Metal Toxicity

Toxic metals are found in our food, our air and our water. Our herbal, homeopathic and intravenous methods help to safely and permanently remove metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, cesium and thallium from the body. Once these irritants are removed, body systems including the immune, endocrine, nervous and musculoskeletal systems can operate in a much healthier way.

Where the exposure usually comes from

Most people we test have not had a single dramatic exposure. They have had years of small ones, and the body has kept the score.

Old housing. Lead paint was not banned in US residential use until 1978. Renovating, sanding or stripping an older home is one of the most common adult exposures we see, and the dust travels.

Well water. Private wells are not covered by municipal testing. Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater in parts of Oregon, and lead can enter through older plumbing and solder.

Dental amalgam. Silver fillings are roughly half elemental mercury. Placement and removal are the highest-exposure moments, which is why removal should be done by a dentist using proper protocols rather than opportunistically.

Occupational exposure. Welding, soldering, foundry and battery work, auto body and radiator repair, firing ranges, construction and demolition, some artists' pigments and ceramic glazes.

Fish. Methylmercury concentrates up the food chain. The large predatory species — shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, and albacore tuna in quantity — carry the most.

Cadmium. Cigarette smoke is the single largest source in smokers; shellfish, organ meats and some leafy crops grown in contaminated soil contribute in non-smokers. Industrial exposure comes from battery manufacture, electroplating and pigments.

Cesium. Environmental. Everyone we test has some.

What metal toxicity looks like

Each metal has its own pattern. The difficulty is that the early signs of most of them are nonspecific — fatigue, brain fog, aches — which is why these exposures are so often missed for years.

Lead. Decreased cognitive function including attention, memory and learning; changes in mood and behavior; altered neuromotor and neurosensory function; raised blood pressure and increased risk of hypertension; reduced kidney filtration and protein in the urine; anemia through interference with heme synthesis; in men, reduced sperm count and motility. In children, lower IQ, attention deficits, hyperactivity and conduct problems, and delayed puberty.

Mercury. All forms affect the nervous system and the kidneys. Tremor, incoordination, impaired vision, impaired learning and memory, and mood changes — documented both in workers exposed to elemental mercury vapor and in people eating high-methylmercury diets. Raised blood pressure and immune changes are also reported with methylmercury.

Cadmium. Accumulates in the kidney over decades and causes kidney disease; progressive lung damage with inhaled exposure; fragile bones and reduced bone strength. Acute high-level ingestion causes stomach irritation, vomiting and diarrhea. Cadmium is classified as a known human carcinogen.

Arsenic. A pins-and-needles sensation in the hands and feet; nausea and vomiting; reduced red and white blood cell production and damage to blood vessels. Long-term ingestion raises the risk of skin, liver, bladder and lung cancer.

Thallium. The most distinctive picture of the group, and it unfolds in stages: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and altered bowel habits within hours; then, over two to five days, a painful ascending peripheral neuropathy with distal weakness, ataxia and tremor; then, at two to three weeks, hair loss, with Mees lines appearing on the nails at about a month.

Cesium. Environmental exposure is common and we find some in nearly everyone we test; at those levels it is a burden to clear rather than an acute toxicity. The documented harm is at supplement doses — hypokalemia and cardiac rhythm disturbance, including QT prolongation and torsades de pointes, reported after cesium chloride ingestion.

If several of these sound familiar, that is the point at which testing stops being optional.

How we test

The DMSA provoked urine test is the gold standard, and we require one before any course of chelation for metal removal, so we can approximate the burden and design an effective program. A provoked test mobilizes what is stored in tissue; an unprovoked one mostly tells you about recent exposure.

We also use serum testing and hair testing where they are appropriate to the question being asked.

How we remove metals

Intravenous chelation with CaEDTA or DMPS, usually followed by IV glutathione to aid depuration. Sessions run 60 to 120 minutes.

Herbal and homeopathic methods. For a gentler, slower process we use botanical and homeopathic approaches instead of, or alongside, intravenous chelation. They work well, and they are very safe in more sensitive people — those who react to everything, who are depleted, or who have not tolerated aggressive detoxification in the past. The trade-off is time: this route takes longer, and we will say so at the start.

Ozone and IV support to support the body's own clearance while metals are mobilized.

Hyperbaric oxygen, where circulation is part of the picture.

We have performed thousands of chelations safely over the last decade at Ashland Natural Medicine.

What a course looks like

The number of sessions varies entirely depending on the amount of metals in the body. We do not guess at it, and we do not sell a package before we know what we are dealing with.

You are finished when the testing says so. We repeat the provoked urine test to confirm the burden has come down rather than relying on how you feel, because symptoms improve at a different rate than clearance.

Safety

Chelation is a medical procedure and we treat it as one. We perform a range of tests to assess safety before beginning a course, and we monitor safety throughout treatment rather than only at the start. Tell us about any kidney or heart condition, any medication or supplement you take, and whether you are pregnant.

Common questions

How do I know if I have heavy metal toxicity? Symptoms can guide you to us, and then we will test. The symptoms above overlap with a great many other things, so the testing is what settles it.

Does chelation hurt? No more than any other IV.

How many sessions will I need? It depends entirely on your metal burden, which is why we test before we begin.

Is chelation safe? Very. It has a long safety track record, and we have performed thousands of chelations safely over the last decade.

Is this covered by insurance? We do not bill insurance. If you are accepted into the practice we can create superbills on request as a courtesy.

How do I start? Begin with the New Patient Questionnaire.

Reviewed by Dr. Chris Chlebowski, ND.