingers, or around the lips. A mild tremor develops, which becomes more severe as exposure continues. Twitching eyelids may appear first, followed by a tremor of the hands. Fine motor control becomes difficult; as evidenced by noticeable changes in handwriting or drawing. Many of these signs and symptoms appeared in hatters using volatile mercury salts for treating felt. Hence the "mad hatter" of Alice in Wonderland may have basis in fact.

Reeves, A.L.; Toxicology: Principles and Practice, Vol. 1, 1981, p. 127 Modern toxicology book confirms Stocks symptom profile for mercury vapor poisoning

Standard medical reference confirms toxicity Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 21st ed., Vol. 1, p. 72Elemental mercury is a liquid at environmental temperatures but vaporizes with agitation as well as gently heating. Bulk mercury is used in dental amalgams. . . Elemental mercury is readily absorbed from the alveoli; subsequently it can enter the brain. With mild exposure, the manifestations are likely to be subtle and diagnosis is difficult. Insomnia, nervousness, mild tremor, impaired judgment and coordination, decreased mental efficiency, emotional lability, headache, fatigue, loss of sexual drive, and depression are early manifestations and are often mistakenly ascribed to psychogenic causes. Abdominal cramps, dermatitis, and diarrhea may also occur, and the victim may complain of a metallic taste. As the poisoning becomes more severe, persistent involuntary tremors of the extremities are noted. Thereafter, other signs of mercury poisoning may appear, including amblyopia, polyneuropathy, erythroderma, acrodynia, joint pains, swollen gums with a blue line around the teeth, sialorrhea, and paresthesias. The major manifestation of chronic mercury vapor exposure may be kidney damage, including the nephrotic syndrome. Because of the bodys metabolism of mercury, blood and urine levels may be unreliable and clear evidence of poisoning may be documented only after administering drugs that augment mercury excretion in the urine. In most cases, improvement occurs after removal from exposure or treatment with appropriate chelating agents.

Not a fluke: another standard medical reference says the same thing . . . Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine, 15th ed., Vol. 2, p. 2593CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY Inhalation of metallic mercury vapor is the form of mercury exposure that has been best studied in terms of toxicity. High levels of exposure are most likely in an occupational setting in which mercury vapors are generated by heat-induced volatilization of metallic mercury. Cough, dyspnea, and tightness or burning pain in the chest are common symptoms that may be accompanied by diffuse infiltrates or a pneumonitis-like appearance on chest x-ray. Respiratory distress, pulmonary edema, lobar pneumonia, fibrosis, and desquamation of the bronchiolar epithelium can occur in relatively severe cases and have sometimes lead to death. Acute inhalation of mercury vapor can also cause neurologic toxicity manifested by tremors (beginning in the hands), emotional lability, headaches, and polyneuropathy. Chronic exposure to metallic mercury produces a characteristic intention tremor and mercurial erethism, a constellation of findings including excitability, memory loss, insomnia, timidity, and sometimes delirium that was described in workers with occupational exposure in the felt-hat industry hence the expression mad as a hatter. Dentists with occupational exposure to mercury score below normal on neurobehavioral tests of motor speed, visual scanning, verbal and visual memory, and visuomotor coordination. Low-level exposure from dental amalgams may also be associated with adverse immunological reactions with certain major human leukocyte antigen genotypes; further research is needed in this area.

In disbelief, I found the story repeated in numerous authoritative medical reference books and journal articles:Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, 3rd ed., pp. 992-998

Poisoning: Toxicology, Symptoms, Treatments, 5th ed., pp. 199-209

Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, 3rd ed., pp. 750-756

Casarett and Doulls Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, 6th ed., pp. 834-837

Gerstner and Huff, The Clinical Toxicology of Mercuryin the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 2:491-526, 1977

Verity & Sarafian (2000) Mercury and Mercury Compounds. In: Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology 2nd ed. Spencer PS et al., ed., Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford pp. 763-770, 2000

Kark RAP (1994) Clinical and neurochemical aspects of inorganic mercury intoxication. In: Investigations of the Nervous System. Vol. 64. DeWolfe FA ed. Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Vinken PJ, Bruyn GU eds. Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam pp. 367- 411

There have been epidemics of mercury poisoning among wildlife and human populations in many countries. With very few exceptions and for numerous reasons, such outbreaks were misdiagnosed for months or even years. Reasons for these tragic delays included the insidious onset of the affliction, vagueness of early clinical signs, and the medical profession's unfamiliarity with the disease.Hardman JG, Limbird LE, Eds., GOODMAN & GILMAN'S THE PHARMACOLOGICAL BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS, 10th ed., McGraw Hill (2001) So why didnt any of my doctors ever tell me?

Hg0 poisoning is hard to detect, because the symptoms are so variableContinued exposure to moderately high concentrations of mercury vapor in air - which do not trigger the acute pulmonary syndrome - induces classical mercurialism, a chronic intoxication that displays clinical sequelae mainly arising from the central nervous system. Because of its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, elemental mercury slowly accumulates in the most important human organ. Yet, the induced disease does not appear as a typical entity but as a wide spectrum of clinical pictures, ranging from almost imperceptible disturbance to complete incapacitation. Depending on mercury concentration, on length of exposure, and probably on individual sensitivity, manifestations of intoxication emerge insidiously; they gradually progress to various degrees of severity; and they create protean clinical pictures with broad spectrums of signs and symptoms. Gerstner and Huff, The Clinical Toxicology of Mercury Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 2:491-526, 1977

Affect. Mercurialism also manifests itself in an alteration of the emotional state. With an insidious onset, the mood generally swings toward the depressive side. Exposed persons experience feelings of fatigue and listlessness; they lose interest in their surroundings and in their own life; they withdraw more and more from social contacts; they become increasingly irritable and sensitive, reacting strongly to relatively innocent remarks uttered by family or friends; and they have a tendency for sweating and blushing. In this blushing - or reddening - the classical term "erethism finds its origin. In very severe cases, the depression may reach suicidal proportions. Or the clinical picture may simulate manic-depressive psychosis with hallucinations and delusions.Mentality. Insidious in onset and difficult to recognize, a deterioration of intelligence gradually emerges during chronic exposure to elemental mercury. Previously bright persons become dull and slow in thinking. They suffer from a progressive decline affecting memory as well as the faculties for logical reasoning and concentration on particular problems. Hg0 poisoning induces a wide range of psychiatric disturbancesGerstner and Huff, The Clinical Toxicology of Mercury Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 2:491-526, 1977

Experts Agree: Its an Intriguing Neurotoxin. Nothing else even comes close!Inhaled mercury vapor produces a range of fascinating and bizarre changes in human behavior from the grotesque to the extremely subtle. Modern psychological tests reveal subtle mood changes and less obvious personality changes. Erethism is a wide spectrum of psychological and personality disturbances. One end of the spectrum involves delirium, hallucinations, excessive shyness, and fits of rage. . . [while] irritability, insomnia, and lassitude may be the lower end of the erethism spectrum. . . No other metal can affect the central nervous system in this way. In fact, it is doubtful that any chemical, even hallucinogenic drugs, can compare with mercury vapor. It is a tantalizing problem to the neuroscientist. What a pity so little effort has been devoted to elucidating the physiological and biochemical mechanisms!

Clarkson, T.W. Human Toxicology of Mercury The Journal of Trace Elements in Experimental Medicine 11:303-317 (1998)

What is a safe level of vapor?The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets a non-occupational reference air concentration. In 1996, the RfC was: 0.300 ug Hg0/m3 The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) publishes a Minimal Risk Level for non-occupational exposure. In 1999, the MRL for mercury vapor was set at: 0.200 ug Hg0/m3

So Whats in Our Mouths?

Lichtenberg, H, Mercury vapor in the oral cavity in relation to the number of amalgam fillings and chronic mercury poisoning Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine 11:2 1996 pp. 87-94 Range: 3 ug 195 ug

OopsWheres the FDA?Dental amalgam has never been subjected to safety testing. Its been grandfathered in as safe by the FDA.Wheres the Maine DEP and Department of Health? I have a little story . . .What other pre-Civil War medical devices would you like to be subjected to?The last Quacks: from quacksilber, quicksilver, the German word for mercury . . .

Like old folks in search of affordable prescription drugs, I went to Canada to search for accurate health information

So - I received 16 to 18 fillings too many before I could vote or die in war for my country

YOU FEEL LIKE SHIT BEFORE YOU SHAKE: In Fawer et al., safe levels were based on forearm tremors. What about mood disturbances, shyness, irritability, attention and memory problems? Occupational studies show that these often come first. The question is: should we wait until Dad is trembling before we say there is a problem, or should we stop the exposure when he gets irritable as hell, shouts at the kids, has no friends, and sleeps on the sofa all the time?

A SAFE AMOUNT OF POISON ISNT THE SAME AS A SAFE AMOUNT OF POISON WITH AN ANTIDOTE: 12 out of the 26 study participants were employed in chloralkali plants thus, they were guaranteed a large margin of protection from mercury vapor exposure. Chlorine gas combines with mercury in the air and precipitates it to the ground. It also combines with mercury in the body, protecting the brain and heart from mercury vapors toxic effects. Dental amalgam bearers DONT have this luxury. The vapor from their fillings goes straight into the blood stream and mercury collects at high levels in their brain.

SAFETY LEVELS SHOULD PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE: The 26 study participants were self-selected employees of mercury-using industries. That is, if they felt rotten in the presence of mercury vapor, then they could quit. Only the mercury hardy would stay employed, conceivably, to show up for the study. Amalgam wearers cant take their fillings out when they feel bad -- theyre stuck with them for life.

Even Canada's safe exposures are too much. The assumptions used (from Fawer et al., 1983) to determine safe levels of mercury vapor exposure are seriously flawed

In support of you-feel-like-shit-before-you-shake hypothesis:Exhibit APersonality changes are the most common findings in chronic mercurial poisoning. In mild cases these may occur with no other signs or symptoms apparent. The psychopathologic effects have been described as erethism, irritability, irascibility, critical excitability, fearfulness, restlessness, insomnia, inability to concentrate, melancholy, depression, shyness, timidity, moroseness, fatigue, weakness, and drowsiness. The person may appear indecisive and have memory deficit. Headache and digestive disturbances often are present.

Zenz C, Occupational Medicine, Chicago, Ill, 1975

Smith RG, Vorwald AJ, Patil LS, Mooney TF, Effects of exposure to mercury in the manufacture of chlorine, Am Ind Hyg Ass J 31 1970 687-700

Exhibit B: 642 workers in the chloralkali industry studied for one year

Nervous symptoms increased in prevalence before objective tremors.

Like Fawer et al., this study had a significant self-selection bias. More than 80% of the workers studied had worked in the mercury cell rooms for 2-14 years, while 85% of workers leaving the mercury cell rooms in the previous 10 years had done so voluntarily.

What of the chlorine gas antidote?

The effect of chlorine on mercury vapor intoxication. Autoradiographic study Viola PL & Cassano GB Med Lavoro 59 1968 437-44 Sixteen Swiss Albino Mice -- 8 exposed to Hg0, and 8 exposed to Hg0 AND chlorine gas.

After about six weeks of exposure to mercury vapors the rats revealed hyper-excitement, sometimes followed by ataxia and tremor. The rats exposed to mercury and chlorine vapors showed mild dyspnea, cough and diarrhea in the second week. After eight weeks, ten out of forty rats of the first group died while four out of forty of the second group died.80 Wistar Rats Exposed: 40 to Hg0, and 40 to Hg0 + chlorine vaporsThe effect of chlorine on mercury vapor intoxication. Autoradiographic study Viola PL & Cassano GB Med Lavoro 59 1968 437-44 80 Wistar Rats Exposed: 40 to Hg0, and 40 to Hg0 + chlorine vapors

The Disturbing ConclusionThe severe neurological symptoms presented by the rats exposed to mercury vapors only and the mild gastrointestinal disorders observed in the animals exposed to mercury and chlorine vapors indicated quite different intoxication pictures. The different type of poisoning . . . seems to be clearly explained by the higher mercury levels found in the brain, which were ten times higher than those observed in the nervous tissue of rats exposed to mercury and chlorine vapors. From the data reported in this paper we may conclude that chlorine vapors added to an atmosphere containing mercury vapors not only reduce mercury absorption [by 40%], but also determine a different distribution pattern of the metal in the body. The reason for this appears to be the transformation of mercury vapors into mercurous chloride. In fact, mercurous chloride passes the blood brain barrier in very small amounts, if at all, and does not concentrate in the heart muscle, as demonstrated after oral administration of HG203-Cl salt. A strikingly higher toxicity after exposure to an atmosphere containing only mercury vapors as compared to one with mercury and chlorine vapors should be emphasized. The effect of chlorine on mercury vapor intoxication. Autoradiographic study Viola PL & Cassano GB Med Lavoro 59 1968 437-44

Alcohol Analogy is Apt the mercury poisoned are like Chinese stuck in a town run by the Irish mob. All deals are sealed with drinks, and the drinks are not voluntary. Youd have a LOT of sick Chinese trying to get help at the hospital, and a lot of Irish nurses and doctors looking at them like they are crazy.

Wilsons Disease (copper overload) and Hemochromatosis (iron overload) are good model diseases to understand mercurys variable toxic effects

Mercury-resistant mammallian cells have been cloned that over-express intracellular levels of the antioxidant glutathione

Differences in ApoE proteins, glutathione protein synthesis and metallothioneins are all being reported by clinicians dealing with mercury-poisoned patients

Pink Disease acrodynia established two incontrovertible facts:

1) health care providers can unwittingly poison large swaths of the population with mercury, and 2) the susceptibility to mercury poisoning is, indeed, HIGHLY variable. Some get poisoned by amounts that leave others unscathed. The successful termination of Pink Disease in the 1950s, when mercury-containing infant medicines were voluntarily withdrawn from the marketplace by drug companies, SHOULD have been the death knell to mercury dental amalgams. Alas . . .Individual Sensitivity to Toxic Effects is Key

Pink Disease: the iatrogenic poisoning of babies with mercury-containing teething powders & worming medicines

Dally, Ann, The Rise and Fall of Pink Disease, The Society for the Social History of Medicine, 10:2 (1997), 291-304

Acrodynia and mercury Warkany J & Hubbard DM J Pediatr 42 1953 365-86

Acrodynia - Postmortem of a disease Warkany J Am J Dis Child 112 1966 147-56

http://www.neonatology.org/pdf/pinkdisease.pdf

Pink Disease Support Group Mrs. Heather Thiele

PO Box 134 Gilgandra NSW 2827 Email: [email protected]

For over a hundred years thousands of children were killed by accidental poisoning, and many more suffered in miseryWarkany estimated that 1 in 500 exposed infants developed the disease. No epidemiological work was ever done. The disease disappeared after the mercury-containing medicines were withdrawn from the market. Provocatively, adult survivors of Pink Disease tend to have Aspergers Syndrome.

Kark RAP (1994) Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Modern Allopathic Medicine says:

Old Homeopathic Medicine says:

Certain dentists are themselves aware of the popular dread of mercury and hence the false term of Silver Filling which is a deliberate swindle and a disgrace to the dental occupation. It is not claimed that mercury worn in the mouth is universally detrimental to health. My own experience, which includes hundreds of observations, leads to the conclusion that injurious effects are detected in only a small percent of those who wear red rubber and silver fillings. But the exceptions are frequent and the results are no doubt often disastrous. So disastrous, in fact, as to warrant the absolute and unqualified condemnation of the practice. Howard Drutcher, MD, Hahnemanian Advocate, Vol. 35 #8 1896

The problem of susceptibility to mercury is essentially that doses of mercury harmless to most people produce a dramatic neurological disease in a few. Apparently the few had been healthy before exposure to mercury. Could they be susceptible because they had an otherwise harmless polymorphism which led to excessive mercury being retained, distributed to the brain, or unrestrained from damaging essential neurochemical reactions, or which led to critical reactions being unusually prone to inhibition by mercury? This is the situation in which people would be with the gene defect for Wilsons disease if they had been raised in an environment entirely free of copper and if they were suddenly moved into ordinary surroundings. Health would quickly change into disease. Vallees group raised the possibility that polymorphisms of metallothionein or a related protein could account for the susceptibility, but there was no direct support for this hypothesis. Neal et al. (1941) had pointed out that hatters ill with mercury toxicity often had much lower urinary mercury levels than their healthy workmates. The susceptibility might represent an inability to excrete the metal at an adequate rate. In modern terms, this may be due to a polymorphism.

What brain structures are being poisoned?Alfred Stocks Theory: the pituitaryEleven autopsies: 6 Hg-free, 5 amalgam bearing. Elevated levels were found in the pituitary. Hg-free: u=78.75 ng/g wet weight, range 40-133 ng/g Hg Amalgam Wearers: u=140, range 40-232

The observation that the pituitary gland, which despite its small size, is of such importance for the regulation of the hormonal status, accumulates mercury to levels similar to the kidneys, should be of extreme importance for the mechanism of chronic mercury poisoning. If an above normal Hg-level disturbs the functioning of the pituitary gland as it is known to do with the kidneys (inflammation, anuria, uremia, etc.) then almost all symptoms of the up to now quite mysterious chronic mercury vapor poisoning can be explained. [Understanding the mechanisms at work here] might, in addition to mercury poisoning, be of value also for the treatment of other types of poisoning.Stock, A, The Mercury Content of the Human Body, Biochemische Zeitschrift 304 1940 73-80

Is there more modern follow-up work?

In fact, yes. There are three animal studies now, and three human autopsy studies that are relevant. All of them confirm Stocks original observation that Hg0 exposure from both fillings and small amounts of Hg0 in the air deposits a relatively high concentration of inorganic mercury into the pituitary. Animal Studies:Maternal-fetal distribution of mercury (203Hg) released from dental amalgam fillings Vimy MJ, Takahashi Y & Lorscheider FL Am J Physiol 258 1990 R939-945

Whole-body imaging of the distribution of mercury released from dental fillings into monkey tissues Hahn LJ, Kloiber R, Leininger RW, Vimy MJ & Lorscheider FL FASEB J 4 1990 3256-60

Dental "silver" tooth fillings: a source of mercury exposure revealed by whole-body image scan and tissue analysis Hahn, LJ, Kloiber R, Vimy MJ, Takahashi Y & Lorscheider FL FASEB J 3 1989 2641-6

Human Studies: Mercury in pituitary glands of dentists Nylander M Lancet feb 22 1986 442

Correlation betwen selenium and mercury in man following exposure to inorganic mercury Kosta I, Byrne AR, Zelenko V Nature 254 1975 238-9

Mercury, selenium, and cadmium in human autopsy samples from Idrija residents and mercury mine workers. Falnoga I; Tusekznidaric M; Horvat M; Stegnar P Environmental Research; 84 (3) p211-218 NOV 2000

Dental "silver" tooth fillings: a source of mercury exposure revealed by whole-body image scan and tissue analysis Hahn, LJ, Kloiber R, Vimy MJ, Takahashi Y & Lorscheider FL FASEB J 3 1989 2641-6

This unlucky monkey got 16 radio-active mercury fillings placed in his teeth, and was killed on day 28.

Whole-body imaging of the distribution of mercury released from dental fillings into monkey tissues Hahn LJ, Kloiber R, Leininger RW, Vimy MJ & Lorscheider FL FASEB J 4 1990 3256-60

Sheep Tissue AccumulationMonkey Tissue Accumulation

Notice how, in comparison to all the brain regions tested, the pituitary accumulates several-fold higher amounts of mercury. Interestingly, this disparity is even MORE pronounced in the monkey, an animal that chews less than a sheep.

3-5 Fetal Lambs exposed in utero after mothers amalgam placement5 adult ewes autopsied at different times after amalgam placementMaternal-fetal distribution of mercury (203Hg) released from dental amalgam fillings Vimy MJ, Takahashi Y & Lorscheider FL Am J Physiol 258 1990 R939-945

Mothers Detox Dental Mercury Into their Babies

Mercury in pituitary glands of dentists Nylander M Lancet feb 22 1986 442

Mercury toxicity from industrial exposure II. Battigelli MC J Occup Med 2 1960 394-8 MODERN EVIDENCE:Mercury from dental amalgam accumulates in the human pituitary

Mercury produces pathological changes in the pituitary It's not an essential trace mineral, and its not just harmlessly hanging around playing paddycake.

Different forms of Mercury all have different tissue distributions and do different nasty things to you. Dental Fillings release a lot of ELEMENTAL MERCURY, also called METALLIC MERCURY or simply MERCURY VAPOR, denoted chemically as: Hg0. Exposure to the vapor results in more than 10x as much Hg accumulating in the brain compared to exposure to equal amounts of injected mercury salts, Hg2+.Once mercury vapor has circulated through your blood stream for a while it is taken up by the red blood cells and the enzyme catalase oxidizes it into one of the two forms of INORGANIC MERCURY, both being Hg2+.

In animal experiments, mercury concentrates in the cerebellum, hypothalamus, and areas adjacent to the lateral ventricles and the area postramus. -- Arena JM, Ed., Poisoning: Toxicology . Symptoms . Treatments, 5th edition, Thomas Books, 1974Mercury vapor readily crosses cell membranes, including the blood-brain barrier. Autoradiographic studies show that inorganic mercury (Hg2+) does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier but accumulates in areas such as the pituitary gland and area postrema where the anatomical barrier is normally absent. -- Verity MA and Sarafian TA, Mercury and Mercury Compounds, p. 763, in: Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology, 2nd edition, Spencer & Schaumberg, Eds., Oxford U. Press, 2000After mercury vapor oxidizes into inorganic mercury it still hits the brain.

Growth Hormone, Arcuate Nucleus & Median EminenceMercury in the rat hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and median eminence after mercury vapor exposure Ernst, E, Christensen M-E, Hyldgaard Poulsen E Exp Mol Pathol 58 1993 205-14

Mercury was observed in both the arcuate nucleus and median eminence of two groups of rats exposed to Hg0. One group was exposed to 50 ug/M3, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 8 weeks.

Another group was exposed to 400 ug/M3, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 2 weeks only.

The 2 remaining groups of rats didnt evidence any mercury deposition after exposure to 50 ug/M3 for either 1 week or 4 weeks.

This is important because: The Arcuate Nucleus is responsible for growth hormone regulation.

The Median Eminence is a major switching station where releasing hormones that are produced in the hypothalamus are transferred to the anterior pituitary where they stimulate the release of adrenal, thyroid and sex hormones, along with prolactin.

Lets take this apart piece by piece . . .Now that we have tracked the neurotoxin to the pituitary and hypothalamus, lets see what symptoms of mercury poisoning can be correlated with the known functions of these brain structures. There are two areas to look at: The Posterior Pituitary, Median Eminence and Arcuate Nucleus the areas most susceptible to Hg2+ because they lack a BBB, and

The Hypothalamus in general.

Specifically, well look at: Oxytocin behavioral functions

Vasopressin behavioral functions

Growth hormone behavioral functions

Behavioral effects of disrupting normal functioning in various hypothalamic nuclei

Oxytocin, the love and anti-stress hormone, isnt just for milk let-down during nursing . . .

Uvans-Moberg, K; The Oxytocin Factor: Tapping the Hormone of Calm, Love and Healing; Boston: Da Capo Press 2003



Vasopressin, the pay attention and remember hormone, isnt just for pee-free nights . . .

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 16th Edition 2005 McGraw-Hill, P.2089 ADULT GH DEFICIENCY (AGHD)This disorder is usually caused by hypothalamic or pituitary somatotrope damage. Acquired pituitary hormone deficiency follows a typical sequential pattern whereby loss of adequate GH reserve foreshadows subsequent hormone deficits. The sequential order of hormone loss is usually GH FSH/LH TSH ACTH.

PRESENTATION AND DIAGNOSISPatients may experience social isolation, depression, and difficulty in maintaining gainful employment. Adult hypopituitarism is associated with a threefold increased cardiovascular mortality rate in comparison to age- and sex-matched controls, and this may be due to GH deficiency.

Clinical Presentation:Impaired quality of life
Decreased energy and drive
Poor concentration
Low self-esteem
Social isolationBody composition changes
Increased body fat mass
Central fat deposition
Increased waist-hip ratio
Decreased lean body massReduced exercise capacity Reduced maximum O2 uptake
Impaired cardiac function
Reduced muscle massCardiovascular risk factors
Impaired cardiac structure and function
Abnormal lipid profile
Decreased fibrinolytic activity
Atherosclerosis

Human Growth Foundations Patient Education ManualGrowth Hormone isnt just to make short kids grow taller

Finally, we have reasonable hormonal candidates for explaining the emotional and behavioral changes reported in erethismus mercurialisDepression

Memory defect for people

Memory defect for novel information

Feelings of sheer stupidity

Desire to be alone

Fearfulness and Anxiety

Profound fatigue

Manic Depression

Obsessiveness

Low Oxytocin (OXT), Vasopressin (VP) and Growth Hormone (GH)

Low OXT and VP

Low VP and GH

Low VP and GH

Low OXT and GH

Low OXT and GH

Low Growth Hormone

Alterations in Vasopressin

Low Oxytocin

Reported Symptom in Hg PoisoningHormonal Correlate or Modulator of Symptom

Hypothalamic StructuresHypothalamic LesionsTheres more damage to be done. . .Melmud, Shlomo, The Pituitary, 2nd Edition, Blackwell Publishing, 2002Mercury is a glutaminergic excitotoxin, meaning that it can make neurons fire to death by allowing too much glutamate to accumulate.

Hypothalamic Structures

Hypothalamic LesionsMelmud, Shlomo, The Pituitary, 2nd Edition, Blackwell Publishing, 2002

Hypothalamic StructuresHypothalamic LesionsMelmud, Shlomo, The Pituitary, 2nd Edition, Blackwell Publishing, 2002

Mercury vapor without Booze (above)After inhaling Hg0 for one hour, this mouse was killed an hour later. High concentrations of mercury were encountered in the nasal mucosa, trachea, lung, myocardium, adrenal cortex, kidney, brown fat and especially in the brain.

Mercury vapor with Booze (right)This mouse was treated with ethyl-alcohol (2 g/kg body weight, intra-peritoneally injected) 30 minutes before it inhaled mercury vapor for one hour, then was killed an hour later. While the mercury concentration increased in the liver as compared to the dry mouse, mercury decreased in the lung, myocardium, brown fat, and very conspicuously in the brain.

Experimental evidence to support the therapeutic, neuroprotective, benefits of alcoholism . . .

Khayat A, Dencker L, Whole Body and Liver Distribution of Inhaled Mercury Vapor in the Mouse: Influence of Ethanol and Aminotriazole Pretreatment. J Applied Toxicology 3 1983 66-74

A 44 year old dentist presented with marked finger tremor, visual deterioration, poor memory for recent events and a tendency to be irritable and argumentative. In the previous year he had felt vaguely unwell with headaches, muscle pains, 14 kg weight loss and a disturbed sleep pattern. Alcohol improved the symptoms leading to unfounded suspicions that alcoholism was the underlying problem.Symington IS, Cross DC, Dale IM, Lenihan JMA, Mercury Poisoning in Dentists J. Soc. Occup. Med. (1980) 30, 37-39

The Joys of Working in a Dental OfficeUzzell BP & Oler J, Chronic low-level mercury exposure and neuropsychological functioning J Clin Exp Neuropsychology 8 1986 581-93

The Great Tennessee Mercury Vapor Accident (how to give your patients inadequate care and still get published) Elemental Mercury Vapour Toxicity, Treatment, and Prognosis After Acute, Intensive Exposure in Chloralkali Plant Workers. Part I: History, Neuropsychological Findings and Chelator Effects. Bluhm RE, Bobbit RG, Welch LW, Wood AJJ, Bonfiglio JF, Sarzen C, Heath AJ, Branch RA Human & Experimental Toxicology 11 (3) p201-210 MAY 1992 After an acute exposure, these guys were treated for a total of less than 3 weeks with DMSA, a chelater that doesnt cross the blood-brain-barrier to remove metals from the CNS

Erethism Cured with Aggressive Chelation TherapyChronic elemental mercury intoxication: neuropsychological follow-up case study. Hua MS, Huang CC, Yang YJ, Brain Inj 1996 May 10(5):377-84 A few years later, in Taiwan, a more severely poisoned lampsocket worker was treated for 2 months with NAP, a chelator that crosses the blood-brain-barrier. Unlike the workers studied by the doctors in America, this man got better.

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is condemnation without investigation.Herbert SpencerDont worry about what the world wants from you, worry about what makes you come more alive. Because what the world really needs are people who are more alive.Lawrence Le ShanOne must have teeth. Then loves like biting into an orange when the juice squirts in your teeth. Bertolt BrechtA test of what is real is that it is hard and rough. Joys are found in it, not pleasure. What is pleasant belongs to dreams. Simone Weil

n=1Lampsocket Man Sick614121714714168n=1Lampsocket Man After Chelation27641812616176n=30Control Group; n=306.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.9717.115.78.5Paranoia*Hypochondriasis*Psychopathic Deviancy*Inferiority*AnxietyCompulsivenessSexual Suppression*AggressionSelf Awareness / Ego StrengthIndependenceSelf ConfidenceKo's Mental Health QuestionnairePa=ParanoiaHs = HypochondriasisPd = Psychopathic DeviantSc = Self ConfidenceI = InferiorityAp = Anxiety / PsychastheniaC = CompulsivenessSs = Sexual SuppressionAg = AggressionEs = Self Awareness / Ego StrengthId = IndependenceChelation Administered from Day 85 to 88n=11MaleE82757974777873716974n=11MaleE857476687465696470n=11MaleE92737264747562696769n=10MaleE5707680727778737476n=7MaleC5706454505248544850SomatizationObsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepressionAnxiety*HostilityPhobiaParanoiaPsychoticismn=13FemaleE52.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54n=13FemaleC47.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23Somatization*Obsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepression*AnxietyHostilityPhobiaParanoia*PsychoticismGeneral Distress Index***Symptom Checklist 90 RevisedSom =SomatizationO-C = obsessive-compulsivenessDEP = depressionANX = anxietyPHOB = phobiasPAR = paranoiaPSY = pyschoticismINT = interpersonal sensitivityHOST = hostility

???Page ??? (???)10/11/2010, 20:18:52Page / Somatization*Obsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepression*AnxietyHostilityPhobiaParanoia*PsychoticismGeneral Distress Index

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23

Mercurial Erethism Cured with NAP Chelation TherapyParanoia*Hypochondriasis*Psychopathic Deviancy*Inferiority*AnxietyCompulsivenessSexual Suppression*AggressionSelf Awareness / Ego StrengthIndependenceSelf Confidence

Control Group; n=306.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.9717.115.78.5

Lampsocket Man Sick6141212171471416168

Row 327641812616176

It Could Be Worse. You could have chronicmercury poisoning like these folks. SCL-90-R Psychological DimensionsScoresSomatization*Obsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepression*AnxietyHostilityPhobiaParanoia*PsychoticismGeneral Distress Index

Row 257680727778737474761.#NAN

Row 266454505052485448501.#NAN

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23

Paranoia*Hypochondriasis*Psychopathic Deviancy*Inferiority*AnxietyCompulsivenessSexual Suppression*Aggression

Row 261412121714714

Row 3276418126

Row 46.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.97

SomatizationObsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepressionAnxiety*HostilityPhobiaParanoiaPsychoticism

Row 23747668747465696470

Row 24737264747562696769

Row 25768072777873747476

Row 26645450505248544850

Somatization*Obsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepression*AnxietyHostilityPhobiaParanoia*PsychoticismGeneral Distress Index

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23


???Page ??? (???)10/11/2010, 20:18:54Page / SomatizationObsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepressionAnxiety*HostilityPhobiaParanoiaPsychoticism

Row 23747668747465696470

Row 24737264747562696769

Row 25768072777873747476

Row 26645450505248544850


Control Group; n=306.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.9717.115.78.5


Row 327641812616176


Row 257680727778737474761.#NAN

Row 266454505052485448501.#NAN

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23


Row 261412121714714

Row 3276418126

Row 46.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.97


Row 23747668747465696470

Row 24737264747562696769

Row 25768072777873747476

Row 26645450505248544850

You Want to Work in a Dental Clinic? Think Again. Somatization*Obsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepression*AnxietyHostilityPhobiaParanoia*PsychoticismGeneral Distress Index

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23


???Page ??? (???)10/11/2010, 20:18:55Page / Paranoia*Hypochondriasis*Psychopathic Deviancy*Inferiority*AnxietyCompulsivenessSexual Suppression*Aggression

Row 261412121714714

Row 3276418126

Row 46.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.97


Control Group; n=306.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.9717.115.78.5


Row 327641812616176


Row 257680727778737474761.#NAN

Row 266454505052485448501.#NAN

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23


Row 261412121714714

Row 3276418126

Row 46.336.776.336.25.178.7710.735.97


Row 23747668747465696470

Row 24737264747562696769

Row 25768072777873747476

Row 26645450505248544850

You Want to Work in a Dental Clinic? Think Again. Somatization*Obsessive-CompulsivenessInterpersonal SensitivityDepression*AnxietyHostilityPhobiaParanoia*PsychoticismGeneral Distress Index

Row 3052.9259.4656.6255.8549.1550.6946.2354.6952.3855.54

Row 3147.5449.8449.1548.6939.3146.8538.1546.6943.7747.23

Health & Medicine

Overview of Mercury Toxicity - Medical Books