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The Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis / Why Heavy Metals are a Hazard to Your Health
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Aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel are the most prevalent heavy metals. The specific sources of exposure, body tissues in which the metal tends to be deposited, and health effects of each metal are identified below.
Sources: Aluminum cookware, aluminum foil, antacids, antiperspirants, baking powder (aluminum containing), buffered aspirin, canned acidic foods, food additives, lipstick, medications and drugs (anti- diarrheal agents, hemorrhoid medications, vaginal douches), processed cheese, "softened" water, and tap water.
Target Organs: Bones, brain, kidneys and stomach.
Signs/Symptoms: Colic, dementia, esophagitis, gastroenteritis, kidney damage, liver dysfunction, loss of appetite, loss of balance, muscle pain, psychosis, shortness of breath, and weakness, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, senile and presenile dementia, clumsiness of movements, staggering when walking, and inability to pronounce words properly, behavioral difficulties among school children.
Discussion: Among the patients I see in my practice, the highest aluminum exposure is most frequently due to the chronic consumption of aluminum- containing antacid products and the use of aluminum cookware. Research shows that aluminum builds up in the body over time; thus, the health hazard to older people is greater.
D.R. McLaughlin, M.D., F.R.C.P. (C), professor of physiology and medicine and director of the Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto, states, "Concentrations of aluminum that are toxic to many biochemical processes are found in at least ten human neurological conditions." Recent studies suggest that aluminum contributes to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, senile and presenile dementia, clumsiness of movements, staggering when walking, and inability to pronounce words properly. Behavioral difficulties among schoolchildren have also been correlated with elevated levels of aluminum and other neurotoxic heavy metals. 66
A disturbing pattern of aluminum accumulation and interference with normal neurological function appears to be supported in the literature. Dyslexic children were shown to have higher levels of aluminum in their hair compared with controls, and other behavioral difficulties in school also correlated with elevated levels of this element.17,18 Urine levels of aluminum are observed to be elevated in people with a history of antacid intake.19 The estimated half-life of aluminum found in the urine is 7.5 hours; however, the excretion kinetics vary according to the form in which the element was present in a workers environment. 20
There are geographical links between Alzheimer's disease and high aluminum in drinking water. Elevated hair aluminum has been observed in Alzheimer's patients, and some Alzheimer's patients experience stabilization of their symptoms following treatment with the aluminum- chelating agent desferrioxamine. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, another neurodegenerative disease, may also be linked to aluminum content of water supplies.
Aluminum is ubiquitous, being the most prevalent heavy metal in the Earth's crust. Sources of exposure may include drinking water (especially from areas exposed to acid rain), aluminum cookware, and aluminum- containing medications such as Maalox. 21,22 The health and educational ramifications of these observations are of much current concern.
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