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Last month's newsletter was about neural therapy's ability to mobilize toxins, sometimes in unexpected and/or unwanted ways. The teaching case described a 50 year old woman who had undergone successful detoxification for chronic mercury poisoning from her own dental amalgam fillings, only to become quite toxic again after elective dental surgery. This month's newsletter will be a continuation of this discussion, using questions brought forward by readers as departure points: ------------------------------ Hello, Dr. Kidd I am a little confused about this possible complication of neural therapy. In your illustrative case I don't see when and how she was treated with neural therapy. She developed symptoms which you seem to ascribe to neural therapy, possibly. Did I miss something? Barbara Powell MD Barb, You are quite right ‐ The case was not really about a complication of neural therapy. Rather it was about hazards of mobilization of mercury from oral tissues. I chose this case because it had good documentation of urinary mercury excretion on DMPS challenge, both before and after the dental procedure. The dental procedure did not involve neural therapy, but local anaesthetic was administered with (I assume) the same vasodilating effect of neural therapy. And even if the vasodilation was not critical, the point I was trying to make was that the oral tissues are potentially important repositories of toxins. In fact the surgical procedure alone may have been enough to release the mercury. I have seen similar toxic reactions after dental or sphenopalatine ganglion neural therapy, but have not had the opportunity to document the mobilization of mercury in as clear-cut a way. ------------------------------ A second letter: Robert, Thank you for an interesting lesson. I have an interesting case that puzzles me. Dr. A. is a 42 y/o traditional dentist, who stopped placing amalgam fillings several years ago, but still removes amalgam in the course of her work. She presented to my practice 3 years ago with insomnia, anxiety, restlessness and obsessive‐compulsive symptoms. She has been on one medication for 6 years and wanted to stop. After several attempts with different supplements her condition improved only slightly and I was not able to significantly decrease her medications. However, after she had 11 amalgam fillings removed things improved rapidly. She got completely well within 4‐6 months, off her medications and most of the supplements. But.....the urine mercury levels continue to stay high, around 100mcg on oral DMPS provocation, in spite of treatment with DMSA and several supporting agents. A repeat IV provocation with 250 mg of DMPS produced a level of 150 mcg. After I began doing neural therapy on interference fields of the kidneys and liver (detected by autonomic response testing) her DMPS provoked urinary excretion increased to 170 mcg. We have now been in stalemate for almost 2 years. She has no symptoms. Muscle testing clearly shows mercury in her kidneys and liver, but not in any of the other usual organs, like brain, thyroid, heart, bones or ovaries. She continues to remove amalgam in her dental office which is probably polluted, but how do you explain no changes in her testing and how come I cannot reduce the mercury level in spite of prolonged treatment? Michael Gurevich M.D., C.Ac. Michael, There are two possible reasons for high mercury excretion persisting even after seemingly adequate treatment: (1) Continuing toxic exposure or (2) Impairment of physiological detoxification. The first possibility can be tested in a number of ways: Hair analysis or unprovoked urinalysis for toxic metals are good measures of current exposure. If one or both are high, toxins from the environment are likely. Dental offices can be highly toxic, so assessment with a mercury vapor tester should be done. The home might be checked as well. (Accidental breakage of mercury themometers or other mercury-containing instruments can leave undetected pollution in its wake for years). The patient should be questioned about use of Ayurvedic medicines. Some are laced with mercury or other toxic elements. I had a similar case to yours a number of years ago and when I consulted David Quig of Doctor's Data, his first queation was whether my patient was using an Ayurvedic remedy. (And yes, she was!) The second possibility ‐ impaired physiological detoxification, has many possible causes: oxidative stress, poor hydration, poor bowel function, etc., but for mercury levels to persist that high in a seemingly healthy woman, glutathione synthesis is likely being limited by lack of amino acid precursors: methionine, cysteine and/or cystine. In chronic toxic metal toxicity, glutathione synthesis is up‐regulated and the requirement for these amino acids increases markedly ‐ a real problem for vegetarians and others with low protein diets or poor digestion. Occasionally patients will report a craving for meat ‐ a sure sign of amino acid deficiency. A less common cause of glutathione deficiency involves another amino acid, taurine. It may be lacking because of poor diet or intestinal dysbiosis. Taurine deficiency leads to magnesium wasting through the kidneys, which in turn leads to glutathione deficiency, as magnesium is an essential cofactor in glutathione synthesis. Amino acid levels can be measured through urinalysis and glutathione levels by red blood cell analysis. Both tests are available through Doctor's Data. Sincerely, Robert F. Kidd, MD, CM |