Dangers of Amalgams

From: Jan (jdrew63929_at_aol.com)
Date: 12/18/04 

Date: 18 Dec 2004 01:17:32 GMT

Studies proving the dangers of amalgams are ALWAYS news.

>http://www.yourhealthbase.com/amalgams.html

>> INTERNATIONAL HEALTH NEWS DATABASE

>> Amalgam Fillings

>> Summaries of the latest research concerning amalgam fillings

>> Mercury linked to heart disease
>> ROME, ITALY. Medical researchers at the Catholic University in Rome report
>> that
>> patients with congestive heart failure (idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

>> or
>> IDCM) have vastly elevated concentrations of mercury and antimony in their
>> heart tissue. They compared trace element concentrations in biopsy samples
>> from
>> the left ventricle among patients with IDCM and patients with valvular
>> disorders or no heart disease at all. The IDCM patients had mercury
>> concentrations 22,000 times higher than in the controls. Antimony
>> concentrations were 12,000 times higher and silver, gold, chromium and
>> arsenic
>> levels were also highly elevated. Holter monitoring revealed frequent
>> ectopic
>> (premature) beats in all the IDCM patients and ventricular tachycardias in

>> six
>> of the 13 patients. None of the patients had had occupational exposure to

>> the
>> trace elements. Researchers at the University of Calgary point out that
>> dental
>> amalgams would be the most likely source of the mercury.
>> Frustaci, Andrea, et al. Marked elevation of myocardial trace elements in
>> idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy compared with secondary cardiac
>> dysfunction.
>> Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 33, May 1999, pp.
>> 1578-83

>> [32 references]
>> Lorscheider, Fritz and Vimy, Murray. Mercury and idiopathic dilated
>> cardiomyopathy. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 35,
>> March
>> 1, 2000, p. 819 (letter to the editor)

>> Trigeminal neuralgia linked to amalgam fillings
>> JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. Dr. William Cheshire, a physician at the Mayo
>> Clinic,
>> reports on a case where a woman's trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux)

>> was
>> traced to a galvanic reaction between an amalgam filling and an adjacent
>> gold-alloy crown. Consumption of tomatoes and other acidic foods produced
>> intense jolts described as being like those of an "electrical battery".

>> The
>> jolts in turn resulted in excruciating pain in the trigeminal nerve.
>> Replacing
>> the amalgam filling with a composite resolved the problem. Dr. Cheshire
>> points
>> out that dissimilar metals in contact with saliva can form a galvanic cell
>> which can generate electrical currents with several hundred millivolts of
>> potential. He points out that many patients with trigeminal neuralgia
>> describe
>> their pain in terms of "electrical" jolts and concludes that his patient's
>> neuralgia may well have been triggered by the galvanic reaction between

>> the
>> amalgam filling and the gold crown.
>> Cheshire, William P., Jr. The shocking tooth about trigeminal neuralgia.

>> New
>> England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 342, June 29, 2000, p. 2003
>> (correspondence)

>> Dental alloys affect cellular energy production
>> NOTE: We usually do not report test tube or animal experiments, but
>> thought we
>> would make an exception in this case. The findings that commonly used
>> dental
>> alloys may interrupt the normal function of human cells is a first and
>> could
>> have wide-ranging effects.

>> BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. Although nickel is known to be carcinogenic in humans

>> it
>> is still widely used in certain dental alloys. Researchers at the
>> University of
>> Alabama now report that other components of dental alloys (beryllium,
>> chromium,
>> and molybdenum) as well as nickel affect the very basic function of human
>> cells
>> - the production of energy (ATP). ATP is produced in the mitochondria of
>> cells
>> and involves highly oxidative processes. It is becoming increasingly clear
>> that
>> abnormalities in the mitochondrial processes are important causes of human
>> disease. Some researchers believe that a slowing down of these processes
>> actually heralds the very first stage in the proliferation of abnormal
>> cells
>> and cancer.
>> The Alabama researchers exposed cultures of human gingival (gum) cells to
>> solutions of nickel, beryllium, chromium (tri- and hexavalent) and
>> molybdenum
>> (hexavalent) for periods of 24 and 72 hours. They then measured the energy
>> production and oxygen consumption of the cells' mitochondria in the
>> various
>> solutions. Cells in contact with nickel or hexavalent chromium were most
>> affected and showed decreased ATP (energy) production as well as a
>> decrease in
>> oxygen consumption. The effects of beryllium, molybdenum, and trivalent
>> chromium were similar, but less pronounced. The researchers conclude that
>> their
>> findings may be the first indication that some components of common dental
>> alloys may be detrimental to human health. They urge further research to
>> establish possible synergisms between mixtures of these different metals

>> on
>> mitochondrial energy production. [54 references]
>> Messer, R.L.W., et al. An investigation of fibroblast mitochondria enzyme
>> activity and respiration in response to metallic ions released from dental
>> alloys. J Biomed Mater Res, Vol. 50, 2000, pp. 598- 604

>> Dental amalgams come under fire - again!
>> TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND. The New Zealand Ministry of Health is reviewing its
>> policy on the use of mercury-containing amalgams for tooth fillings. This
>> review comes hard on the heels of a precautionary advice from the UK
>> Department
>> of Health which warns pregnant women not to have amalgam fillings
>> installed.
>> Dr. Mike Godfrey, a leading environmental physician, points out that
>> several
>> major amalgam manufacturers have issued Material Safety Data Sheets and
>> Directions for Use which clearly warns of the many dangers of amalgam
>> fillings.
>> Among the restrictions - amalgam fillings should not be used next to
>> fillings
>> or crowns containing other metals, they should not be used under crowns,
>> they
>> should not be used in patients with kidney disease, in pregnant women or

>> in
>> children aged six years or younger. The manufacturers also warn that
>> mercury
>> vapours from amalgam fillings can induce psychiatric symptoms in extremely

>> low
>> concentrations. Depression, mental deterioration, and irritability are
>> among
>> the symptoms listed. Amalagam fillings are banned in Sweden and Health
>> Canada
>> has proposed a limit of one (two surfaces) amalgam fillings in a child and
>> four
>> (eight surfaces) in an adult. Dr. Godfrey points out that his chronic
>> fatigue
>> syndrome patients have an average of 15 amalgam fillings each and exhibit
>> many
>> of the symptoms that the amalgam manufacturers are warning against.
>> Godfrey, M.E. and Feek, Colin. Dental amalgam. New Zealand Medical
>> Journal,
>> Vol. 111, August 28, 1998, p. 326 (letters to the editor)

>> Depression and amalgam fillings
>> FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. There is some evidence that people with dental
>> amalgam
>> fillings are more likely to suffer from depression than are people without
>> such
>> fillings. Now researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Institute report
>> that
>> removal of amalgam fillings can markedly improve the symptoms of
>> manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder). Their study involved 20
>> patients
>> who had been diagnosed with manic-depressive illness. All the patients had
>> amalgam fillings (an average of 10 fillings each). The concentration of
>> mercury
>> in the mouth was measured at the start of the study and was found to
>> increase
>> almost 300 per cent after chewing gum for 10 minutes. Other research has
>> shown
>> that 75 per cent or more of the mercury vapor released by chewing is
>> inhaled
>> into the lungs where it enters the blood stream and subsequently passes
>> into
>> the brain. Eleven of the patients were assigned to have all their mercury
>> fillings removed and were also given multi-vitamins and antioxidants to
>> help
>> chelate and remove the mercury released during the dental work. The
>> remaining
>> nine patients had a sealant placed over their fillings and were told that
>> this
>> sealant would prevent mercury from being released from their fillings. In
>> actual fact there was no evidence that it would do so. The control group
>> patients were given a supplemental vitamin and mineral tablet. The
>> patients all
>> completed various questionnaires designed to evaluate their mental health
>> before and six to eight months after treatment. It was very clear that the
>> patients who had had their amalgam fillings removed had improved very
>> significantly in such important parameters as anxiety, depression,
>> paranoia,
>> hostility, and obsessive compulsive behaviour. Some of the patients were
>> able
>> to discontinue their lithium medication after amalgam removal. The
>> researchers
>> caution that their study was relatively small and urge large scale
>> clinical
>> trials to validate their findings.
>> Siblerud, Robert L., et al. Psychometric evidence that dental amalgam
>> mercury
>> may be an etiological factor in manic depression. Journal of
>> Orthomolecular
>> Medicine, Vol. 13, No. 1, First Quarter 1998, pp. 31- 40

>> Amalgam fillings may damage kidneys.
>> NEWSBRIEF. Amalgam fillings and skin-lightening creams both contain
>> significant
>> amounts of mercury. Researchers at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh,
>> Saudi
>> Arabia have just completed a study aimed at determining whether the
>> mercury
>> actually gets into the blood stream. The study involved 225 women (aged 17

>> to
>> 58 years) who had their urine measured for mercury, creatinine, urea, uric
>> acid, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and glucose. The urinary mercury
>> level
>> varied between 0 and 204.8 micrograms per liter and was directly related
>> to the
>> number of dental amalgam fillings present in the women's mouths. The
>> researchers conclude that chronic exposure to mercury may be associated
>> with
>> deterioration of renal (kidney) function.
>> Biometals, Vol. 10, October 1997, pp. 315-23

>> Amalgam fillings and hearing loss
>> FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. The leaching of toxic mercury from amalgam
>> fillings has
>> been implicated in hearing loss. Mercury toxicity has also been linked to
>> multiple sclerosis (MS). It is believed that the toxic effects of mercury
>> cause
>> damage to the blood brain barrier, demyelination (damage to the nerves'
>> myelin
>> sheaths) and slowing of the nerve conduction velocity. Now researchers at

>> the
>> Rocky Mountain Research Institute provide convincing proof that dental
>> amalgam
>> fillings may be responsible for the hearing loss often experienced by
>> multiple
>> sclerosis patients. Their experiment involved seven women aged 32-46 years

>> who
>> had been diagnosed with MS. The women underwent a standard hearing test in
>> a
>> sound booth and then had all their amalgam fillings replaced with
>> composites.
>> Six to eight months later they were again given the hearing test. Six of

>> the
>> seven patients had significantly improved hearing in the right ear and
>> five of
>> the seven showed improvement in the left ear. Overall, hearing improved an
>> average of eight decibels. The researchers conclude that amalgam fillings

>> may
>> be a significant factor in hearing loss experienced by MS patients and
>> could be
>> a factor in hearing loss in other people as well.
>> Siblerud, Robert L. and Kienholz, Eldon. Evidence that mercury from dental
>> amalgam may cause hearing loss in multiple sclerosis patients. Journal of
>> Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 12, No. 4, Fourth Quarter, 1997, pp. 240-44

>> Chronic mercury poisoning is widespread
>> HILLEROED, DENMARK. A Danish dentist, Dr. H. Lichtenberg, reports that
>> most of
>> his patients with amalgam fillings suffer from chronic mercury poisoning.

>> Dr.
>> Lichtenberg measured the actual concentration of mercury vapour in the
>> mouths
>> of his patients and found that it varied between 3 micrograms of mercury
>> vapour
>> per cubic meter of air and 329 mcg/m3 with an average of 54.6 mcg/m3. This
>> compares to a maximum permitted level in the workplace of 50 mcg/m3 for
>> people
>> working eight hours a day five days a week. NOTE: This level applies to
>> Denmark; the maximum level permitted in Switzerland is 10 mcg/m3 and in
>> the USA
>> it is 100 mcg/m3. A recent conference in Canada proposed a Tolerable Daily
>> Intake (TDI) for mercury vapour of 0.014 mcg/kg of body weight per day;
>> this
>> corresponds to a maximum tolerable daily intake of 1.0 mcg for a person
>> weighing 70 kilograms. Most of Dr. Lichtenberg's patients were thus
>> exposed to
>> 50 times the TDI. More than half of Dr. Lichtenberg's patients exhibited
>> one or
>> more of the following symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning - fatigue,
>> poor
>> concentration, poor memory, bloating, joint pain, muscle fatigue, cold
>> hands
>> and feet, irritability, and headache. Mercury poisoning from dental
>> fillings
>> has also been implicated in Alzheimer's disease and heart disease.
>> Lichtenberg, H. Mercury vapour in the oral cavity in relation to number of
>> amalgam surfaces and the classic symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning.
>> Journal
>> of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 2, Second Quarter 1996, pp. 87-94

>> Mercury linked to heart disease
>> HELSINKI, FINLAND. Researchers at the University of Kuopio in Finland have
>> just
>> completed a major study which clearly implicates mercury as a major cause

>> of
>> heart attacks and other coronary and cardiovascular diseases. The
>> researchers
>> set out to discover why men in Eastern Finland who eat lots of locally
>> caught
>> fish have an exceptionally high mortality from cardiovascular disease.
>> Their
>> conclusion was that the non-fatty freshwater fish eaten in Eastern Finland
>> contains large amounts of mercury. The researchers discovered that men who

>> had
>> a high fish consumption not only had a high mercury content in their hair

>> and
>> urine, but also had a two-fold higher risk of having a heart attack and a
>> three-fold higher risk of dying from heart disease than did men with a
>> lower
>> content of mercury in their hair. Men who ate fatty, ocean-caught fish
>> such as
>> salmon, herring, and tuna did not have an increased level of mercury in
>> their
>> hair. The researchers believe that mercury promotes heart disease in
>> several
>> ways: mercury promotes free radical generation; it inactivates the body's
>> natural antioxidant glutathione; and it binds with selenium thus making it
>> unavailable as an antioxidant and component of glutathione peroxidase. All
>> these mechanisms would lead to an increased level of lipid peroxidation

>> and
>> subsequent heart disease. The researchers also point out that earlier
>> studies
>> have discovered a clear correlation between the number of amalgam tooth
>> fillings and the risk of heart attack. Selenium and vitamin E have both
>> been
>> found to have a protective effect against mercury toxicity.
>> Salonen, Jukka T. et al. Intake of mercury from fish, lipid peroxidation,

>> and
>> the risk of myocardial infarction and coronary, cardiovascular, and any
>> death
>> in Eastern Finnish men. Circulation, Vol. 91, No. 3, February 1, 1995, pp.
>> 645-55

>> Peer of the Realm questions use of amalgam fillings
>> LONDON, ENGLAND. Lord Baldwin, joint chairman of the British Parliamentary
>> Group for Alternative and Complementary Medicine, is questioning the
>> safety of
>> amalgam dental fillings. In a letter published in the British Medical
>> Journal
>> Lord Baldwin asserts that it is up to the dental profession to prove that
>> amalgam fillings are safe and, in Lord Baldwin's opinion, this they have

>> not
>> done. To point to the fact that amalgam fillings have been used for a
>> hundred
>> years is not a proof of safety anymore than it is to claim that tobacco
>> smoking
>> must be safe because people have been doing it for a long time, says Lord
>> Baldwin.
>> Baldwin, E.A.A. Controlled trials of dental amalgam are needed. British
>> Medical
>> Journal, Vol. 309, October 29, 1994, p. 1161

Quantcast