Heavy Metals
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Mercury, Lean and Aluminium are the three worst heavy metals that have no place in the body, so we must reduce exposure to these for a healthy heart and brain.
What’s the Real Story Behind Vaccines?
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/05/04/whats-the-real-story-behind-vaccines.aspx
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola May 04, 2025
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Dr. Suzanne Humphries challenges conventional vaccine narratives, arguing that improvements in sanitation and nutrition, not vaccines, were primarily responsible for declining disease rates
- Humphries’ journey from kidney specialist to vaccine researcher began after noticing patterns of kidney failure in patients following flu vaccination
- The 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act shields vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits, prioritizing profit over rigorous safety testing
- Early vaccines contained contaminants like SV40, a cancer-causing monkey virus that entered polio vaccines through production methods using monkey kidneys
- Humphries emphasizes the importance of avoiding dogmatic thinking about vaccines, advocating for open-minded examination of medical practices
Joe Rogan recently sat down with Dr. Suzanne Humphries, co-author of “Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History,” one of my favorite books on vaccines.1 I previously interviewed Humphries about how vaccine science has been misrepresented to portray them as safe and effective, when in reality they’re neither.
She absolutely crushed it in this Rogan interview! I honestly don’t think anyone in history has laid out such a clear, convincing, and downright compelling case about the vaccine downsides. After decades of grinding away, her hard work’s finally getting the spotlight it deserves, and I’m beyond thrilled to have written the forward to her fantastic book.
Rogan also asked Humphries questions about the history, science and real impact of vaccines, and she didn’t hold back with her answers. Their conversation challenges conventional narratives about vaccines, explores the efficacy of natural remedies and uncovers an important history of medicine that is often overlooked.
The Importance of an Open Mind
Rogan opens the episode by emphasizing a key principle: avoiding dogma. “You can’t be dogmatic when you’re talking about vaccines — or about anything,” he says, advocating for a flexible, 360-degree perspective rather than the tunnel vision often fostered by indoctrination. Humphries agrees, noting that intentional and profitable indoctrination has shaped public perception of medical practices.
• Beneficial practices are often unfairly dismissed — Rogan praises “Dissolving Illusions” for highlighting the use of natural remedies like cinnamon, which are often discredited as “hippie nonsense.” Humphries explains that cinnamon, a powerful herb, contains significant vitamin C, a nutrient she believes underpinned the effectiveness of many traditional remedies.
She recalls dismissing such ideas early in her career, only to later recognize their value. Garlic, too, emerges as a standout, effective against staph infections without fostering drug resistance — a stark contrast to engineered pharmaceuticals.
• This shift in perspective — from skepticism to appreciation — mirrors a broader theme — The conventional medical establishment has a tendency to reject natural solutions in favor of standardized, profitable interventions. Humphries argues that doctors should recommend these remedies alongside conventional treatments, citing, for example, vitamin D and vitamin A as important yet underutilized tools.
Vaccines and Vitamin A — A Hidden Connection
The conversation pivots to a striking revelation about the measles vaccine. Humphries explains that both natural measles infection and the vaccine deplete vitamin A levels in the body. “They don’t tell you that,” she says, noting that post-vaccination advice often only recommends Tylenol, which she notes impairs immune response and causes “immunological disturbances.”
• The medical system prioritizes standardized procedures over holistic care — This vitamin A depletion, Humphries argues, should prompt vitamin A supplementation to be recommended along with the measles shot, but this advice is absent from standard protocols. This point underscores a recurring critique of the medical system focusing on disease care instead of health care.
• Variability in vaccine production contributes to inconsistent outcomes — This problem is made worse by legal immunity granted to vaccine manufacturers. Rogan probes this further, asking if the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which shields vaccine companies from lawsuits, fueled this variability.
Humphries traces the precedent to the 1976 swine flu vaccine fiasco, where injuries forced the government to absorb liability, setting the stage for 1986’s broader measure.
• Post-1986, vaccine makers prioritized profit over safety — They introduced vaccine enhancers, or adjuvants, like aluminum and, eventually, mRNA technology. The legal protection afforded under the 1986 Act, she contends, allowed companies to prioritize profit over rigorous safety testing, a theme that reverberates throughout their discussion.

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The Polio Paradox — Vaccines or Sanitation?
Polio remains the poster child for vaccine success, but Humphries challenges this narrative with a detailed historical analysis. Rogan asks what caused polio’s decline, questioning the vaccine’s role. Humphries responds that the facts don’t align with popular belief. “Polio is still here,” she asserts, rebranded as conditions like Guillain-Barré syndrome — diagnostic criteria shifted post-vaccine to mask its persistence.
• Environmental factors — pesticides like DDT, arsenic and lead — are primary culprits — DDT production, she notes, mirrored polio outbreaks, with rural communities exposed through livestock dipping and crop spraying. “Arsenic causes the exact same spinal pathology,” she says, citing medical references that link these toxins to symptoms attributed to polio.
• Up to 95% to 99% of polio cases are asymptomatic — This suggests it’s a virus naturally present and benign in healthy individuals. Humphries cites a study of the Xavante Indians in South America, where nearly all tested had immunity to polio strains without paralysis, implying robust natural immunity negated its threat.
Rogan marvels at this, pointing out that viruses often weaken on their own and become less harmful over time — yet human interventions, like the 1916 Rockefeller lab’s engineered polio strain, made it more deadly.
• The threat of vaccine-derived polio — This is particularly related to oral vaccines still used in India and Israel. These live strains, she says, caused more paralytic cases than they prevented in early trials, a fact obscured by redefined diagnostics and propaganda. This complexity dismantles the simplistic “vaccine eradicated polio” story, pointing instead to sanitation, nutrition and reduced toxin exposure as key drivers of its decline.
Smallpox — A Tale of Sanitation and Suffering
Smallpox, another supposed vaccine triumph, faces similar scrutiny. Humphries describes its vaccine as a crude concoction of animal pus — often from cows, horses or cadavers — mixed with glycerin and dubbed “pure lymph.”
• Far from pure, these vaccines harbored bacteria and fungi — Contamination persisted into the 20th century. Rogan is incredulous: “Can you believe that fairy tale?” he asks, as Humphries details how these vaccines spread disease, including tuberculosis, a side effect she dubs “the white plague.”
• Public health conditions amplified smallpox’s toll — Rogan paints a vivid picture: streets awash with feces, no running water and rampant malnutrition. Humphries agrees, noting that in the late 1600s, smallpox was “one of the easiest diseases to treat” with supportive care. The Industrial Revolution worsened conditions, cramming people into filthy slums where disease thrived.
Death rates, she argues, plummeted not due to vaccines but alongside improvements in water, shelter and labor laws. Death rates from conditions like diarrhea, which had no vaccine, also declined during this time.
• Doctors of the era often worsened outcomes with toxic treatments — Mercury, arsenic and bloodletting were prescribed until vomiting or diarrhea ensued. These “purges,” meant to expel illness, instead debilitated patients. Yet, natural remedies like apple cider vinegar showed promise, with historical reports of doctors using it to prevent smallpox infection — a practice echoing its modern resurgence for gut health.
Natural Remedies Reclaimed
The dismissal of natural remedies frustrates both Rogan and Humphries. “The hippies seem to have got it right,” Rogan quips. Humphries recounts treating tetanus — a vaccine-targeted disease — with vitamin C and wound care, achieving better outcomes than in vaccinated cases. Studies, she says, show vitamin C prevents tetanus in rabbits if administered early, challenging the vaccine’s necessity.
• Breast milk emerges as a nutritional powerhouse — This food is rich in stem cells, immune factors and memory T-cells that confer cellular immunity. Humphries laments its replacement by formula, a profitable industry that downplays these benefits. Rogan agrees, decrying the arrogance of assuming artificial substitutes match nature’s design.
• Vitamins A, D and C recur as unsung heroes — Humphries ties vitamin A deficiency to vaccine side effects, vitamin D to immune resilience and vitamin C deficiency to hospital-acquired scurvy and more. “Most people are walking around with subclinical scurvy,” she warns, worsened by stress, smoking and poor diets — conditions vaccines can’t fix.
The Dark Side of Vaccine Production
How do contaminants like SV40, a cancer-causing monkey virus, end up in vaccines? Humphries explains the process: vaccines require living tissue — rotten meat for tetanus, monkey kidneys for polio, E. coli for COVID-19 mRNA shots.
SV40, harmless in monkeys, infiltrated polio vaccines via African green monkey kidneys, and remained undetected until Dr. Bernice Eddy flagged it in the 1950s. Eddy’s warnings were ignored and suppressed, and contaminated stocks persisted into the 1990s.
• Now transmissible among humans, SV40 enhances cancer-promoting genes — It also inhibits cancer-suppressing genes, driving kidney, brain and lung tumors. Humphries links its introduction to rising cancer rates.
Rogan is stunned: “How could they keep injecting that into people?” Humphries cites suppression — “any doubts … must not be allowed to exist” — and profit motives, noting research into SV40’s long-term effects was axed despite clear correlations.
• COVID shots contain compounds that amplify side effects — These effects include blood clots and stem cell loss in placentas. These issues went unreported amid media silence. This opacity, Humphries argues, reflects a system that prioritizes industry over inquiry.
A Doctor’s Awakening
Humphries’ journey from kidney doctor to advocate began with the 2008-2009 flu vaccine, which she linked to kidney failure in her patients. “We’re not told to take a vaccine history,” she says, yet patterns emerged. Many patients experienced high blood pressure and dialysis post-vaccination. Her requests to delay shots for chemotherapy patients were rebuffed, sparking her research into polio, smallpox and beyond.
• Humphries went on to co-author “Dissolving Illusions” — The book was self-published after multiple rejections. The book, now in eight languages, challenges vaccine efficacy with statistics showing death rates dropped before widespread vaccination, driven by improved sanitation and nutrition. Threats followed, but she remains undeterred, determined to spread the word.
• Rogan, once a vaccine advocate, credits Humphries’ book with shattering his illusions — “I would have told you vaccines saved us from polio,” he admits, now seeing propaganda’s power. Humphries, meanwhile, urges a return to healing’s roots — nutrition, natural remedies and patient-centered care.
• This conversation isn’t anti-science; it’s a call for true science — It’s time for open, unbiased debate, unshackled from profit and dogma. Humphries invites us to question, explore and reclaim health through knowledge, not blind trust. For more, visit dissolvingillusions.com, where Humphries’ work continues to challenge and enlighten.
FAQs About Vaccines
Q: What is the main argument against the conventional narrative of vaccines?
A: The widely accepted belief that vaccines are solely responsible for the decline of diseases like polio and smallpox is oversimplified. Improved sanitation, better nutrition and natural remedies played significant roles in reducing disease rates.
Q: How does vitamin A relate to vaccines, particularly the measles vaccine?
A: Both natural measles infection and the measles vaccine deplete vitamin A levels in the body, which may lead to negative health effects. Humphries highlights that this depletion is rarely mentioned in standard medical advice, which often limits post-vaccination recommendations to Tylenol. She argues that vitamin A supplementation should be advised alongside the measles vaccine to support immune health, a practice currently overlooked.
Q: What are the concerns about vaccine production and legal immunity?
A: Variability in vaccine production results in inconsistent safety and efficacy outcomes. The legal immunity granted to vaccine manufacturers through the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which protects them from lawsuits, is also problematic. This legal shield has allowed vaccine manufacturers to prioritize innovation and profit over thorough safety testing, putting public health at risk.
Q: What are some of the issues with smallpox vaccines?
A: Early smallpox vaccines were crude, made from animal pus and often contaminated with bacteria and fungi, spreading diseases like tuberculosis. Smallpox declined primarily due to improvements in sanitation, living conditions and nutrition — not the vaccine.
Q: What is SV40 and how did it end up in vaccines?
A: SV40 is a cancer-causing monkey virus that contaminated polio vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s. It entered the vaccines because they were produced using monkey kidneys, and the virus went undetected until later flagged by Dr. Bernice Eddy. Despite warnings, contaminated vaccines were used for years, contributing to increased cancer rates. This is as example of flaws in vaccine production and oversight.
Posted in Coronavirus, Corruption, Heavy Metals, Polio, Smallpox, SV40, Vaccinations, Vitamins | No Comments »
New Research Links Low-Level Lead Exposure to Liver Injury
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/12/13/low-level-lead-exposure-liver-injury.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola December 13, 2023
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- A paper presented at the AASLD — The Liver Meeting in November 2023 suggests a link between exposure to environmental toxins, including low levels of lead, and liver scarring that can lead to liver disease and cancer
- The researchers found that the number of people with advanced liver fibrosis has risen, and the risk factors varied by race and ethnicity, highlighting the theory that chronic disease may be driven, at least in part, by environmental factors
- A second 2023 study found low-level lead exposure was associated with 765 million lost IQ points in children aged 5 and younger and 5.5 million deaths in adults due to cardiovascular disease
- Risks are also multigenerational, meaning that exposure during pregnancy can lead to epigenetic changes in DNA methylation patterns in grandchildren. Your first step is to be tested and work with a health care practitioner who is adept at removing lead without causing more harm
- Avoid consuming more lead by testing for, and filtering out, lead in your cooking and drinking water; by testing older house paint for lead; and being mindful not to buy or use household products that may contain lead, such as medicine, cosmetics and children’s toys
A paper presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases — The Liver Meeting1 in November 2023, suggests a link between exposure to environmental toxins, including low levels of lead, and liver scarring that can lead to liver disease and cancer. As Andrea Branch, a professor of medicine at Mount Sinai’s School of Medicine in New York, notes, lead is nearly ubiquitous, but not distributed equally in the environment.
Lead use began early in human history, used to thicken and change the opacity of paint.2 In the U.S. peak paint use occurred in the 19th century. Homes built before 1978 typically had some trace of lead-based paint. For decades, lead, in the form of tetraethyl lead, was also used in gasoline as an anti-knock agent. Leaded gasoline helped engines run smoothly but released devastating amounts of toxic metal into the environment.
The U.S. began phasing out leaded gasoline in the 1970s,3 but lead poisoning remains a major health challenge.4 Sadly, lead wasn’t the only gasoline additive that could have been used — 10% alcohol burned cleanly and eliminated soot emissions. However, as explained in the video5 at the top of this page, depending on how much is added, an alcohol additive could lower up to 20% of petroleum profits.
On the other hand, by adding lead to gasoline, the oil industry had a product it could control. The 30-minute film details how corruption caused lead contamination of the environment and poisoned the population. To raise profits, the industry created health problems that researchers, scientists and doctors have been struggling to study and treat for well over 50 years.
Low-Level Lead Exposure Linked to Liver Injury in African Americans
Branch and her research team evaluated blood samples of 36,092 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (1999-2018).6 Information from the blood samples included data on lead, cadmium, mercury and 34 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). There were 7,360 blood samples that also had data on telomere length.
The researchers compared blood samples with the results of another group of individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In 2023,7 the term nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was officially replaced with MASLD.
The researchers found that cadmium, which is found in products such as cigarette smoke, batteries, pigments and some chocolates, was associated with liver injury in the cohorts. In further analysis, they also found that African Americans demonstrated liver scarring that was proportional to their blood lead levels. The higher the lead level in the blood sample, the more advanced the individual’s liver injury and scarring.8
Earlier in 2023,9 Branch and her colleagues published a study that analyzed data on 47,422 participants from the same NHANES data. From this, they estimated the number of individuals with advanced liver fibrosis was nearly threefold higher than previous data had indicated. Additionally, the prevalence was higher in non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American persons.
They concluded that the number of individuals with advanced liver fibrosis had risen, and that the risk factors also varied by race and ethnicity.10 Although it has been well documented that low-income communities have a higher burden of pollution, Branch found the data showed African American participants had higher blood serum levels of nearly all toxins that are associated with liver disease.11
A 2021 analysis12 showed that African American patients were less likely to be placed on a liver transplant list and had an increased potential for liver-related death compared to white patients. Branch noted that although a lack of adequate health care is likely one factor, she questions whether the disease may just look different depending on the patient.
Is Chronic Disease Driven by Environmental Exposure?
The newest data builds on the paper from earlier in 2023 and while it doesn’t prove that low-level exposure causes liver damage, it highlights the growing theory that the “chronic disease epidemic might be driven at least in part by the very environments we inhabit.”13
In addition to the connection between lead exposure and liver scarring, the data also showed there was a link with shorter telomeres. These are the end caps on chromosomes that contribute to disease as they shorten with age. The data show that participants with shorter telomeres and higher lead exposure were more likely to have advanced liver fibrosis.
However, as Wei Perng, an associate professor of epidemiology at Colorado School of Public Health noted, she wasn’t clear why the researchers connected telomere length with liver scarring and toxin exposure.14
She hypothesized that the combination of shorter telomeres and overall environmental exposures may be more powerful. Another researcher also noted that telomeres are not commonly associated with liver fibrosis. However, that may not mean they aren’t associated, only that the association has not yet been made.

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Lead Contributes to 5.5 Million Global Deaths Annually
While Branch’s data identified a potentially higher risk to African Americans, a second 2023 study15 published in the Lancet Planetary Health, quantified the global effect of lead poisoning. The researchers used blood level estimates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019.
This study described several health effects related to lead exposure, including chronic kidney disease, idiopathic developmental intellectual disability and cardiovascular disease.
However, the GBD 2019 study only estimated lead-induced mortality from heart disease based on lead causing increased blood pressure and no other factor.16 The estimate for idiopathic developmental intellectual disability did not tally with the effect lead has on intelligence quotient (IQ) in children. These factors suggested that the full effect of lead poisoning may have been underestimated.
Using the same data, researchers developed a modeling study to estimate the global burden, including the cost of IQ loss and cardiovascular disease mortality. They found that exposure led to 765 million lost IQ points in children under 5 years and 5.5 million deaths in adults due to heart disease.17 The vast majority of that loss occurred in low-income and middle-income countries.
The numbers suggested that the global burden of lead exposure has been significantly underestimated and the IQ loss was 80% higher than the previous estimate. The deaths were six times higher than the estimate in the GBD 2019 study and the team calculated the global financial cost at $6 trillion in 2019.
Lead Levels in Adults and Children Linked to Increased Risk
A 2020 report18 from UNICEF and Pure Earth found “It is clear from evidence compiled that lead poisoning is a much greater threat to the health of children than previously understood.” The report stated that roughly 1 in 3 children has levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), which is approximately 800 million children worldwide, nearly half of whom live in South Asia.
However, the CDC19 uses a blood reference value of 3.5 µg/dL to identify children with potentially dangerous lead levels. If 3.5 µg/dL is used as a cutoff, the number of children who have high blood lead levels would be even higher.
A 2018 study20 showed that lead levels in adults are strongly correlated with a higher risk of death, especially from heart complications, and 18% of deaths and 28.7% of cardiovascular deaths are related to lead toxicity.
They concluded, “Low-level environmental lead exposure is an important, but largely overlooked, risk factor for cardiovascular disease mortality in the USA.” Other health conditions linked to lead exposure include cognitive impairment, attention-related behavioral problems, poor attention span, headache, impotence and reduced cognitive performance.21
The World Health Organization22 has determined that while the CDC and others have lead level cutoffs for exposure, there is no safe level of lead exposure. Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that even at low levels can interfere with cognitive development and lead to lower IQ scores, shortened attention spans and potentially increased violent and criminal behavior later in life.23
Lead Health Risks Are Multigenerational
Based on the data that nearly 18% of all deaths and 28.7% of all cardiovascular deaths are related to lead toxicity, it would make sense that patients would routinely have their lead levels checked. Yet, that rarely happens. Instead, patients with symptoms of heart disease are simply given medication.
This is an egregious error since lead exposure also has multigenerational effects. This means that lead not only places the individual at risk, but it also influences their children and grandchildren, especially if the individual is female.
Doug Ruden, director of epigenomics at Wayne State University, was one of the researchers in a 2015 study24 demonstrating environmental exposure to lead in pregnancy could lead to epigenetic changes in DNA methylation patterns in the grandchildren. He explained the changes and effects to The Allegheny Front:25
“If the mothers had high blood lead levels when they were born, then their grandchildren have changes in their DNA. And the changes in the DNA we were looking at weren’t permanent changes. They’re what we call epigenetic mutations.
The way you think about it is — if a mother is pregnant with a baby, she’s also carrying the baby’s children too. Because it’s like a Russian doll. All of the eggs that a person has in life are actually developed in the fetus, during the fetal period, and all the sperm progenitor cells in the boy babies, the boy fetuses, are also present in the fetus.”
How to Get Lead Out of Your Body and Avoid Further Poisoning
Your first step to lead detoxification is to be tested. Ideally, children at ages 1 and 2 and then again at ages 3 and 4 should be tested for lead levels. According to the CDC, a lead level of 3.5 µg/dL or higher in children26 and according to the Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance (ABLES)27 a level of 5 µg/dL or higher in adults is considered dangerous.
If you find you have elevated lead levels, you should work with a qualified health care practitioner who can help remove the toxin without creating more harm as it leaves. One option is chelation therapy using edetate disodium (EDTA), an agent that binds with calcium and some heavy metals.
EDTA can also release important minerals from the body and so should only be used under the care of a physician who monitors your nutritional status and makes the appropriate recommendations. Another option is an N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), which is a precursor to glutathione that your body uses for efficient detoxification. Finally, sauna bathing is another nontoxic strategy that can help remove most toxins from your body, including lead.
Also remember that to successfully eliminate lead permanently, you must stop adding more. Some of the primary sources of lead in your home are drinking water, cigarette smoke, cosmetics, medicine and lead-based paint in older homes and cheaply made household objects and children’s toys. Read labels and do internet searches to determine whether a product in question has lead in it.
Consider having your water tested and choosing a high-quality filter rated for lead removal. Always use filtered cold water for drinking or cooking and never cook or mix infant formula with unfiltered hot water from the tap. For information about lead-containing products and recalls, see the Consumer Products Safety Commission’s website.28
- 1, 6, 10 AASLD The Liver Meeting, November 13, 2023
- 2 ZotaPro, July 10, 2020
- 3 Britannica, Tetraethyl Lead
- 4 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, August 31, 2022
- 5 YouTube, July 30, 2015 Min 4:38 & 6:30
- 7 Medscape, October 5, 2023
- 8, 11, 13, 14 StatNews, November 27, 2023
- 9 JHEP Report, 2023, 5(4)
- 12 Hepatology, 2021; doi: 10.1002/hep.31742
- 15, 16, 17 The Lancet Planetary Health, September 11, 2023
- 18 The Toxic Truth Report
- 19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Blood Lead Reference Value
- 20 The Lancet Public Health, 2018; 3(4) Percentages para 2 under Table 2 50% DTP; Summary/Interpretation
- 21 CDC, What Are Possible Health Effects from Lead Exposure, Introduction, Children, neurological effects
- 22 World Health Organization, August 11, 2023
- 23 CDC, What Are Possible Health Effects from Lead Exposure
- 24 Scientific Reports, 2015; 5(14466)
- 25 The Allegheny Front, January 29, 2016
- 26 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Blood Lead Reference Value, green top box
- 27 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lead, Table box 3
- 28 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Total Lead Content
Posted in Heavy Metals, Liver, Toxins | No Comments »
Undeniable link: How arsenic contamination in food and water causes cancer
Reproduced from original article:
https://www.naturalhealth365.com/undeniable-link-how-arsenic-contamination-in-food-and-water-causes-cancer.html
by: Patrick Tims, staff writer | August 10, 2023
(NaturalHealth365) Arsenic, a potent carcinogen, is a familiar substance to many, but its true nature remains elusive to most. This chemical element is primarily encountered in various minerals, often in conjunction with metals and sulfur. While it holds significance in industrial applications, its pervasiveness has led to contamination of the air, soil, water, and food we rely upon.
Being exposed to arsenic carries the risk of triggering a range of health issues, even potentially resulting in death. In fact, a recent study highlights that such exposure is closely linked to the development of cancer.
Study reveals how arsenic causes cancer
You might unknowingly consume arsenic during your daily meals, whether it’s breakfast or lunch, and its effects may only become apparent as health issues arise in the future. Arsenic exposure occurs through tainted foods, contaminated drinking water, and even polluted air inhalation.
The previously mentioned study offers compelling proof that arsenic exposure triggers the development of cancer, particularly in the liver, lungs, bladder, and skin. This research builds upon prior investigations using cellular and animal models, which established a connection between arsenic and cancer progression.
Scholars readily acknowledge that the exact mechanisms behind arsenic-induced carcinogenesis remain somewhat elusive. The process through which arsenic exposure leads to cancer is intricate, targeting specific cellular pathways. Additionally, the metabolic behavior of this chemical element adds complexity to understanding the ensuing carcinogenic effects.
Arsenic provokes oxidative stress reactions that harm human DNA and various other important molecules. It interferes with DNA repair and disrupts the epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Moreover, arsenic substitutes zinc in certain proteins, affecting their functionality. Each of these processes contributes to the aforementioned development of cancer spurred by arsenic exposure.
The research suggests that arsenic disturbs cellular signaling pathways and weakens the immune system’s effectiveness. The cumulative impact of these types of harm and impairment creates conditions that facilitate the formation of cancer. Furthermore, scientists have established a link between prolonged arsenic exposure and the emergence of cancer stem cells. These cells reside within tumors and are thought to drive the growth and spread of cancer.
Assess your arsenic exposure risk
Those residing in regions characterized by elevated arsenic levels in water and soil face a notably heightened risk of exposure and subsequent cancer development. For instance, states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona are renowned for their elevated arsenic concentrations. Furthermore, if you live in an area with substantial agricultural or mining operations, the likelihood of arsenic infiltrating your water and food sources increases.
Arsenic is also prevalent in various food and beverage products, including rice and rice-based items. Additionally, a number of bottled water brands accessible to consumers in the United States have been found to contain unhealthy levels of arsenic. It’s important for parents to be aware that certain baby food formulas have been identified as containing unsafe concentrations of arsenic.
How to reduce exposure to arsenic
Take control of your exposure to arsenic by adopting certain measures. Decrease your intake of store-bought fruit juices, with particular attention to apple juice, due to concerns about arsenic levels. If you rely on well water, ensure it undergoes testing to stay below the 10 parts per billion threshold for arsenic. And, especially if you’re drinking well water, use a reverse osmosis water system to clean up the drinking (and cooking) water.
If you have an infant, avoid feeding them rice milk, as arsenic can accumulate in rice syrup. Additionally, it’s advisable to rinse organic rice thoroughly before cooking to minimize the arsenic content on each grain.
Enhance your diet by incorporating a wide range of organic fruits and vegetables from diverse sources, thus reducing the likelihood of consuming produce grown in arsenic-contaminated environments. It’s important to note that arsenic can also be present in some cigarettes, cosmetics, and certain unregulated supplements.
Just remember, you can greatly reduce your risk of exposure to many toxins, like arsenic. This just takes a little effort … but, you’re worth it.
Sources for this article include:
Posted in Cancer, Heavy Metals, Minerals, Toxins | One Comment »
How Do Vaccines Cause Autism?
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/08/05/how-do-vaccines-cause-autism.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate.
Analysis by A Midwestern Doctor
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Conventional wisdom proclaims that there is no evidence vaccines cause autism. In reality there is a great deal of evidence showing they do, but the same playbook used to cover up the wave COVID-19 adverse reactions was also used to cover up the brain damage many our children have received from vaccination
- Evidence supports a variety of theories for why vaccination could cause autism. The leading theory is that autism results from vaccines triggering a sustained autoimmune response in the brain
- A strong case can also be made that vaccinations cause microstrokes in the brain and shock the brain’s cells, causing them to enter a dormant defensive mode where they no longer function properly
- Each of these three mechanisms also appear to be the underlying cause of COVID-19 vaccine injuries; the only difference being that the spike protein vaccines are much more likely than the traditional childhood immunization to cause these three things to occur. In turn, treatments directed at those mechanisms have produced remarkable improvements for both autistic children and individuals with COVID-19 vaccine injuries
One of the most challenging things for me throughout my time in the medical field has been watching children become neurologically damaged by vaccines, and the widespread blindness of the medical profession to this issue.
Unfortunately, because so much money has been spent to engineer the societal belief that vaccines do not cause autism, anyone that asserts otherwise is immediately subject to widespread ridicule, to the point it’s mostly a lost cause to convince medical professionals vaccines aren’t always safe. In many cases, the only thing that can open their eyes is their own child being severely injured.
The business of using propaganda (public relations or PR) has gradually evolved into a more and more streamlined formula that reuses the PR techniques found to be the most effective for manipulating the public. Because of this, once the COVID-19 vaccine push started, those who already had firsthand experience with the PR techniques used to prop up the previous vaccinations immediately recognized that something bad was in the works.
More importantly, since the exact same vaccine PR scripts were reused to gaslight those with COVID-19 vaccine injuries, it led many to begin questioning the earlier scripts, like those used to debunk any link between vaccines and autism.
Recently Steve Kirsch started looking at that question, and in an attempt to bring attention to the issue, raised three very important points:
1. Contrary to popular belief, there is actually a great deal of compelling evidence linking vaccines to autism. For example, regressive autism always develops shortly after vaccination — but never before, something that cannot happen unless one causes the other. Likewise, there is a significant amount of evidence correlating vaccine uptake with autism rates.
2. There is presently no accepted explanation for what is causing the explosion of autism we are facing.
3. The explosion of autism is one of the costliest diseases facing our country, so decades of hand waiving that has insisted there’s no scientifically valid explanation for this explosion doesn’t cut it.
You might notice how these three points mirror what we are now seeing with the massive wave of (often unmistakable) side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines.
Note: For those interested in learning more about vaccines and autism, I would strongly recommend reading Kirsch’s article. He does a good job of concisely presenting some of the most compelling evidence (e.g., specific cases where vaccination was irrefutably linked to autism and the hundreds of papers on the subject).
One of the major stumbling blocks in proving that vaccines could autism has been to explain their mechanism for doing so. In this article I will start by describing the most commonly cited mechanisms followed by the two‚ I believe play key roles in both vaccines causing autism and the current wave spike protein injuries. Since all of these mechanisms are interrelated, treating one often improves the others.
Vaccine Autism Research
This section was sourced from a compilation of 224 studies that can be viewed here, the book Miller’s Critical Review of Vaccines Studies and Chapter 5 of How to End the Autism Epidemic. Of these, I believe the final book provides the most concise (but detailed)‚ summary of those mechanisms. Much of the research on the link between vaccines and autism has focused on the following areas:
1. Immune activating events being repeatedly correlated with an increased likelihood of developing neurological developmental disorders like autism.
2. Increased blood levels of inflammatory cytokines (e.g., “Plasma levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 were increased in children with ASD and correlated with regressive autism, as well as impaired communication and aberrant behavior“). Autistic individuals also appear to have a predisposition to developing inflammatory immune responses.
3. Vaccinations creating inflammation in the brain and inflammation in the brain being linked to autism. This neurological inflammation is often chronically active in the brains of autistic individuals and appears to be most specifically linked to aluminum and the measles virus component of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
For example, the vaccine measles virus was observed to correlate to the production of autoantibodies to brain tissue, increases levels of measles antibodies were found to be significantly higher in autistic children (but not antibodies to mumps or rubella), and live measles viruses were found in immune cells of autistic children with inflammatory bowel disorders.
The strongest case for the link between the measles vaccine virus and autism came from the discovery that vaccines with the measles component have triggered severe brain injury and death but those with only the mumps or rubella components have not.
4. Enlarged brains are also often associated with autism (likely due to that inflammation). This swelling may play a key role in the pathology of autism and explain why certain individuals are more susceptible to it.
5. The brain inflammation induced by vaccines occurs at a critical period of brain development.

This argues for providing the vaccines later in a more spaced out fashion; something many have observed dramatically lowers the rate of adverse neurological reactions to vaccines. Unfortunately, safer vaccination practices are never even discussed as doing so would be a tacit admission vaccines are not 100% safe.
This is likewise why I believe defenders of the orthodoxy (e.g., Peter Hotez) devote so much energy toward attacking the parents desperately trying to treat vaccine injuries in their autistic children.
6. Pathologic alterations in the gut microbiome (which increases the likelihood of autoimmunity), a dysregulated immune response (which includes ones in the gastrointestinal tract and ones towards a variety of common allergens such as those within foods), along with a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms being observed in autistic individuals.
7. The neurotoxicity of mercury, the tendency of autistic individuals to have elevated mercury exposures, and autistic individuals having difficulty detoxifying mercury. All of the previous has also be found for lead, another toxic heavy metal.
8. Aluminum, an inflammatory and neurotoxic vaccine adjuvant, when injected into mice was found to rapidly trigger symptoms similar to those observed in neurological developmental disorders. Aluminum was also found to trigger a fourfold increase in brain levels of IL-6, the inflammatory cytokine most closely linked to autism.
9. Aluminum being found in elevated levels in the brains of autistic individuals. For example:
“The aluminium [it is spelled this way in England] content of brain tissue in autism was consistently high. The mean (standard deviation) aluminium content across all 5 individuals for each lobe were 3.82(5.42), 2.30(2.00), 2.79(4.05) and 3.82(5.17) μg/g dry wt. for the occipital, frontal, temporal and parietal lobes respectively.
These are some of the highest values for aluminium in human brain tissue yet recorded and one has to question why, for example, the aluminium content of the occipital lobe of a 15 year old boy would be 8.74 (11.59) μg/g dry wt.?”
10. Impairment of the blood-brain barrier being observed in autism (increased permeability of the gut barrier has also been observed).
11. A dose-response relationship existing between specific vaccinations and the likelihood of autism. For example:
“The average MMR coverage for the three countries fell below 90% after Dr. Wakefield’s infamous 1998 publication but started to recover slowly after 2001 until reaching over 90% coverage again by 2004.
During the same time period, the average autism spectrum disorder prevalence in the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden dropped substantially after birth year 1998 and gradually increased again after birth year 2000.”
12. Likewise, a dose-response relationship exists that has found autism is more likely to occur in premature infants (who effectively receive a higher dose since they are smaller) and those who receive multiple vaccinations simultaneously. For example:
“No association was found between preterm birth and NDD [neurological developmental disorders] in the absence of vaccination, but vaccination was significantly associated with NDD in children born at term (OR 2.7, 95% CI: 1.2, 6.0).
However, vaccination coupled with preterm birth was associated with increasing odds of NDD, ranging from 5.4 (95% CI: 2.5, 11.9) compared to vaccinated but non-preterm children, to 14.5 (95% CI: 5.4, 38.7) compared to children who were neither preterm nor vaccinated.”
Note: This is also the same pattern that has been observed with vaccines causing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
13. A variety of genetic and metabolic abnormalities have been extensively studied in autism. Many of these (e.g., those relating to glutathione) correlate with impaired detoxification and mitochondrial dysfunction, conditions both frequently observed in autistic individuals.
One important thing to understand about these points is the difficulty of identifying a single precise cause autism without a broader picture of what causes it. For example, many were convinced that mercury in vaccines was the primary cause of autism, and there was quite a bit of research that substantiated this link. Yet, despite vaccine mercury being mostly pulled from market, autism has increased rather than decreased since thiomersal (mercury) was pulled.
How Do Vaccines Cause Autism?
In my eyes, there are three core reasons why vaccines cause autism:
- They create chronic neurological inflammation.
- They cause a zeta potential collapse.
- They create a sustained cell danger response in the body.
Additionally, each of these can cause the other two, making their separation be somewhat arbitrary. There are a few important correlates of these three processes.
The first is that things besides vaccines can also trigger each of these occur (e.g., a congenital rubella infection). The difference with vaccinations is that they are highly likely to cause each of them and more importantly, are something (almost) every child is exposed to. As a result, the most common trigger for autism is vaccination, but other things can also serve as the trigger for each of these processes. This helps to explain much of the confusion on exactly what causes autism.
Secondly, these are the same critical processes that underlie many other diseases such as Alzheimer’s and the myriad of COVID-19 vaccine injuries. One of the most compelling data points I have come across supporting this relationship comes from Ed Dowd’s recent discovery of England’s disability claims data, within which the rate of adult autism requiring disability support spiked in parallel with the vaccine roll-out:

Note: This dataset is for claims in individuals aged 16 and older.
Third, most of the treatments I have seen that effectively treat autism ultimately addressed one or more of these three processes. For example, one large survey of parents with autistic children found virtually all the medications they were prescribed did not help, but four things did:
- Addressing food allergies (e.g., by removing gluten from the diet)
- Addressing an underlying candida infection
- Addressing genetically impaired methylation
- Removing heavy metals from the body
There are a few other treatments I have also seen significantly improve regressive autism, and I believe each of those treatments likewise improves one of more of the three critical processes. Many of those treatments have also been quite helpful in treating COVID-19 vaccine injuries, so I believe they are even more important to understand now.

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Inflammation
The most common side effect of vaccinations are autoimmune disorders. This makes sense since vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to respond to something, and autoimmune disorders result from excessive activation of the immune system. Although there are many different mechanisms at work here, at this point, I believe the primary ones are as follows:
1. If the immune system develops an immune response to a target protein (an antigen) it will often also develop an immune response to other antigens with similarities to the target antigen, a process known as molecular mimicry which is well recognized to occur with certain infectious organisms (e.g., the bacteria which causes rheumatic fever).
Certain vaccine antigens have a higher overlap with human tissue and hence have a higher rate of autoimmune complications.
Note: One of the major concerns with the COVID-19 vaccines was that its spike protein antigen had an extremely high degree of overlap with human tissue. Although this concern was repeatedly raised (e.g., consider this early 2021 paper) it was ignored — much to the detriment of the many COVID-19 vaccine recipients who developed autoimmune complications from the vaccine (which ranged from 5-25% of recipients depending on the dataset).
2. Vaccines are typically composed of a target antigen under the theory that exposing the body to the antigen will eventually cause it to develop an immune response to an infection which also has that antigen. Antigens tend to be expensive to produce, so it is often not economically viable to produce enough of the antigen for each vaccine to elicit the needed antibody response.
There are two common solutions to this approach. The first is to create a self-replicating antigen (e.g., with an infectious virus that contains the antigen or an mRNA gene therapy) so enough of the antigen is produced to solicit an immune response.
The second approach is to use an adjuvant — a cheap compound like aluminum that provoked the immune system to attack anything there and thereby significantly decreases the amount of antigen needed and thus the cost of the vaccine.
The problem with adjuvants is that they will also often provoke the immune system to develop undesirable responses as well (e.g., allergies to pollens circulating at the time of vaccination or autoimmunity to human tissue resembling parts of the vaccine antigen).
3. In medicine, it is often expensive and time consuming to prove a medication will yield a long term benefit. For this reason “surrogate markers,” changes which appear quickly and are assumed to correlate with improved health benefits are evaluated instead. Unfortunately, in many cases, changes in surrogate markets do not actually correlate with a tangible benefit.
In the case of vaccines, the surrogate marker is antibody formation. This creates a situation where vaccine manufacturers do whatever is needed to create an antibody response — something which can often be highly problematic. For example, with the HPV vaccine, a major design problem was it not eliciting a sufficient antibody response.
This problem was “solved” by using a stronger aluminum adjuvant, which achieved the desired surrogate marker but also had the side effect of creating an extremely high rate of autoimmune complications in the HPV vaccine recipients (making it arguably the most dangerous vaccine on the market prior to the COVID-19 vaccines).
Note: The best summary of the evidence linked vaccines to autoimmune disorders can be found within this textbook on the subject.
Since “inflammation” is a relatively well understood topic, I will focus on the other two processes for the remainder of this article.
The Cell Danger Response
Recently, I wrote a series that:
- First described the cell danger response (CDR).
- Then explained the existing approaches for treating a persistent CDR localized to a specific tissue (something which is often necessary to heal otherwise chronic injuries).
- Then concluded with methods for treating a systemic sustained CDR (e.g., spike protein vaccine injuries).
Since a persistent CDR is often the underlying cause of a variety of chronic illnesses and functional impairments that significantly affect individual’s quality of life, the CDR both provides a helpful context to understand why so many different things can cause the same illness and why the same trigger can cause so many different illnesses, many of which persist years after the initial trigger has disappeared. This section is an abridged summary of those three articles on the CDR.
When cells are threatened by something in their environment, they will often switch to a defensive mode where the cells attempt to protect themselves rather than performing their normal functions. This process is orchestrated by the mitochondria, who switch from providing the energy to power the cell into an inflammatory form that produces the metabolites necessary to defend the cell from.
When the CDR is triggered, it should go through an inflammatory phase (CDR1), which is followed by a proliferative and regenerative phase (CDR2), and then an integrative phase where the cell gradually resumes its normal function (CDR3) and then exits the CDR. This cycle is essential for the survival of the human body, and many therapies work by inducing it to repair tissue.
However, in many cases, when the CDR is triggered, instead of it completing, cells get trapped in either CDR1, CDR2 or CDR3, leading to chronic illnesses characteristic of the specific frozen and unresolved CDR phase. The CDR model is extremely useful in clinical practice for a few reasons:
• First, it helps to explain many of the mysteries in treating complex chronic illnesses. A classic example would be that integrative physicians typically assume the mitochondrial dysfunction they see associated with a chronic illness is the cause of the illness and hence attempt to treat it by providing mitochondrial supports, an approach which often either does not work or worsens the patient’s condition.
Note: Each of the common genes known to strongly increase the risk of autism can be shown to play a role in CDR signaling or maintenance. This helps to explain why so many different genes have been found to be connected to autism and why they did not typically cause autism until the trigger of mass vaccination was also present. Likewise, the wide range of metabolic abnormalities seen in autism overlap with the metabolic changes created by the CDR.
• Second, a sustained CDR is often the primary cause of autoimmune disorders. This is an extremely important but relatively unknown fact. Conversely, factors known to trigger autoimmunity (e.g., an immune stimulating event) often are also “dangers” to cells that trigger the CDR.
• Third, many degenerative conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s or a non-healing tendon) result from cells being trapped in a dormant state where they shut down and thereby neither heal nor resume their normal function. As a result, regenerative medicine’s trick for treating many different chronic conditions characterized by a dramatically reduced functionality of the body is to “wake cells up out of the CDR.”
• Finally, the CDR helps guide how to treat chronic illnesses and how to recognize which things are important to address and which should be left alone because they are simply the result of the body’s compensation to an underlying issue.
Note: I primarily reference the work of Dr. Robert Naviaux. Others have also researched the process Naviaux termed the CDR and given it different names.
Autism for instance is characterized by cells trapped in the CDR, and many of the most successful approaches I’ve seen used for treating autism all treat the CDR.
Naviaux in turn conducted multiple studies demonstrating that one pharmaceutical drug blocked the CDR, and when used in autistic animals and then human beings, significantly improved the condition while the drug remained active — a result that to my knowledge has never been found in clinical trials of any other therapy for autism. Sadly, despite years of research on this subject, the drug is impossible to obtain in America.
Note: Excluding Naviaux’s approach, every method I have seen which I believe effectively improved autism was never feasible to test in a formal clinical trial.
My renewed interest in the CDR arose after I saw rapid improvements in long COVID and vaccine injured patients (e.g., someone who had been on oxygen for months no longer needing oxygen within minutes) from one of the treatments we previously had had success treating severe COVID-19 cases with. I spent a while trying to figure out why that improvement could be occurring, and eventually concluded it had to be because an unresolved CDR was being rapidly resolved.
Since the CDR is known to be triggered by toxic dangers to cells (e.g., the spike protein), especially after repeated cellular exposures to a danger (e.g., from synthetic mRNA that persists in the body and continually produces new dangerous spike proteins), this seemed plausible. After I contacted a few leading experts in this area, they all told me their vaccine injured patients were characterized by a sustained CDR that could not resolve on its own.
I then asked around more and found out that the same approach we were using to treat the CDR in spike protein illnesses was also treating a variety of complex (and otherwise impossible to treat) autoimmune disorders. It also took a bit longer, but I was eventually able to also find clinicians who were using it to treat autistic children and each reported remarkable improvements from it (much of which they had video footage to corroborate).
For all of these reasons, I believe a sustained CDR trigged by the danger vaccines present to the body is a core component of autism (immune activating events trigger the CDR). However, while addressing the CDR can often significantly improve conditions it causes, the benefit is often temporary unless the underlying cause is addressed so the cells no longer have a need to reenter the CDR.
Zeta Potential
Most fluids in nature are colloids (particles suspended in water). With a colloid, two factors are always at play: forces that clump the colloid’s particles together and forces that separate (disperse) them. In most cases, the primary determinant of a colloid’s dispersion — quantified through zeta potential — is if the negative charge surrounding each particle is sufficient to prevent those particles from clumping together.
Since the fluids within the body are colloidal systems, once the zeta potential is no longer sufficient to prevent clumping (agglomeration), the fluids to varying extents solidify and create a variety of problems for the body. This is the easiest to understand with blood, as when the zeta potential declines, blood cells will separate from the plasma, clump together and stop flowing with the circulation.
At this point, I believe the physiologic zeta potential is one of the primary determinants of health. This is because many different diseases (particularly those which cause one to get hospitalized) result from impaired zeta potential, and that many of the consequences of aging come from a gradual impairment of the kidney’s ability to maintain the physiologic zeta potential.
In my own practice I’ve found treating zeta potential is often one of the most useful things I can do for patients who show up, so the applications of this concept are very broad.
When I started studying COVID-19, I realized that the disease had all the clinical signs of being extremely disruptive to the physiologic zeta potential of the body (which I believe was why COVID-19 was often so dangerous).
After more research, I concluded that this was likely due to there being a strong positive charge on the spike protein, and since then have found papers corroborating this theory and that restoring zeta potential is often critical for treating both COVID and COVID vaccine injuries.
The individual who first linked vaccine injuries to poor zeta potential was Andrew Moulden. Moulden was a Canadian Neurologist (and psychiatrist) who also had an extensive research background (e.g., a Masters and PhD) in the neurocognitive development of children and adolescents, behavioral disorders, neurobehavioral assessment of brain, and detecting acquired brain injuries.
Moulden observed that children who were vaccinated would frequently present with neurological signs of a having had a stroke following vaccination; unfortunately while those signs would often be recognized in adults, they were typically ignored in children. Likewise, I have seen many of the same injuries he described in children (especially abducens nerve palsy’s) develop in friends of mine who received the COVID-19 vaccine.
To try and explain these observations, Moulden drew on decades of previous research into blood clumping and the various diseases it caused (discussed here). He concluded that vaccines diminished the zeta potential of the recipient, causing their blood to clump together and obstruct the circulation of regions of the brain with the weakest blood supplies, thereby triggering microstrokes that were too small to detect with conventional imaging techniques.
Additionally, he found evidence suggesting the microstroke issue was worsened by immune activations because white blood cells (which are larger than red blood cells) would migrate into the small blood vessels and obstruct their flow, something he termed MASS.
Moulden then mapped out the most common microstrokes that would occur (due to the nature of their blood supply). In this, noticed that many children who developed severe neurological disorders like autism simultaneously showed clinical signs of having had microstrokes, leading him to conclude those microstrokes were causing a variety of brain injuries, including autism and SIDS.
One of the most important things about Moulden’s model was that like the CDR, it was a universal mechanism of harm and things besides vaccines (e.g., a congenital rubella infection) could also cause those dangerous microstrokes to happen. Additionally, certain vaccines (Gardasil, Anthrax and I would argue the original Smallpox vaccine) had a much greater propensity to cause the same microstrokes that the COVID-19 vaccines have now made us all aware of.
Conversely, those who already had an impaired zeta potential were the ones most likely to have severe reactions to vaccines because they could not tolerate additional impairment of their physiologic zeta potential.
This for example characterized the patients I have seen who were admitted to the hospital for a complication caused by a traditional vaccine and why the elderly (who have a baseline impairment of their zeta potential) are so much more vulnerable to conditions like the flu which consistently worsen the physiologic zeta potential, hence bringing vulnerable individuals past the agglomeration threshold that they can tolerate.
Note: After discovering this mechanism of injury, Moulden switched his focus to trying to treat it, but shortly before he had planned to release his treatment died unexpectedly and many have since tried to figure out what he had discovered.
Based on studying his work and talking to friends who knew him shortly before his death, I believe Moulden’s approach was based around restoring the zeta potential of vaccine injured children, something which is much easier to do with the tools available now than those that were known when Moulden was still alive.
My colleagues who actively work with the CDR in practice believes it goes hand in hand with zeta potential and that the CDR often cannot be treated unless the fluid stagnation inside a patient is addressed (e.g., Lyme and mycotoxins both frequently cause stagnation because their positive charges impair zeta potential).
Furthermore, in many cases, the loss of blood flow to, or drainage from tissue can be sufficient to trigger the CDR. In general, my colleagues believe one of the biggest treatment oversights made by integrative doctors who work with complex illnesses is the doctor’s failure to address the lymphatic stagnation that results from a zeta potential collapse in their patients.
Note: While treating the CDR will improve many symptoms of a disease, especially if the trigger of the CDR (e.g., a chronic infection) is still present and treated as well, treating it will not address existing damage, such as that previously caused by microstrokes. This is why the animal studies Naviaux conducted found his drug improved many symptoms of autism but did not improve those resulting from damaged and lost brain tissue.
Likewise, my colleagues have found many of the core symptoms of autism can be improved with approaches directed at the CDR or Zeta Potential which reactive dormant brain cells, but it is much more challenging to treat specific neurological deficits resulting from previous microstrokes.
I also believe impaired zeta potential goes hand in hand with autoimmunity. This is because:
| The existing diagnostic system that best encapsulates impaired zeta potential is “blood stasis” from Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM links blood stasis to a variety of autoimmune conditions. |
| Lymphatic stagnation will cause autoimmunity. I believe a key reason why blood stasis is linked to autoimmunity is because lymphatic stasis will exist in parallel to blood stasis as both result from the same impaired physiologic zeta potential. |
| Inflammatory states (as shown by the ESR test) reduce the zeta potential of the blood. |
| Inflammatory activation triggers MASS which creates microstrokes, especially in the setting of poor zeta potential. |
| Aluminum, the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant, is also the element with the greatest adverse effect on zeta potential (aluminum’s coagulating ability is orders of magnitude greater than any other element). |
| I suspect aluminum’s ability to disrupt zeta potential is why it functions as such an effective adjuvant. This is because many infectious organisms also create a localized disruption of zeta potential and hence any disruption of zeta potential serves as a universal signal to activate the immune system. |
Note: One of the reasons why aluminum is so problematic is because macrophages will treat it as an invading microbe and eat it. However, since they cannot digest it, the macrophages will keep the aluminum inside them and eventually deposit it in specific parts of the body (e.g., where the macrophage eventually dies).
For reasons that are not fully understood, the macrophages predominantly concentrate aluminum in critical tissues in the body (e.g., the brain and spleen) and are more likely to do this when smaller doses of aluminum are used, thereby allowing a small dose of aluminum to become a toxic dose. A major problem with both aluminum and the mRNA gene therapies is that they don’t obey the classic assumptions in toxicology (e.g., that toxicity increases directly in proportion to the initial dose).
Presently, I believe the reason why both zeta potential and the CDR are such frequent causes of chronic illness is because each evolved in an era when we had far less stressors on our system. In the case of the CDR, while protective, if it is repeatedly triggered, it becomes more likely for cells to become stuck in the CDR.
While an increasing sensitivity to environmental dangers was helpful in the past, since we are now exposed to too many triggers for the CDR, many are now to varying degrees trapped in the CDR.
In the case of zeta potential, the body ideally wants to have a zeta potential slightly above the threshold that will cause blood clumping and then clotting to occur, as this saves you from otherwise fatal bleeds. However because we are exposed to so many zeta potential disrupting toxins (e.g., the aluminum throughout our environment), the negative charge our bodies evolved to contain is often no longer are sufficient to keep us above the critical agglomeration threshold.
Furthermore, I believe the three mechanisms outlined here, inflammation, an unresolved CDR, and impaired zeta potential are also the primary causes of aging. To this point, one of the most common side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine injury are those individuals reporting that it seemed as though their bodies had aged significantly, something also observed by pathologists who had performed autopsies on individuals killed by the COVID-19 vaccines.
Conclusion
Many have argued an epidemic of neurological and autoimmune disorders characterize the modern age. For example:
“Under Dr. Fauci’s leadership, the allergic, autoimmune, and chronic illnesses which Congress specifically charged NIAID to investigate and prevent, have mushroomed to afflict 54 percent of children, up from 12.8 percent when he took over NIAID in 1984.”
One of the primary culprits for this change was Fauci brokering a 1986 deal that incentivizing a flood of unsafe childhood vaccines to enter the market:

Note: The vaccine schedule has since been updated to include unjustifiable childhood COVID-19 vaccinations. It is not yet clear how many doses of those will be required (presently its 2-3 but COVID-19 could easily become another annual vaccination).
Typically when a pharmaceutical harms someone, it is relatively subtle and hence hard to recognize. The best way I can think to describe the process is with this graph:

Normally, we would depend on large research studies to determine if a pharmaceutical was in fact causing “moderate reactions.” Unfortunately, because of the systemic corruption in medical science, data showing a lucrative pharmaceutical is harming large numbers of people almost never gets published.
Instead, we often can only recognize the presence of severe and unmistakable reactions (such as the epidemic of sudden deaths in healthy athletes) to clue us into the harm of a pharmaceutical. Those severe reactions are critically important to recognize because as the above curve shows, they are the tip of the iceberg and indicate a much larger number of less severe reactions are also occurring.
For example, while the COVID-19 vaccines are well known for causing fatal blood clots in the brain, what is less appreciated is the widespread effects they have had on general cognitive function (something generally recognized to decline with age as a result of poor blood flow to the brain).
Many people (including numerous physician colleagues) I know have reported cognitive impairment following COVID vaccination and I have likewise observed this in many colleagues who still support the vaccine. Likewise, now and then I hear of significant cognitive decline in an elderly individual after they received a traditional vaccination.
Recently, I learned that the Netherland’s healthcare system had discovered that since the COVID vaccines rolled out, there was a 24% increase in doctor visits for memory and concentration problems in adults (the increase varied from 18% – 40% depending on age). This is an absolutely massive increase (discussed further here), and helps to illustrate a real life example of the pharmaceutical injury bell curve.
The individuals who are more sensitive to toxins (and likely to have a severe reaction) are often referred to as “canaries in the coal mines.” It is my belief that if as a society we considered the severe reactions those canaries had experienced from pharmaceuticals rather than ignoring or gaslighting them, the health of the nation would be dramatically improved since we would not have to deal with the much larger number of moderate injuries hidden within the bell curve.
Autism is one critical example, as the severe regressive cases caused by vaccination represent the visible extremes of the injury while far more moderate neurological injuries from vaccines also occur throughout the population (including less severe forms of autism — hence why it now is termed “autism spectrum disorder”).
For example, many of the same mechanisms that cause autism, when instead allowed to work over a slower period are the most likely causes of Alzheimer’s disease (e.g., elevated aluminum concentrations are also found in those brains). Likewise, one of the common tragic COVID-19 vaccine injuries is rapid cognitive decline in elderly individuals following their vaccination, which is then typically written off as Alzheimer’s and never further investigated.
Like autism, many effective treatments exist for Alzheimer’s disease (e.g., treating the CDR or restoring fluid circulation to the brain), but since none of them revolve around utilizing lucrative drugs, they have all been swept under the rug.
It is my sincere hope that the need to address the severe consequences of the COVID-19 vaccines throughout the population will make the world be open to looking at the much broader consequences of the vaccination program and what can be done to heal the ever-increasing damage it has inflicted upon society.
A Note From Dr. Mercola About the Author
A Midwestern Doctor (AMD) is a board-certified physician in the Midwest and a longtime reader of Mercola.com. I appreciate his exceptional insight on a wide range of topics and I’m grateful to share them. I also respect his desire to remain anonymous as he is still on the front lines treating patients. To find more of AMD’s work, be sure to check out The Forgotten Side of Medicine on Substack.
Posted in Alzheimer's, Autism, Brain, Coronavirus, Corruption, Heavy Metals, Inflammation, Toxins, Vaccinations | One Comment »
Beets May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/08/01/beets-may-help-prevent-alzheimers.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked August 01, 2023
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Research suggests beets may be a powerful ally in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, decreasing damaging oxidation of neurons by as much as 90%
- Beets also fight inflammation, lower blood pressure, help you detoxify, lower your risk for heart failure and stroke, and improve brain neuroplasticity
- Turmeric supplementation has also been shown to improve memory and focus in seniors already suffering mild memory lapses, and to reduce amyloid and tau deposits associated with Alzheimer’s
- One of the most influential dietary factors is the amount of net carbs you consume on a regular basis. A high-sugar diet triggers insulin resistance, which is strongly linked to Alzheimer’s
- Research shows high-carb diets increase your risk of dementia by 89% while high-fat diets lower it by 44%
Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published April 12, 2018.
Beets have been shown to fight inflammation, lower blood pressure1,2 and aid detoxification. Studies also suggest they can help lower your risk for heart failure and stroke, and provide powerful benefits for your brain, largely due to their high nitrate content. Your body transforms nitrates into nitric oxide,3 which enhances oxygenation and has beneficial impacts on your circulatory and immune systems.
Nitric oxide4 is a soluble gas continually produced from the amino acid L-arginine inside your cells, where it supports endothelial function and protects your mitochondria. Nitric oxide also serves as a signaling or messenger molecule in every cell of your body. Many competitive athletes actually use beet juice for its nitric oxide-boosting benefits. Research shows raw beets may increase stamina during exercise by as much as 16%,5 courtesy of its nitric oxide boost.
Beets May Protect Against Development of Alzheimer’s Disease
Now, research shows beets may also be a powerful ally in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease,6,7 the most severe and lethal form of dementia. As reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:8
“First they examined the possible cause of the condition. Although it’s unknown, doctors have previously pinpointed beta-amyloid, a sticky protein that can disrupt communication between the brain cells and neurons. When it clings to metals, such as copper or iron, the beta-amyloid peptides misfold and clump together, causing inflammation and oxidation.
Therefore, the scientists targeted foods known to improve oxygen flow and cognitive functions, including beets. The purple veggie has a compound called betanin that binds to metals, which could prevent the misfold of the peptides.
To test their hypothesis, the scientists measured oxidation levels of the beta-amyloid when it was mixed with a betanin mixture, and they found that oxidation decreased by up to 90% exposed to the beet compound.”
Preventing Oxidation Stunts Beta-Amyloid Clustering
When clusters of beta-amyloid form, it triggers brain inflammation and oxidation of neurons, and researchers believe this oxidation is what causes irreparable damage to the brain cells. Oxidation is particularly severe when the beta-amyloid is bound to copper. In this experiment, oxidation was largely prevented when betanin from beets were added to the mix.
As noted by coauthor Darrell Cole Cerrato,9 “We can’t say that betanin stops the misfolding [of amyloid beta] completely, but we can say that it reduces oxidation. Less oxidation could prevent misfolding to a certain degree, perhaps even to the point that it slows the aggregation of beta-amyloid peptides …”
While the researchers hope their finding will lead to the development of better Alzheimer’s drugs, there’s really no reason to wait for such developments, seeing how Alzheimer’s is primarily a disease predicated on diet and lifestyle. Indeed, in his presentation of the findings (see featured video), Cerrato notes that this is yet another piece of information people can use to improve their eating habits and lower their risk of disease:
“In an age where people are trying to look more at what they’re consuming and what they’re eating … this is another source of data people can use … [W]e’re trying to get you to do the same thing your mother was trying to get you to do when you were a kid, which is eat your vegetables … I think this will be a good step forward in looking at how we can preventatively treat Alzheimer’s.”

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Beets Improve Neuroplasticity
Previous research10 has shown raw beet juice helps improve neuroplasticity, primarily by increasing blood flow and tissue oxygenation. Nitric oxide, in its capacity as a signaling molecule, also allows your brain cells to communicate with each other better. Importantly, the beets boosted oxygenation of the somatomotor cortex, a brain area that is often affected in the early stages of dementia.
Here, the beet juice was used in combination with exercise, which also improves blood flow and oxygenation on its own. The participants — middle-aged individuals diagnosed with high blood pressure — were given either beet juice or a placebo to drink three times a week, an hour before exercise, for six weeks.11,12,13 Exercise consisted of a 50-minute walk on a treadmill.
The results showed adding beet juice to your exercise regimen can be a simple yet powerful way to augment the benefits of exercise to your brain. Fermented beet juice powder might even be better as it still has the beneficial nutrients, and the carbs have been predigested by fermentation process. As noted by study co-author W. Jack Rejeski, a health and exercise science professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina:14,15
“Nitric oxide … goes to the areas of the body which are hypoxic, or needing oxygen, and the brain is a heavy feeder of oxygen in your body … [W]hat we showed in this brief training study … was that, as compared to exercise alone, adding a beet root juice supplement to exercise resulted in brain connectivity that closely resembles what you see in younger adults.”
Two caveats are worthy of mention. First, avoid using harsh mouthwashes, as this will reduce the conversion of nitric oxide by killing off necessary microbes. Also avoid fluoridated water, as fluoride converts nitric oxide into harmful nitric acid.16 Fluoride also has other brain-harming influences, and has been shown to impair neurological functioning all on its own. It is, after all, classified as a neurotoxin.
Turmeric — Another Food Shown to Lower Alzheimer’s Risk
Another food that can bolster your neurological health is curcumin, an active ingredient found in the spice turmeric. Research shows turmeric supplementation helped improve memory and focus in seniors already suffering mild memory lapses, and reduced amyloid and tau deposits associated with Alzheimer’s.17
The double-blind, placebo-controlled study, published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,18 included 40 adults between the ages of 50 and 90. None had a diagnosis of dementia at the time of their enrollment. Participants randomly received either 90 milligrams of curcumin twice a day for 18 months, or a placebo.
A standardized cognitive assessment was administered at the start of the study and at six-month intervals thereafter, and the level of curcumin in their blood was measured at the beginning and end of the study. Thirty of the participants also underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans to assess their level of amyloid and tau deposits before and after treatment.
Those who received curcumin saw significant improvements in memory and concentration, while the control group experienced no improvement. Overall, the curcumin group improved their memory by 28% over the year-and-a-half-long treatment period. PET scans also confirmed the treatment group had significantly less amyloid and tau buildup in areas of the brain that control memory, compared to controls.
Curcumin has also been shown to increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF),19 and reduced levels of BDNF have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Yet another way curcumin may benefit your brain and lower your risk of dementia is by affecting pathways that help reverse insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia and other symptoms associated with metabolic syndrome and obesity.20
High-Sugar Diet Significantly Raises Your Risk of Dementia
Perhaps the most important dietary factor that impacts your Alzheimer’s risk is the amount of net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) you consume on a regular basis. A high-sugar diet triggers insulin resistance — thought to affect as many as 8 in 10 Americans21 — and there’s a very strong link between insulin resistance and Alzheimer’s.22
For example, a longitudinal study23 published in the journal Diabetologia in January 2018, which followed nearly 5,190 individuals for over a decade, found that the higher an individual’s blood sugar, the faster their rate of cognitive decline. Even mild elevation of blood sugar and mild insulin resistance are associated with an elevated risk for dementia.24,25 Diabetes and heart disease26 are also known to elevate your risk, and both are rooted in insulin resistance.
One of the most striking studies27 on carbohydrates and brain health revealed high-carb diets increase your risk of dementia by 89%, while high-fat diets lower it by 44%. According to the authors, “A dietary pattern with relatively high caloric intake from carbohydrates and low caloric intake from fat and proteins may increase the risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia in elderly persons.”
Sugar Atrophies Your Hippocampus, Impairing Memory
Research28 published in 2013 showed that sugar and other carbohydrates can disrupt your brain function even if you’re not diabetic or have any signs of dementia. Here, short- and long-term glucose markers were evaluated in healthy, nondiabetic, nondemented seniors. Memory tests and brain imaging were also used to assess brain function and the actual structure of their hippocampus.
The findings revealed that the higher the two blood glucose measures, the smaller the hippocampus, the more compromised its structure, and the worse the individual’s memory was. According to the authors, the structural changes in the hippocampus alone can partially account for the statistical link we see between glucose and memory, as your hippocampus is involved with the formation, organization and storage of memories.
The results suggest glucose directly contributes to atrophy of the hippocampus, which means that even if you’re not insulin-resistant or diabetic, excess sugar may still be negatively affecting your memory. The authors suggest that “strategies aimed at lowering glucose levels even in the normal range may beneficially influence cognition in the older population.”
A similar study29 published in 2014 found that Type 2 diabetics lose more gray matter with age than expected, and this brain atrophy also helps explain why diabetics have a higher risk for dementia, and have earlier onset of dementia than nondiabetics.
As noted by Dr. Sam Gandy, director of the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, these findings “suggest that chronic high levels of insulin and sugar may be directly toxic to brain cells” adding that “This would definitely be a potential cause of dementia.”30
Early Detection Could Save Trillions
Alzheimer’s is proving to be stubbornly resistant to conventional remedies. According to Bloomberg,31 more than 190 human drug trials have ended in failure, and despite a burgeoning epidemic, the best drugs on the market only ameliorate symptoms while adding other risks. This is why dietary prevention is so crucial. We simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of real food any longer. At present, the best conventional medicine can hope for is improved diagnosis.
According to a 2018 report by the Alzheimer’s Association,32 the U.S. was spending $277 billion on dementia care each year,33,34 and that doesn’t include care by unpaid caregivers. About 70% of these costs are paid by the families through out-of-pocket expenses.
On average, the out-of-pocket expenses for caregivers of someone with dementia is $10,697 per year, and 40% of caregivers have an annual household income below $50,000. By 2050, we may be looking at a health care bill of $1.1 trillion per year to take care of our demented seniors. As reported by Bloomberg:
“… [S]ignificant cost savings can be achieved, according to the new report, by the simple act of early diagnosis. Currently, individuals are typically diagnosed in the dementia stage, rather than when they have developed only mild cognitive impairment. Identifying the disease early can allow it to be better managed, in part with existing drugs that treat its symptoms.
In doing so, the study postulates, America could save $7.9 trillion over the lifetimes of everyone alive right now … [M]anaged dementia is less expensive to treat because it reduces the chances of missing medication or incurring avoidable costs … It’s more costly to be diagnosed in the later stages because that’s likely to occur only after an expensive trip to the hospital.”
Early Detection Still Not as Good as Prevention
Considering that in 2018, 5.7 million Americans had Alzheimer’s and prevalence was projected to rise nearly 29% in the next seven years alone, it would behoove everyone to take prevention seriously, and begin taking proactive steps sooner rather than later. For while the financial costs may be steep, no price can be placed on the emotional and psychological costs associated with this tragic disease.
Early detection would surely be helpful, and strides are being made in the development of a blood test to detect Alzheimer’s.35 (In a 2018 trial,36 the test was 90% accurate in detecting the disease in a pool of 370 participants.)
One of the most comprehensive assessments of Alzheimer’s risk is Dr. Dale Bredesen’s ReCODE protocol, which evaluates 150 factors known to contribute to the disease. This protocol also identifies your disease subtype or combination of subtypes so that an effective treatment protocol can be devised.
The full protocol is described in Bredesen’s book, “The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline.”37 However, if you’re diagnosed with early warning signs, that still means you’re on your way toward oblivion, and it didn’t need to get to that point in the first place.
As with cancer, early detection should not be confused with prevention, as diagnosing does not prevent you from having to figure out how to reverse the damage.
Your Diet Is a Key Consideration
Based on what we know, it seems foolish in the extreme to ignore dietary factors. As mentioned earlier, a key consideration is to reduce your net carb consumption and increase healthy fats. I believe the cyclical ketogenic diet I describe in my book “Fat for Fuel” can go a long way toward avoiding neurological degeneration by optimizing your mitochondrial function and biological regeneration.
Aside from eating real foods, paying careful attention to minimize net carbs, adding certain brain-boosting foods and supplements such as beets and curcumin can be helpful. Just don’t think you can continue eating junk food and just taking some beet juice and curcumin supplements.
With regard to beets, I recommend buying organic beets, or grow your own from heirloom beet seeds. While table beets are not genetically engineered (GE), they’re frequently grown in close proximity to sugar beets, most of which are GE, so there’s the potential for contamination via cross-pollination. While beets have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, most people can safely eat beet roots a few times a week. Beet root juice, however, should be consumed in moderation.
One way to circumvent the sugar issue is to ferment your beets. Not only does the fermentation process eliminate a majority of the sugars, it also makes the nutrients more bioavailable. Aside from pickled beets, other fermented beet products include beet-infused sauerkraut38 and kvass.
There are also convenient fermented beet powders which I take and put in my breakfast smoothie nearly every day. By supplying beneficial bacteria, beet kvass can also have a very beneficial impact on diabetes and many other health problems, particularly those rooted in gut dysfunction.39
Because of its detoxifying properties, avoid drinking too much when first starting out. As a general recommendation, start out with 1 ounce per day, gradually increasing the amount to an 8-ounce glass per day. If you’re highly toxic, you may need to start out with as little as a tablespoon.
Alzheimer’s Prevention Strategies You Need to Know About
According to Dr. David Perlmutter, a neurologist and author of “Grain Brain” and “Brain Maker,” anything that promotes insulin resistance will ultimately also raise your risk of Alzheimer’s. To this I would add that any strategy that enhances your mitochondrial function will lower your risk. In 2014, Bredesen published a paper that demonstrates the power of lifestyle choices for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.
By leveraging 36 healthy lifestyle parameters, he was able to reverse Alzheimer’s in 9 out of 10 patients. This included the use of exercise, ketogenic diet, optimizing vitamin D and other hormones, increasing sleep, meditation, detoxification and eliminating gluten, and processed food. You can download Bredesen’s full-text case paper online, which details the full program.40 Following are some of the lifestyle strategies I believe to be the most helpful and important:
| Eat real food, ideally organic — Avoid processed foods of all kinds, as they contain a number of ingredients harmful to your brain, including refined sugar, processed fructose, grains (particularly gluten), vegetable oils, genetically engineered ingredients and pesticides. Ideally, keep your added sugar to a minimum and your total fructose below 25 grams per day, or as low as 15 grams per day if you already have insulin/leptin resistance or any related disorders.
Opting for organic produce will help you avoid synthetic pesticides and herbicides. Most will also benefit from a gluten-free diet, as gluten makes your gut more permeable, which allows proteins to get into your bloodstream where they sensitize your immune system and promote inflammation and autoimmunity, both of which play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s. |
| Replace refined carbs with healthy fats — Diet is paramount, and the beauty of following my optimized nutrition plan is that it helps prevent and treat virtually all chronic degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s. It’s important to realize that your brain actually does not need carbs and sugars; healthy fats such as saturated animal fats and animal-based omega-3 are far more critical for optimal brain function.
A cyclical ketogenic diet has the double advantage of both improving your insulin sensitivity and lowering your Alzheimer’s risk. As noted by Perlmutter, lifestyle strategies such as a ketogenic diet can even offset the risk associated with genetic predisposition. When your body burns fat as its primary fuel, ketones are created, which not only burn very efficiently and are a superior fuel for your brain, but also generate fewer reactive oxygen species and less free radical damage. A ketone called beta hydroxybutyrate is also a major epigenetic player, stimulating beneficial changes in DNA expression, thereby reducing inflammation and increasing detoxification and antioxidant production. I explain the ins and outs of implementing this kind of diet, and its many health benefits, in my book, “Fat for Fuel.” In it, I also explain why cycling through stages of feast and famine, opposed to continuously remaining in nutritional ketosis, is so important. Pay close attention to the kinds of fats you eat — avoid all trans fats or hydrogenated fats that have been modified in such a way to extend their longevity on the grocery store shelf. This includes margarine, vegetable oils and various butter-like spreads. Healthy fats to add to your diet include avocados, butter, organic pastured egg yolks, coconuts and coconut oil, grass fed meats, and raw nuts such as pecans and macadamia. MCT oil is also a great source of ketone bodies. |
| Keep your fasting insulin levels below 3 — Lowering your insulin will also help lower leptin levels, which is another factor for Alzheimer’s. If your insulin is high, you’re likely consuming too much sugar and need to cut back. |
| Optimize your omega-3 level — Also make sure you’re getting enough animal-based omega-3 fats. High intake of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA help by preventing cell damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease, thereby slowing down its progression and lowering your risk of developing the disorder.
Ideally, get an omega-3 index test done once a year to make sure you’re in a healthy range. Your omega-3 index should be above 8% and your omega 6-to-3 ratio between 0.5 and 3.0. |
| Optimize your gut flora — To do this, avoid processed foods, antibiotics and antibacterial products, fluoridated and chlorinated water, and be sure to eat traditionally fermented and cultured foods, along with a high-quality probiotic if needed. Dr. Steven Gundry does an excellent job of expanding on this in his book “The Plant Paradox.” |
| Intermittently fast — Intermittent fasting is a powerful tool to jumpstart your body into remembering how to burn fat and repair the insulin/leptin resistance that is a primary contributing factor for Alzheimer’s. Once you have worked your way up to where you’ve been doing 20-hour daily intermittent fasting for a month, are metabolically flexible and can burn fat as your primary fuel, you can progress to the far more powerful five-day water fasts. |
| Move regularly and consistently throughout the day — It’s been suggested that exercise can trigger a change in the way the amyloid precursor protein is metabolized,41 thus, slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s.
Exercise also increases levels of the protein PGC-1 alpha. Research has shown that people with Alzheimer’s have less PGC-1 alpha in their brains and cells that contain more of the protein produce less of the toxic amyloid protein associated with Alzheimer’s. |
| Optimize your magnesium levels — Preliminary research strongly suggests a decrease in Alzheimer symptoms with increased levels of magnesium in the brain. Keep in mind that the only magnesium supplement that appears to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier is magnesium threonate. |
| Optimize your vitamin D, ideally through sensible sun exposure — Sufficient vitamin D is imperative for proper functioning of your immune system to combat inflammation associated with Alzheimer’s and, indeed, research shows people living in northern latitudes have higher rates of death from dementia and Alzheimer’s than those living in sunnier areas, suggesting vitamin D and/or sun exposure are important factors.
If you are unable to get sufficient amounts of sun exposure, take daily supplemental vitamin D3 to reach and maintain a blood level of 60 to 80 ng/ml. That said, it’s important to recognize that sun exposure is important for reasons unrelated to vitamin D. Your brain responds to the near-infrared light in sunlight in a process called photobiomodulation. Research shows near-infrared stimulation of the brain boosts cognition and reduces symptoms of Alzheimer’s, including more advanced stages of the disease. Delivering near-infrared light to the compromised mitochondria synthesizes gene transcription factors that trigger cellular repair, and your brain is one of the most mitochondrial-dense organs in your body. |
| Avoid and eliminate mercury from your body — Dental amalgam fillings are one of the major sources of heavy metal toxicity, however you should be healthy prior to having them removed. Once you have adjusted to following the diet described in my optimized nutrition plan, you can follow the mercury detox protocol and then find a biological dentist to have your amalgams removed. |
| Avoid and eliminate aluminum from your body — Common sources of aluminum include antiperspirants, nonstick cookware and vaccine adjuvants. There is some suggestion that certain mineral waters high in silicic acid may help your body eliminate aluminum. |
| Avoid flu vaccinations — Most flu vaccines contain both mercury and aluminum. |
| Avoid statins and anticholinergic drugs — Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to increase your risk of dementia. These drugs include certain nighttime pain relievers, antihistamines, sleep aids, certain antidepressants, medications to control incontinence and certain narcotic pain relievers.
Statin drugs are particularly problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol, deplete your brain of coenzyme Q10, vitamin K2 and neurotransmitter precursors, and prevent adequate delivery of essential fatty acids and fat-soluble antioxidants to your brain by inhibiting the production of the indispensable carrier biomolecule known as low-density lipoprotein. |
| Limit your exposure to dangerous EMFs (cellphones, Wi-Fi routers and modems) — Radiation from cellphones and other wireless technologies trigger excessive production of peroxynitrites,42 a highly damaging reactive nitrogen species. Increased peroxynitrites from cellphone exposure will damage your mitochondria,43,44 and your brain is the most mitochondrial-dense organ in your body.
Increased peroxynitrite generation has also been associated with increased levels of systemic inflammation by triggering cytokine storms and autonomic hormonal dysfunction. |
| Optimize your sleep — Sleep is necessary for maintaining metabolic homeostasis in your brain. Without sufficient sleep, neuron degeneration sets in, and catching up on sleep during weekends will not prevent this damage.45,46,47 Sleep deprivation causes disruption of certain synaptic connections that can impair your brain’s ability for learning, memory formation and other cognitive functions. Poor sleep also accelerates the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.48
Most adults need seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Deep sleep is the most important, as this is when your brain’s glymphatic system performs its cleanout functions, eliminating toxic waste from your brain, including amyloid beta. |
| Challenge your mind daily — Mental stimulation, especially learning something new, such as learning to play an instrument or a new language, is associated with a decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Researchers suspect that mental challenge helps to build up your brain, making it less susceptible to the lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease. |
- 1 Nutr J. 2012 Dec 11;11:106
- 2 Seattle Times April 16, 2017
- 3 Essentialstuff.org April 28, 2014
- 4 Science Direct. Nitric Oxide. 2014
- 5 J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55
- 6 Science Daily March 20, 2018
- 7 ACS. March 20, 2018
- 8 AJC.com March 22, 2018
- 9 Medical News Today March 22, 2018
- 10 Journals of Gerontology November 9, 2016, glw219
- 11 Mens Fitness April, 2017
- 12 Yahoo.com April 19, 2017
- 13 Neuroscience News April 19, 2017
- 14 New York Daily News April 20, 2017
- 15 Express.co.uk April 20, 2017
- 16 Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2018; 2018: 8379123. August 27, 2018
- 17 Deccan Chronicle January 24, 2018
- 18 The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry March 2018; 26(3): 266-277
- 19 Brain Research 2006;1122(1):56-64
- 20 European Journal of Nutrition 2011; 50(3):151-161
- 21 The Fat Emperor May 10, 2015
- 22 JAMA Neurology July 27, 2015. DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.0613v
- 23 Diabetologia (2018) DOI: 10.1007/s00125-017-4541-7
- 24 NEJM August 8, 2013; 369:540-548
- 25 Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 2017; 57(2)
- 26 Harvard Health Publishing. July 12, 2021
- 27 J Alzheimers Dis. 2012; 32(2):329-339
- 28 Neurology November 12, 2013: 81(20); 1746-1752
- 29 Radiology July 2014; 272(1): 210–216
- 30 Mount Sinai Health April 29, 2014
- 31 Bloomberg March 20, 2018
- 32 ALZ.org 2018 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures
- 33 Alzheimer’s Association Fact Sheet March 2018
- 34 CBS News March 20, 2018
- 35 Reuters February 1, 2018
- 36 Nature.com February 2018; 534: 249-273 (PDF)
- 37 Amazon.com, The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, by Dr. Dale Bredesen
- 38 Mother Earth News, Beet Kraut Recipe
- 39 Nutrients 2015 Jul; 7(7): 5905–5915
- 40 Aging September 27, 2014; 6(9): 707-717
- 41 Journal of Neuroscience, April 27, 2005: 25(17); 4217-4221
- 42 BioRxiv May 19, 2016
- 43 Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine 2013; 17(8):958
- 44 The Root Cause in the Dramatic Rise of Chronic Disease, May 2016
- 45 Journal of Neuroscience 19 March 2014, 34(12): 4418-4431
- 46 Penn Medicine Press Release March 18, 2014
- 47 Medical News Today March 20, 2014
- 48 Neurobiology of Aging August 2014; 35(8): 1813-1820
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COVID’s Link to a Sharp Increase in POTS
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/04/18/covid-and-pots.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked April 18, 2023

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is not a new diagnosis, but experts believe there are at least 1 million new patients with the condition as a result of COVID and the shots
- The condition is a result of poor synchronization between several bodily systems. The primary symptoms are orthostatic intolerance, triggering low or high blood pressure, lightheadedness, fainting and trouble focusing
- The debilitating autonomic nervous system symptoms are long-lasting, life-changing and can mimic anxiety, which makes getting an accurate diagnosis and treatment challenging
- A group of leading critical care specialists started the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) and have developed an effective treatment protocol for COVID long-haul symptoms after infection and adverse events after the shot
Long COVID, also known as long-haul COVID, chronic COVID or long-haul syndrome, refers to symptoms that persist for four or more weeks after an initial COVID-19 infection.1 Signs and symptoms of long COVID include2 fatigue, shortness of breath, joint pain, memory, concentration or sleep problems, fast or pounding heartbeat, dizziness and depression or anxiety.
These symptoms result from damage to your lungs, immune system, mitochondria, heart and nervous system.
According to board-certified internist and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, a paper presented by Dr. Bruce Patterson at the International COVID Summit in Rome, Italy, September 12 to 14, 2021, showed that in “individuals who’ve had significant COVID illness, 15 months later the s1 segment of the spike protein is recoverable from human monocytes.” He added:3
“That means the body literally has been sprayed with the virus and it spends 15 months, in a sense, trying to clean out the spike protein from our tissues. No wonder people have long COVID syndrome.”
Another symptom of long-haul COVID-19 is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) for which there is no cure and one- to two-year waiting lists to see physicians who have experience treating the condition.4
POTS Is Not a New Diagnosis
In a paper5 published in March 2021, just one year after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists recognized that the number of doctors with experience caring for patients with POTS was insufficient for the patient volume that existed before COVID-19.
At that time, the waiting lists could be as long as 12 months or longer and integrated multidisciplinary care was rarely available. Lauren Stiles, president of Dysautonomia International, spoke with a reporter from The Washington Post,6 estimating that the number of people with POTS had at least doubled since March 2020, yet the number of physicians with experience treating the condition had stayed the same.
“They were overwhelmed and flooded long before COVID. We need to increase the amount of experts in this because it wasn’t enough before COVID, and it’s certainly not enough now,” she told the Post.
Incidence of POTS Rises Significantly After Infection
According to McCullough, the disorder is the result of poor synchronization between several systems in the body that triggers a variety of symptoms.7 Before COVID-19, doctors knew that POTS could be triggered by other conditions, most commonly Type 2 diabetes.8
Other conditions that increase the risk of secondary POTS include amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, lupus, chemotherapy, alcoholism and heavy metal poisoning. The primary symptom is orthostatic intolerance. When an individual has been lying down or sitting and rises to stand there is a lower volume of blood that returns to the heart, which results in lightheadedness or fainting.9
The condition affects mostly women and, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the cause is still unknown. The symptoms are not limited to lightheadedness and fainting and in many cases are initially confused with anxiety.10,11
| Brain fog or trouble focusing | Heart palpitations |
| Racing heart rate | Severe or long-lasting exhaustion or fatigue |
| Nervousness or anxiety | Nausea and vomiting |
| Shakiness | Excessing sweating |
| Shortness of breath | Headaches |
| Feeling sick | Exercise intolerance |
| Pale face and purple discoloration to limbs lower than the level of the heart | Chest pain |
| Bloating | Disrupted sleep |
These autonomic nervous system symptoms are long-lasting and life changing. As cardiologist and POTS specialist at Rochester Regional Health, Dr. David R Fries, described to The Washington Post, “When the autonomic nervous system is not functioning properly, any or all of those things can go a little haywire.”12
“There’s an element of dismissiveness and misogyny in the room. The POTS demographic is women who, for the most part, look pretty well,” said Satish Raj, a cardiac sciences professor and POTS expert at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary.13 “They complain that their heart is racing, and I think that gets dismissed as anxiety a lot.”
Cardiologist and professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Pam Taub, is researching post-COVID POTS for the National Institutes of Health. She believes there are at least 1 million or more new patients because of COVID.14 Although the condition has been recognized for the last two decades, there is little funding from the National Institutes of Health.
An analysis15 published before COVID-19 found, on average, POTS received $1.5 million for research each year while other conditions commonly found in women received much more. For example, multiple sclerosis received $118 million, and lupus received $127 million in research dollars.

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Study Shows Vaccination Also Increases Risk of POTS
A study16 published in Nature Cardiovascular Research in December 2022 demonstrated that the spike protein from the COVID-19 jab can also increase the risk of POTS. The researchers began with the understanding that POTS had been described after infection with SARS-CoV-2, but there was limited data on the relationship between POTS and the COVID-19 shot.
The researchers studied a cohort of 284,592 individuals who had been vaccinated and found that the odds of the participants developing symptoms of POTS were higher in the 90 days after receiving the experimental shot than in the 90 days before exposure.
In a second cohort of 12,460 people who had documented SARS-CoV-2 infection, data showed that the incidence of POTS was five times higher after infection than after receiving the COVID-19 jab.17 Although the incidence of POTS was lower after vaccination than after infection, in the cohort that received the shot, researchers found it was the third highest adverse event after the shot.
These adverse events included, in descending order, myocarditis, dysautonomia, POTS, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and urinary tract infection. The data showed 62% of the participants received the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, 31% received Moderna and 6.9% received Johnson & Johnson. Less than 0.1% received other vaccines including Novavax and AstraZeneca.
In the vaccinated cohort of 284,592 individuals, 1,924 developed POTS-associated diagnoses. The data showed these patients had a similar demographic and shot types when compared to the overall population. In those that received a POTS-associated diagnosis, 59% received the Pfizer vaccine, 35% received Moderna and 6% received Johnson & Johnson. McCullough noted:18
“The spike protein on SARS-CoV-2 and flooding the system after vaccination damages neurological tissue, the adrenal glands, and the heart. The end result can be inappropriately elevated heart rate and either low or high blood pressure causing dizziness. I have seen cases of syncope with facial trauma as a result of this bothersome condition.
Since most children and adults in the US have recovered from COVID-19, there is no reason to take additional vaccines and risk POTS, myocarditis, or both.”
Athletes Sidelined and Told They Suffer From Anxiety
Even though the diagnosis has been recognized for nearly two decades, many health care providers are still unaware and dismiss the symptoms as anxiety. Unfortunately, the number of patients whose symptoms have been dismissed and who have not been heard has only grown in the last two years as the number of people with POTS has exploded.
Most visible are the elite athletes who have suffered from adverse events and permanent damage following the COVID-19 shot. In June 2021,19 professional mountain bike racer Kyle Warner was 29 years old and at the peak of his career when he received his second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 injection. The reaction was so severe that by October he was still spending most of his days in bed, overwhelmed by mental and physical exertion.
Warner shared the details20 of his experience with John Campbell, a retired nurse educator based in England. In November 2021, he headed to Washington to get the word out that people are being misled, and the COVID shots are not as safe as people have been led to believe. In his 20s and in peak physical form, he was severely harmed.
“I believe where there is risk, there needs to be choice,” he said. “People are being coerced into making a decision based on lack of information versus being convinced of a decision based on total information and transparency.”
His symptoms began after the second shot, including a heart rate spike to 160 beats per minute, which didn’t come down. Also experiencing weakness and nausea, he went to the emergency room and expressed concern about myocarditis as a side effect of the MRNA injection. Instead, he was told he was having an anxiety attack.
After waiting for 3.5 hours, he was given a shot of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to treat reactive arthritis. His heart rate had dropped to 110 beats per minute, nearly double his average heart rate. However, the doctor told him he was doing better and referred him to a psychiatrist for a “psychotic episode.”
Warner is not the only athlete to suffer injury. There have been a slew of professional and amateur athletes that have collapsed and died on the field, yet mainstream media appear to take it in stride as if what is happening is completely normal.
But, as described by sports commentator Matt Le Tissier, this is far from normal. Le Tissier was a soccer legend21 (a sport called football in the U.K.). His prowess on the field earned him the nickname “Le God” before leaving the sport to become a sports commentator, most recently with Sky Sports.
As he describes in an interview, he lost that job for speaking out and bringing attention to the large number of unexplained sudden cardiac deaths happening to professional and amateur athletes around the world.22 They are opinions that one of his colleagues says are “better left unsaid.”
Jeremy Chardy is a 34-year-old professional tennis player who also had a severe reaction to the COVID-19 shot. Unable to engage in training and intense activity, he expressed his frustration to The COVID World, saying:23
“It’s frustrating because I started the year really well. I was playing very good and then I went to the Olympic Games where I also felt very good. It’s frustrating, especially that I don’t have ten years left to play. I regret having the vaccine, but I could not have known that this would happen.”
While health officials remain silent about COVID-19 injection reactions, the growing number of reports of adverse reactions cannot be silenced forever. Websites like C19 Vax Reactions,24 started by former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Ken Ruettgers, whose wife Sheryl suffered a severe neurological reaction to Moderna’s COVID-19 shot, exist online for people to share their stories.
Tips to Help Recover From Spike Protein Injury
One group of leading critical care specialists started the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) in March 2020 to help prevent and treat COVID-19 as well as help patients take control of other areas of their health.25 As part of that mandate, they developed the I-Recover program to help patients recover from long haul COVID symptoms and damage from the COVID shots.
According to the FLCCC, up to 80% of patients can experience prolonged illness after infection and many of those same symptoms are common in people who are injured by the vaccine. Both long-haul symptoms from the infection and vaccine injury “are considered manifestations of “spike protein-related disease,” with a significant overlap in symptoms, pathogenesis, and treatment.”26
Unfortunately, the combination of the COVID-19 shot and infection complicates the issue since the symptoms of injury are exacerbated by an acute infection. According to the FLCCC,27 treatment for post-vaccine syndrome is complex and should be individualized to the presenting symptoms and disease syndromes.
Early treatment is essential and not all people will respond equally to the same intervention. If treatment is delayed, the response can be weaker. Because there are no published reports detailing treatment, the approach developed by the FLCCC is based on principles of pharmacology, clinical observations and feedback from patients. The approach is constantly being updated as new data emerges.
The core issue is long-lasting immune dysregulation, so the goal is to restore a healthy immune system and help the body to heal itself. The program for post-vaccine treatment is based on autophagy to help rid the cells of the spike protein and interventions that limit the pathogenicity of the protein. The FLCC website28 has information to help, including the treatment protocol and a list of doctors who use it and can help guide you through this journey.
- 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions
- 2 Mayo Clinic, COVID-19 Long Term Effects
- 3 YouTube, February 10, 2022, min 6:05
- 4, 6, 12, 13, 14 The Washington Post, February 27, 2023
- 5 Clinical Autonomic Research, 2021;31(3) Section Health system impacts of Long-COVID POTS
- 7, 18 Courageous Discourse, December 15, 2022
- 8 Cedars-Sinai, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome
- 9 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome
- 10 Cleveland Clinic, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, What are the symptoms?
- 11 Johns Hopkins Medicine, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, What are the symptoms
- 15 Autonomic Neuroscience, 2021;235(102836) Section 8: Research Funding
- 16 Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2022; 1
- 17 Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2022; 1 Abstract
- 19 The Defender, November 5, 2021
- 20 YouTube, October 21, 2021
- 21 YouTube, July 17, 2019
- 22 Mirror, September 23, 2022
- 23 The COVID World, September 24, 2021
- 24 C19 Vax Reactions
- 25, 26 FLCCC, I-Recover – Long COVID Treatment
- 27 FLCCC, I-Recover Post Vaccine Treatment Protocol
- 28 FLCCC
Posted in Anxiety, Auto-Immune, CDC, Coronavirus, Corruption, Heart, Heavy Metals, Immunity, mRNA, POTS, Vaccinations | One Comment »
Kidney Disease Results so Stunning They Quashed the Evidence?
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/05/05/glyphosate-role-in-chronic-kidney-disease.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked May 05, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Since 1980, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has presented an annual award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility to “scientists, engineers or their organizations, whose exemplary actions have demonstrated scientific freedom and responsibility in challenging circumstances”
- The 2019 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility award was slated to be given to two human health researchers who have published papers linking glyphosate exposure to chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in Sri Lankan farmers
- According to the researchers, consumption of glyphosate-contaminated water may contribute to chronic kidney disease by facilitating the transport of heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium into the kidneys
- The AAAS award announcement in February 2019 incited a rash of criticisms by defenders of glyphosate, leading to the AAAS to issue a follow-up statement saying the AAAS was reassessing the award “after concerns were voiced by scientists and members”
- Former AAAS president Nina Fedoroff has since become a shill for the biotech industry. In 2015, she joined the OFW Law firm — which lobbies for the agrochemical industry — as senior science adviser for agriculture policy, global food security and government affairs
This article was previously published February 20, 2019, and has been updated with new information.
Since 1980, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) — the world’s largest scientific society and publisher of several journals, including Science — has presented an annual award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility to “scientists, engineers or their organizations, whose exemplary actions have demonstrated scientific freedom and responsibility in challenging circumstances.” As explained on the AAAS website:1
“The types of actions worthy of this award include acting to protect the public’s health, safety or welfare; focusing public attention on important potential impacts of science and technology on society by their responsible participation in public policy debates; or providing an exemplary model in carrying out the social responsibilities of scientists, engineers or in defending the professional freedom of scientists and engineers.
Some awardees have risked their freedom and even physical safety by their actions, while others have been honored for their advocacy and their leadership.”
2019 Award Winners
In 2019, the AAAS was slated to present the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility award to two human health researchers who have published papers linking glyphosate exposure to chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lankan farmers:
- Dr. Sarath Gunatilake,2 former chair of the health science department at the University of California, whose areas of expertise include occupational and environmental health research.
- Channa Jayasumana, Ph.D.,3 a faculty member of Medicine and Allied Sciences at the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, who conducts research into nephrotoxins (kidney toxins) and the causes and treatments for chronic kidney disease.
Their paper “Glyphosate, Hard Water and Nephrotoxic Metals: Are They the Culprits Behind the Epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in Sri Lanka?”4 was published in 2014, followed by “Simultaneous Exposure to Multiple Heavy Metals and Glyphosate May Contribute to Sri Lankan Agricultural Nephropathy,”5 and “Drinking Well Water and Occupational Exposure to Herbicides Is Associated With Chronic Kidney Disease in Padavi-Sri Pura, Sri Lanka,”6 in 2015.
In the third paper listed, the team found people who drank water from wells where glyphosate and heavy metal concentrations are higher had a fivefold increased risk of CKDu.
Award Winners Are Both Outspoken Critics of Glyphosate
Both Gunatilake and Jayasumana have previously taken a strong stance against glyphosate-based herbicides, highlighting the dangers of herbicide adjuvants. In a 2018 Daily Mirror article,7 Gunatilake noted that adjuvants added to glyphosate-based herbicides “are 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate itself.” He went on to say:
“The point I’m trying to raise is that glyphosate without adjuvants is not very useful. Therefore, manufacturers have added these toxic chemicals into glyphosate and nobody is talking about them! Over the last 25 years, the pesticide industry had us hoodwinked by referring only to glyphosate and not to the adjuvants or additives included in these herbicides.”
Jayasumana, meanwhile, provided testimony8 at the yearlong International Monsanto Tribunal,9 which began December 2015, asserting that glyphosate use has resulted in ecocide.
In its February 4, 2019 press release,10,11 (which has since been removed from its website12), AAAS stated Gunatilake and Jayasumana “faced death threats and claims of research misconduct while working to determine the cause of a kidney disease epidemic that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in their home country of Sri Lanka and around the world. Ultimately, their advocacy led to the culprit, an herbicide called glyphosate, being banned in several affected countries.”
Jessica Wyndham, director of the AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program, said:13
“To right a wrong when significant financial interests are at stake and the power imbalance between industry and individual is at play takes the unique combination of scientific rigor, professional persistence and acceptance of personal risk demonstrated by the two scientists recognized by this year’s award.”
Award Retracted Amid Controversy on Glyphosate’s True Danger
According to Gunatilake and Jayasumana, consumption of glyphosate-contaminated water may contribute to chronic kidney disease by facilitating the transport of heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium into the kidneys.14
The AAAS award announcement incited a rash of criticisms by defenders of glyphosate, leading the AAAS to issue another statement just two days later, saying the organization is “taking steps to reassess the 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, after concerns were voiced by scientists and members. This award will not be presented … as originally planned while we further evaluate the award selection.”
(Incidentally, AAAS CEO Rush Holt announced his retirement that same day.15) One outspoken critic was Kevin Folta — a pro-GMO University of Florida professor caught intentionally hiding his funding from Monsanto — who claimed that the pair’s 2014 paper merely “presented a hypothesis. There were no data. There were no experiments. It was a semi-well-crafted hypothesis that could be tested.”16 In a commentary, GMWatch.org rebuts Folta’s claims, saying:
“Folta’s claim that there are ‘no data’ in the paper is false. There are plenty of data in this and the authors’ follow-up papers — from epidemiological and case-control studies, as well as geographical surveys — that support the idea that glyphosate herbicides should be withdrawn from use as a precautionary measure until they can be proven safe.
Are these data conclusive? No. They point to an association. It’s true that the link between glyphosate exposure and chronic kidney disease will always remain a ‘hypothesis’ until it is proven in controlled long-term animal feeding studies …
The truth is that they are unlikely to be done, due to the massive expense and the unwillingness of industry and governments to fund studies that could show that they were responsible for exposing people to poisons over many years.”
Should an Award Be Revoked Based on Controversial Findings?
True, Gunatilake and Jayasumana’s theory is just one of dozens of hypotheses for what might be causing chronic CKDu.17,18,19 (Cadmium toxicity is on that list, though.) Overall, it doesn’t appear as though any one given influence can explain all, or even most, cases of CKDu, so the search for answers continues.
The problem with the AAAS’ revocation is that whether the research findings are absolutely “true” is not entirely relevant for this particular award. As tweeted by Jack Heinemann,20 a professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, whose research topics include horizontal gene transfer, GMO risk assessment, conflicts of interest in research and sustainable agriculture:21
“Whether or not the link between glyphosate (or formulation) and kidney disease is right misses the point. A scientific freedom award is given for persecution. If you only give it for proven science, it would be delayed decades and it would only benefit those who persecute.”
Gunatilake and Jayasumana are relatively cautious in their own conclusions, describing the link between glyphosate and CKDu as follows:22
“A strong association between the consumption of hard water and the occurrence of this special kidney disease has been observed, but the relationship has not been explained consistently. Here, we have hypothesized the association of using glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the disease endemic area and its unique metal chelating properties.
The possible role played by glyphosate-metal complexes in this epidemic has not been given any serious consideration by investigators for the last two decades … Although glyphosate alone does not cause an epidemic of chronic kidney disease, it seems to have acquired the ability to destroy the renal tissues … when it forms complexes with a localized geo environmental factor (hardness) and nephrotoxic metals.”
Former AAAS President Is Now Biotech Shill
While it may seem cynical to cry foul at every turn, industry influence and conflicts of interest have become so commonplace these days that it simply cannot be ignored. In a recent tweet, science journalist Paul D. Thacker23 (who also had a hand in writing the Open Payments Act, which mandates the disclosure of compensation from the pharmaceutical and medical industry) noted:24
“If you ever worried that science was being warped by corporate interests, this backpedal by AAAS in giving an award to pesticide researcher [sic] should lay that to rest. Answer seems to be ‘yes.'”
In a series of tweets, Thacker also points out links between former AAAS president Nina Fedoroff and the biotech industry, which has become well-known for pressuring medical journals and other organizations to revoke and discredit undesirable research and/or journalism.25
In 2015, Fedoroff, a plant molecular biologist, joined the OFW Law firm — which lobbies for the agrochemical industry — as senior science adviser for agriculture policy, global food security and government affairs.26
On its website in 2022, OFW plainly states that Fedoroff advises on “issues of agriculture, particularly the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO).”
To see how she now promotes herbicides for these crops, you need look no further than some of the glowing, feel-good articles she’s written about the so-called pluses of GMO crops, such as one she wrote for Genetic Literacy Project in 2020.27 It’s clear she’s fully on-board with GMO crops as well as the poisons they need to grow.
She was also present at the 2017 release of “Little Black Book of Junk Science,”28 a book by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a chemical industry front group that I’ve written about on several occasions, and was a chosen speaker at a GMO Answers symposium cosponsored by Scientific American in 2016.29,30
Curiously, the “Little Black Book” is still available on different book sales sites such as Amazon, but has been removed from the ACSH website, as evidenced by the dead link for reference 27 in my sources list at the end of this article.
GMO Answers was created by the PR firm Ketchum, which works on behalf of the Council for Biotechnology Information31 to improve the public image of GMOs. U.S. Right to Know has previously called attention to a video ad in which the firm talks about how it doubled positive GMO coverage using online social media monitoring.32
AAAS Has ‘Mixed Record on Public Interest Issues’
Considering how strong professional ties can be, even when officially severed, it doesn’t seem farfetched to suspect Fedoroff’s association with AAAS and the agrochemical industry might have an influence. GM Watch also notes:33
“The AAAS has a mixed record when it comes to public interest issues. In 2013 the AAAS’ board of directors issued a statement opposing the labeling of GM foods in the U.S. … The AAAS was at the time chaired by Nina Fedoroff, who has close ties to the GMO industry.
But in an incident that showed that the AAAS is not monolithic but contains scientists who do not toe the GMO lobby’s line, a group of scientists and physicians that included many long-standing AAAS members condemned the AAAS board of directors’ statement as ‘an Orwellian argument that violates the right of consumers to make informed decisions.’
They pointed to evidence showing that Roundup, the herbicide used on most GM crops, could pose risks that consumers might reasonably want to avoid. Sadly, the AAAS board seems more likely than its membership to have the power to decide on the fate of the award that was to be given to the Sri Lankan scientists.”
Latest GMO Monopoly Driven by Fear
While glyphosate-based herbicides still dominate the global market, rapidly mounting weed tolerance has led to the introduction of dicamba-based herbicides and a new crop of genetically engineered (GE) plants designed to withstand it. Dicamba is an incredibly potent toxin, and dicamba drift damaged or destroyed an estimated 3.6 million acres across the U.S.34 between 2016 and 2017 alone.
This included not only fields growing nondicamba-resistant crops but also trees. In response, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed some restrictions on dicamba usage. For instance, special training is required to apply the herbicide, and its application is prohibited when wind speeds are greater than 10 mph. Farmers are also asked to assess the risk that spraying could have on nearby crops, as well.
Despite this, reports of damage from dicamba drift continued through 2018. What’s worse, many farmers reported feeling they have no choice but to buy Monsanto-Bayer’s GE dicamba-tolerant seeds, or else they risk having their crop destroyed by dicamba drift from their neighbors.
Randy Brazel, a soybean grower, told NPR35 he had little choice but to switch to dicamba-tolerant soybeans after one of his neighbors called saying he was making the switch. NPR writes:
“[D]icamba fumes from fields of Xtend soybeans have curled up the leaves of sycamore trees and millions of acres of traditional soybeans across much of the Midwest and South. Brazel wasn’t willing to take the risk of that happening to his crops.
He canceled his entire order and bought the new dicamba-tolerant soybeans instead. ‘Then I have to get on the phone and call every other neighbor and say, ‘Listen, I did not want to do this. But I am going to be forced to go dicamba.’ Well, then that forces all those neighbors to call all their neighbors. And eventually what you have is a monopoly,’ he says.”
In some parts of the U.S., protecting your crop from dicamba damage from neighbors is part of the sales pitch for the dicamba-resistant Xtend soybeans, NPR reports. In response to this mounting pressure to switch or lose your farm, a lawsuit has been filed against Monsanto on behalf of farmers, arguing the dicamba-tolerant seeds violate antitrust law.
As noted by NPR, “The lawsuit claims that the company understood that the risk of drifting dicamba could drive competitors out of the market.”
Bayer (which bought Monsanto in May, 2018) asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, but in 2020, a jury not only ordered a $265 million judgment against Bayer,36 but a U.S. appeals court also blocked them from selling any more dicamba.37 Subsequently, in May 2021, Bayer set aside $300 million to cover multiple farmers’ claims and their attorneys’ fees.38
That hasn’t ended Bayer’s plans for dicamba, however, as in March 2022, a federal district court judge in Arizona ordered the EPA to file a report on its dicamba investigations by May 15, 2022, in answer to a request by the Center for Food Safety and Center for Biological Diversity to “vacate the registration of three dicamba herbicides: XtendiMax (Bayer), Engenia (BASF) and Tavium (Syngenta).”39
Substantial Amounts of Glyphosate Found in Food
The sad fact of the matter is, if you’re eating nonorganic foods, especially processed food, then you’re eating glyphosate on a regular basis. Farmers apply nearly 5 billion pounds (over 2 billion kilograms) of glyphosate to farm crops each year, worldwide.40 Approximately 300 million pounds are applied on U.S. farmland.
Testing has revealed 70% of Americans had detectable levels of glyphosate in their system in 2016; between 1993 and 2016, the glyphosate levels in people’s bodies increased by 1,208%.41 A recent investigation by journalist Carey Gillam42 revealed Roundup has been found in virtually all foods tested, including granola and crackers.
The Health Research Institute Labs (HRI Labs) has also conducted glyphosate testing, finding the chemical in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.43 Other foods typically contaminated with glyphosate include grains, legumes, beans, orange juice and wine.
HRI’s testing also revealed people who eat oats on a regular basis have twice as much glyphosate in their system as people who don’t (likely because oats are desiccated with glyphosate before harvest). Meanwhile, people who eat organic food on a regular basis have an 80% lower level of glyphosate than those who rarely eat organic.
Glyphosate May Affect Your Health in Several Ways
Glyphosate actually has a glycine molecule as part of its structure (hence the “gly” in glyphosate). Glycine is a very common amino acid your body uses to make proteins. Laboratory investigations by research scientist Anthony Samsel found that glyphosate becomes part of animal proteins and particular the collagens which form 25% to 35% of our bodies structural proteins.
Samsel and his coauthor senior scientist at MIT, Stephanie Seneff, also believe your body can substitute glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA into peptides and proteins, which results in damaged peptides and proteins being produced.
Glycine also plays a role in quenching inflammation, and is used up in the detoxification process. As a result of glyphosate toxicity, many of us may not have enough glycine for efficient detoxification. According to research published in the journals Entropy in 2013 and in the Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry in 2017, the main toxic effects of glyphosate are related to these facts that it:44,45,46
| Inhibits human digestive enzymes leading to malabsorption with numerous health consequences. Glyphosate was found by Samsel contained with purified digestive enzymes pepsin, trypsin and lipase. Further analysis by high performance liquid chromatograph of lipase found glyphosate to chemically bond and irreversibly inhibit this enzyme.
Hormone-sensitive lipase in humans is responsible for lipid hydrolysis and cholesterol ester hydrolysis. Impaired function has been linked with atherosclerosis, obesity and type 2 diabetes among others |
| Inhibits the shikimate pathway, found in gut bacteria in both humans and animals |
| Interferes with the function of cytochrome P450 enzymes, required for activation of vitamin D in the liver, and the creation of both nitric oxide and cholesterol sulfate, the latter of which is needed for red blood cell integrity |
| Chelates important minerals, including iron, cobalt and manganese. Manganese deficiency, in turn, impairs mitochondrial function and can lead to glutamate toxicity in the brain |
| Interferes with the synthesis of aromatic amino acids and methionine, which results in shortages in critical neurotransmitters and folate |
| Disrupts sulfate synthesis and sulfate transport |
Glyphosate also disrupts, destroys, impairs or inhibits:47
- The microbiome, thanks to its antibiotic activity
- Sulfur metabolism
- Methylation pathways
- Pituitary release of thyroid stimulating hormone, which can lead to hypothyroidism
How to Test Your Glyphosate Level
The chemical has also been linked to an increased risk of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and lung cancer.48 Considering the possible dangers of glyphosate, it would make sense to minimize your exposure, and if you have high levels already, to take steps to detoxify it.
HRI Labs has developed home test kits for both water and urine, and if you have elevated levels, you can drive out the glyphosate by taking an inexpensive glycine supplement.
Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt of the Academy for the Healing Arts and Neural Therapy, recommends taking 1 teaspoon (4 grams) of glycine powder twice a day for a few weeks and then lowering the dose to one-fourth teaspoon (1 gram) twice a day. This forces the glyphosate out of your system, allowing it to be eliminated through your urine.
- 1 AAAS, About the Award
- 2 LinkedIn Sarah Gunatilake
- 3 Research Gate, Channa Jayasumana Bio
- 4, 14, 22 Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Feb; 11(2): 2125–2147
- 5 BMC Nephrology 2015; 16: 103
- 6 Environmental Health 2015; 14: 6 (PDF)
- 7 Daily Mirror June 27, 2018
- 8 Monsanto Tribunal, Memo by Channa Jayasumana (PDF)
- 9 Summary of the advisory opinion of the International Monsanto Tribunal, April 18, 2017 (PDF)
- 10, 13 GM Watch, Reprint of AAAS Press Release, February 4, 2019
- 11 Biofortified.org Archived AAAS Press Release, February 4, 2019 (PDF)
- 12 AAAS.org, Removed from the site: Global Fight Against Lethal Herbicides Earns 2019 AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award
- 15 AAAS.org February 6, 2019
- 16 Genetic Literacy Project February 5, 2019
- 17 Kidney International Reports 2017 Mar; 2(2): 282–292
- 18 Clinical Kidney Journal 2018 Aug; 11(4): 496–506
- 19 Environmental Health 2017; 16: 49
- 20 Jack Heinemann Bio
- 21 Twitter, Jack Heinemann
- 23 Columbia Journalism Review, Paul D. Thacker Bio
- 24 Twitter, Paul D. Thacker
- 25 Progressive July 21, 2017
- 26 OFW Law January 28, 2015
- 27 The Literacy Project. Low-Hanging Fruit: How the First Generation of GMO Crops Yielded Massive Benefits and Environmental Benefits. April 15, 2020
- 28 ACSH.org June 29, 2017
- 29 Huffington Post March 31, 2016
- 30 USRTK June 18, 2019
- 31 USRTK September 2, 2020
- 32 USRTK February 10, 2015
- 33 GM Watch February 8, 2019
- 34 Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting December 4, 2020
- 35 NPR February 7, 2019
- 36 Reuters February 16, 2020
- 37 Reuters June 4, 2020
- 38 NW Arkansas Democrat Gazette May 23, 2021
- 39 Progressive Farmer DTN March 29, 2022
- 40 Healing Earth, Why Glyphosate Is So Bad — Dr. Zach Bush
- 41 GM Watch October 24, 2017
- 42 The Guardian April 30, 2018
- 43 Smithsonian Magazine July 26, 2017
- 44 Entropy 2013, 15(4), 1416-1463
- 45 JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, Vol.17, Nr. 1 (2017) TOC
- 46, 47 JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, Vol.16, Nr. 1 (2016) TOC
- 48 The Lancet Oncology March 20, 2015
Posted in Glyphosate, Heavy Metals, Toxins | No Comments »
Radiologists Conceal Heavy Metal Accumulation From MRIs
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/04/14/mri-contrast-gadolinium.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked April 14, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Enhanced MRIs use a contrast agent or dye to improve the clarity of the images produced. A poll revealed 58% of radiologists avoid informing patients when deposits of toxic contrast agents are discovered
- The most commonly cited justification for omitting any mention of gadolinium deposits in their radiology report was to avoid provoking “unnecessary patient anxiety” over toxicity
- Gadolinium, a toxic heavy metal, is the contrast agent of choice in about one-third of cases. To reduce its toxicity, the gadolinium is administered with a chelating agent. Research suggests as much as 25% of the gadolinium injected is not excreted, and deposits are still found in some patients long afterward
- In a 2016 paper, researchers propose gadolinium deposits in the body should be viewed as a new disease category, “gadolinium deposition disease”
- Patients at high risk for gadolinium deposits include those requiring multiple lifetime doses, pregnant women, children and patients with inflammatory conditions. Minimize repeated high contrast MRIs when possible, particularly closely spaced MRI studies
This article was previously published November 20, 2019, and has been updated with new information.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging study that allows your physician to see detailed pictures of your organs and tissues. The MRI machine uses a large magnet, radio waves and a computer to take detailed cross-sectional pictures of your internal organs and tissues.1
The scanner looks like a tube with a table that enables you to slide into the tunnel of the machine to gather data. Unlike CT scans or X-rays that use ionizing radiation known to damage DNA, the MRI uses magnetic fields.
Images from an MRI give physicians better information about abnormalities, tumors, cysts and specific organ problems with your heart, liver, uterus, kidneys and other organs.
In some instances, your physician may want an enhanced MRI, one using a contrast agent or dye to improve the clarity of the images produced. According to a recent international poll,2 a majority of radiologists avoid informing patients when deposits of toxic contrast agents are discovered.
FDA Guidance on Gadolinium
Gadolinium is the contrast agent of choice in about one-third of cases.3 It’s injected into your body, allowing for greater detail to show up in the MRI images. There’s a price for this, however, as gadolinium is a highly toxic heavy metal.
To reduce its toxicity, the gadolinium is administered with a chelating agent.4 However, research suggests as much as 25% of the gadolinium injected in certain patients is not excreted,5,6 and deposits are still found in some patients long afterward.
In 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began investigating the potential health effects from brain deposits of gadolinium, and released guidelines7 on the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) to lower any potential risk.
Two years later, the agency issued an update8 saying “Gadolinium retention has not been directly linked to adverse health effects in patients with normal kidney function,” and that the benefits of GBCAs outweigh potential risks. Still, the agency required a new class warning and certain safety measures to be implemented. In its December 19, 2017, safety announcement, the FDA stated:9
“… after additional review and consultation with the Medical Imaging Drugs Advisory Committee, we are requiring several actions to alert health care professionals and patients about gadolinium retention after an MRI using a GBCA, and actions that can help minimize problems.
These include requiring a new patient Medication Guide, providing educational information that every patient will be asked to read before receiving a GBCA. We are also requiring manufacturers of GBCAs to conduct human and animal studies to further assess the safety of these contrast agents …
Health care professionals should consider the retention characteristics of each agent when choosing a GBCA for patients who may be at higher risk for gadolinium retention …
These patients include those requiring multiple lifetime doses, pregnant women, children, and patients with inflammatory conditions. Minimize repeated GBCA imaging studies when possible, particularly closely spaced MRI studies.”
Patients Responsible for Requesting Medication Guide
However, while MRI centers are required to provide the gadolinium medication guide to all first-time patients scheduled for an enhanced MRI, hospital inpatients are not required to receive the guide unless the patient specifically requests it. A rather disconcerting detail mentioned in the FDA’s May 16, 2018, update is that:10
“A health care professional who determines that it is not in a patient’s best interest to receive a Medication Guide because of significant concerns about its effects may direct that it not be provided to that patient.”
In other words, if they think you might say no to the procedure because you’re worried about heavy metal toxicity, the health professional is allowed to simply withhold the safety information. Only if you specifically ask for it must that guide be provided to you.
While the FDA decided not to restrict the use of any GBCAs, the European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee has recommended suspending the use of four linear gadolinium contrast agents shown to be less stable (and therefore more likely to accumulate in the brain and cause issues in those with kidney problems) than macrocyclic GBCAs.11
Most Radiologists Hide Findings of Gadolinium Deposits
An equally disturbing finding12 is that 58% of radiologists hide findings of gadolinium deposits from patients when they’re found on scans. As reported by Health Imaging,13 the most commonly cited justification for omitting any mention of gadolinium deposits in their radiology report was to avoid provoking “unnecessary patient anxiety.”
However, this also prevents patients from taking action to protect their health, which could be really important if they’re experiencing effects of gadolinium toxicity and haven’t put 2 and 2 together yet.
To date, the greatest danger of GBCA has been thought to be relegated to those with severe kidney disease, in whom GBCA exposure has been linked to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF),14 a debilitating disease involving progressive tissue fibrosis involving skin and subcutaneous tissues.15 To avoid this, those with kidney disease need to receive more stable forms of chelate with the gadolinium.16
However, the fact that gadolinium can accumulate in the brain (and throughout your body) even if you do not have kidney problems could have significant, hitherto unrecognized, dangers. For example, use of GBCAs has been linked to hypersensitivity in two brain regions (the dentate nucleus and globus pallidus),17 the consequences of which are still unknown.
Hyperintensity in the dentate nucleus has previously been linked to multiple sclerosis, and according to more recent research, this hyperintensity may actually be the result of the large number of enhanced MRI scans MS patients tend to receive.18 Hyperintensity of the globus pallidus, meanwhile, has been linked to liver dysfunction.
Researchers Propose New Gadolinium Disease Category
In the 2016 paper,19 “Gadolinium in Humans: A Family of Disorders,” the researchers actually propose that GBCA deposits in the body should be viewed as a new disease category. They write:
“In early 2014, an investigation by Kanda et.al. described the development of high signal intensity in brain tissue on T-2 weighted images of patients with normal renal function after repeated administrations of GBCA …
This caught many radiologists by surprise, as many had thought that deposition of gadolinium could not occur in patients with normal renal function. This deposition results in signal-intensity increase on unenhanced T1-weighted images in different regions of the brain, primarily in the dentate nucleus and globus pallidus …
To our knowledge, neither the bone deposition first reported by Gibby et. al. nor the brain deposition first reported by Kanda et. al. have been associated with recognized disease. We propose to name these storage entities ‘gadolinium storage condition.’
Along a separate avenue of inquiry, patient advocacy groups have formed, with an online presence in which individual members report that they have experienced severe disease following the administration of GBCAs.
Some of these patients have reported persistent presence of gadolinium in their systems, as shown by continued elevated gadolinium in their urine. All experience a variety of symptoms including pain in both the torso and the extremities; the latter location is associated with skin thickening and discoloration.
These physical features are similar, but lesser in severity, to those reported for NSF. Our preliminary investigation has convinced us that this phenomenon is a true disease process, which we propose naming ‘gadolinium deposition disease.'”
The researchers go on to note other common signs and symptoms of “gadolinium deposition disease,” such as persistent headache, bone, joint, tendon and ligament pain (often described as sharp pins and needles, cutting or burning), tightness in the hands and feet, brain fog and soft-tissue thickening that “clinically appears somewhat spongy or rubbery without the hardness and redness observed in NSF.”
Lawsuit Highlights Gadolinium Dangers
“Gadolinium deposition disease” is what Chuck Norris’ wife Gena claims to have developed after undergoing three contrast-enhanced MRIs in a single week to evaluate her rheumatoid arthritis.
The study cited above is part of the evidence included in the Norris’ lawsuit20 (filed in November 2017) against several manufacturers and distributors of GBCAs. According to the lawsuit, the risks of gadolinium were known, yet patients are not warned.
Gena’s symptoms began with a burning sensation in her skin. In a 2017 Full Measure interview, she described it as if there was acid burning her skin, slowly covering her body.21 Mental confusion, muscle spasms, kidney damage and muscle wasting followed.
She visited the emergency room several nights in a row, where doctors ran tests for ALS, MS, cancer and Parkinson’s disease. The couple’s attorney, Todd Walburg, told CBS News,22 “We have clients who have been misdiagnosed with Lyme disease, ALS, and then they’ve eventually ruled all those things out and the culprit remaining is the gadolinium.”
In fact, it was Gena who made the connection between her symptoms and the MRIs she had undergone. She told Full Measure:23
“When we got to the hospital in Houston this last time, and I’m so bad and I said, listen, I am sober enough in my thinking right now, because I had such brain issues going on, I said I’m only going to be able to tell you this one time and I need you to listen to me very closely. I have been poisoned with gadolinium or by gadolinium and we don’t have much time to figure out how to get this out of my body or I am going to die.”
The Norrises claim they’ve spent nearly $2 million on efforts to restore Gena’s health, with little progress. Even chelation therapy has had limited success.24
Heavy Metal Toxicity Is a Common Modern Hazard
Heavy metals are widely distributed throughout the environment from industrial, agricultural, medical and technical pollution. Heavy metal toxicity has documented potential for serious health consequences, including kidney, neurological, cardiovascular, skeletal and endocrine damage.
Heavy metals most commonly associated with poisoning are arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium, which are also the heavy metals most commonly found in environmental pollution. Symptoms of heavy metal poisoning vary based on the organ systems affected.
Scientists have found that heavy metals also increase oxidative stress secondary to free radical formation.25 Testing for heavy metal toxicity includes blood, urine and hair and nail analysis for cumulative exposure.
Detoxification can be difficult, and needs to be done with proper care. I’ve written several articles about this. More information can be found in “The Three Pillars of Heavy Metal Detoxification” and “The Walsh Detoxification Program.”
Carefully Consider Your Need for Contrast MRI
The key take-home message here is to avoid using MRI scans with contrast unless absolutely necessary. Many times, physicians will order these tests just to be complete and cover themselves from a legal perspective.
If that is your case, then simply refuse to have the test done with contrast. If necessary, consult with other physicians that can provide you with a different perspective.
This is particularly important if you have a condition such as MS in which multiple MRIs are done. Also remember that multiple MRIs with contrast will be particularly dangerous the closer they’re done together.
If You Need an MRI, It Pays to Shop Around
While I always recommend being judicious in your use of medical diagnostic procedures, there are times when it is appropriate and useful for you to have a certain test.
What many don’t realize is that the fees for these procedures can vary tremendously, depending on where they are performed. Hospitals tend to be the most expensive option for diagnostics and outpatient procedures, sometimes by an enormous margin.
Freestanding diagnostic centers are alternative places to obtain services such as lab studies, X-rays and MRIs, often at a fraction of the cost charged by hospitals. Private imaging centers are not affiliated with any particular hospital and are typically open for Monday through Friday business hours, as opposed to hospital radiology centers that require round-the-clock staffing.
Hospitals often charge higher fees for their services to offset the costs of their 24/7 operations. Hospitals also may charge exorbitant fees for high-tech diagnostics, like MRIs, to subsidize other poorly reimbursed services. And, hospitals are allowed to charge Medicare and other third-party insurers a “facility fee,” leading to even more price inflation.
So, if you do find that you need an MRI, don’t be afraid to shop around. With a few phone calls to diagnostic centers in your area, you could save up to 85% over what a hospital would charge for the same service.
– Sources and References
- 1 Medical News Today, January 4, 2017
- 2, 12 Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology May-June 2019; 48(3): 220-223
- 3 Inside Radiology, Gadolinium Contrast Medium
- 4 Scientific Reports November 15, 2018; 8, Article Number 16844, Introduction
- 5 American Journal of Roentgenology 2016;207: 229-233. 10.2214/AJR.15.15842
- 6 Academic Radiology Volume 5, Issue 7, July 1998, Pages 491-502
- 7 FDA.gov July 27, 2015 Safety Announcement
- 8, 9 FDA.gov December 19, 2017 Safety Announcement
- 10 FDA.gov May 16, 2018 Safety Update
- 11 Korean Journal of Radiology January 2019; 20(1): 134-147, Introduction
- 13 Healthimaging.com March 12, 2018
- 14 Korean Journal of Radiology January 2019; 20(1): 134-147
- 15, 16 American Journal of Roentgenology August 2016; 207(2): 229-233, Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis
- 17 Radiology 201; 270(3)
- 18 Radiology 2009 May;251(2):503-10
- 19 American Journal of Roentgenology August 2016; 207(2): 229-233
- 20 Cutter Law March 13, 2018
- 21, 23 Full Measure, June 11, 2017
- 22 CBS News, November 10, 2017
- 24 The Michael Brady Lynch Firm, Norris Files Gadolinium Lawsuit
- 25 Interdisciplinary Toxicology 2014;7(2):60
Posted in Heavy Metals, Radiation | No Comments »
Is Your Tap Water Making You Sick?
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/02/23/is-your-tap-water-making-you-sick.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked February 23, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Data show that just two disinfection byproducts offered compelling evidence that a cumulative risk assessment would reveal health damage from contaminants found in drinking water
- The Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database is the most complete source of information compiled from data in nearly 50,000 systems users can search by zip code; the guide relies on current science and not legal limits set by regulatory agencies
- The textile industry is a significant contributor to water pollution, dumping nearly 20% of dyes and fixative agents used to set colors down the drain, often at high temperatures and high pH
- Arsenic and lead are two heavy metals found in drinking water that have no acceptable level of exposure and increase your risk of disease, yet the EPA balances the cost of filtering water against health challenges when determining a maximum contaminant level
- Agencies also regulate the addition of fluoride to drinking water, another pollutant that is associated with a lower IQ in children, but for which the CDC has no documentation of safety or prenatal or early life benefit
Drinking water may be treated with a variety of chemicals, which create intermediaries and disinfection byproducts. One study1 did a side-by-side comparison of epidemiological studies and cancer risk assessment after exposure to two disinfection byproducts — haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes.
Yet, disinfection byproducts are not the only toxic chemicals found in tap water. One glass of water may contain a cocktail of forever chemicals known as PFAS,2 lead, arsenic3 and a list of other chemicals found in your local area that you were never meant to consume.4 You can check your local supply by using the Environmental Working Group’s (EWGs) Tap Water Database.5
One of the issues with the water supply is that we have an aging infrastructure that may be nearing the end of its useful life.6 Another is the water pollution that results from firefighting chemicals,7 agrichemicals,8 drugs, nerve toxins that are produced by freshwater cyanobacteria9 and toxins that are intentionally added to the water supply.10
Since more than 50% of your body is water,11 you require a constant supply of pure water to fuel your filtration system and ensure your body is free of toxins. Your blood, kidneys and liver require a good source of clean water to detoxify from the other toxic exposures you meet every day. Yet, it is the water supply that is also in desperate need of detoxification.
Disinfectant Byproducts in Tap Water Raise Risk of Cancer
The EWG opened the Tap Water Database in 2017.12 It was the most complete source of information about U.S. drinking water that compiled data from nearly 50,000 systems across the country. The data mining project was aimed at increasing information and awareness about tap water pollution.
Users can enter their zip code13 and find a list of contaminants that had been detected and reported to the authorities. The guide relies on current science to report levels of pollutants instead of legal limits set by regulatory agencies. Ken Cook, president of EWG, said in a press release:14
“Just because your tap water gets a passing grade from the government doesn’t always mean it’s safe. It’s time to stop basing environmental regulations on political or economic compromises, and instead listen to what scientists say about the long-term effects of toxic chemicals and empower Americans to protect themselves from pollutants even as they demand the protective action they deserve from government.”
In November 2021, the EWG called15 for a new framework to analyze drinking water that would account for multiple contaminants present simultaneously and the cumulative effect that has over a lifetime. It was the same month the organization updated their tap water database, which:16
“… highlighted the groundbreaking peer-reviewed research published since the last update, using the data to help communicate to the public about the potential health risks of contaminants in their drinking water, as well as underscoring key gaps in water contamination research.”
The EWG notes that the federal drinking water standards evaluate and regulate one chemical at a time.17 The process is slow and cannot keep up with the rate at which pollution is added to the water supply, often at levels many scientists believe are unsafe for the public. This was highlighted in a study18 published in 2020 by the EWG in which the scientists compared two disinfection byproducts in the tap water.
The researchers concluded that the results offered a compelling argument for a cumulative risk assessment, as opposed to the current state of evaluating chemicals one at a time. They note that the two disinfection byproducts evaluated in the study are a small portion of those that form when drinking water is disinfected.
Additionally, “The inclusion of unregulated haloacetic acids in a toxicologically-based framework increases the likelihood that a cancer risk assessment for disinfection byproducts accurately reflects risk.”19 The researchers also highlighted that the analysis demonstrated the value of using human data to capture real-world risks which “cannot be fully assessed by toxicological studies.”
This was not the first study to demonstrate the levels of toxic chemicals in drinking water, and likely will not be the last. A team from Consumer Reports and The Guardian20 took samples of drinking water from a cross-section of each of the EPA’s 10 jurisdictional regions and found that 118 of the 120 samples had high levels of PFAS or arsenic, as well as detectable levels of lead.
In the short 2-minute video below, EWG scientist Sydney Evans explains the concerns many scientists have of drinking a “toxic cocktail” of contaminants in drinking water. The cumulative effect of drinking chemical pollutants over a lifetime could result in over 100,000 cancer cases in the U.S.
Your Clothing Is a Significant Contributor to Water Pollution
As Evans points out in this video, the most effective way to control pollutants in the water supply is to prevent it. She notes that reducing farm runoff and discharge from manufacturing can help protect the water supply. She calls for investment in tap water infrastructure, especially in small communities, and fixing the tap water standards.
Researchers have also found that nearly 20% of the pollutants found in drinking water are from your clothing.21 You may not think about the clothing industry being one of the biggest polluters on the planet, but it’s nearing the top of the list. The textile industry contributes to water pollution through dying and treatment of the material with dangerous chemicals.
Rita Kant of the University Institute of Fashion Technology at Panjab University in India says color is a major reason people choose to buy certain articles of clothing.22 Although there are ways to dye clothing that don’t harm the environment, most textile dyes are toxic for nearly all forms of life. Problems exist with the dye itself, 20% of which goes down the drain, and with the fixative agents used to set the colors in the fabric.
In addition to the chemicals being toxic, they are often discharged from textile mills at high temperatures and pH, which is also damaging to the environment.23 Some of the dyes also use heavy metals which are known to cause cancer24 and can accumulate in crops and fish from contaminated water and soil.25
Unfortunately, many of the textile dyeing facilities are in developing countries where regulations are lax and labor costs are low. Untreated or minimally treated wastewater is discharged into nearby rivers to lower the cost of production26 and from there it travels across the globe. An estimated 40% of textile chemicals are discharged by China.27
In addition to polluting the water, the industry uses massive quantities of it. A textile mill that produces about 8,000 kilograms (17,637 pounds) of fabric in one day uses approximately 1.6 million liters (422,675 gallons) of water.28 The fast fashion industry is a large contributor to chemical pollution and the destruction of our drinking water supply.
The average person purchased more than 65 articles of clothing in 2016, according to the toxic textiles report by Green America.29 Added to which, many throw away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year.
Even when clothing is recycled, Green America notes that “less than 1% of the resources required to make clothing is recaptured and reused to create new clothing.”30 When you donate clothes, it’s also not a sustainable solution, as the majority end up getting sold to textile “recyclers” and exported to other countries.
EPA Waffles on Lead and Arsenic in Your Drinking Water
The greatest threat arsenic poses is when it’s found in drinking water, food preparation and irrigating food crops. Long-term exposure can lead to several forms of cancer,31 and other research suggests there’s an association with neurological effects, diabetes and high blood pressure.32
The health impact of low exposure happens over a long period and has been shown to reduce children’s IQ33 and increase the risk of skin discoloration and lesions.34 The acceptable level for arsenic in drinking water was originally set in 1942 at 50 parts per billion (ppb).35
This was reduced to 10 parts per billion in 2001, which was an amount the EPA felt would help water system operators balance the cost of filtering water against health challenges resulting from exposure.36 Yet this is still more than triple the 3-ppb level at which experts have long insisted it should be limited and which the EPA first considered. A 2017 NRDC study37 noted that the EPA had set a maximum contaminant level for arsenic at zero since no level is safe.
However, it set the enforceable level at 10 ppb, which continues to present a “substantial cancer risk.” Lead is another heavy metal contaminant that the EPA recognizes has no safe exposure limit, yet they do not require utility services to lower lead levels until 10% of the homes sampled in the area exceed 15 ppb.38
In the same NRDC report,39 the researchers found 5,367 water systems were allowing high levels of lead and copper into the water system affecting over 18 million consumers.
There is an overwhelming cost to the community and individuals from exposure to lead, including kidney and brain damage, anemia, weakness, neurological damage to a developing baby, lower IQ in children, and infertility in men and women.40 Yet, the EPA has not made any significant changes to the maximum acceptable exposure levels.
Toxin Intentionally Added to Tap Water Lowers IQ
In addition to pollutants that make it into the water supply from contamination to groundwater, regulatory agencies add fluoride to the drinking water supply. According to a commentary in the journal Nature,41 it is nearly impossible to get both sides of the fluoride issue to meet in the middle.
Supporters say it prevents cavities and strengthens teeth, but opponents say the risks present to children’s overall health far outweigh any dental benefits.42 To date fluoride is hailed by the CDC as “one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century,”43 with roughly 73% of the U.S. population drinking from a fluoridated public water supply in 2018.44
A landmark study45 published in 2021 confirmed that very low levels of fluoride exposure during pregnancy impacted brain development in a child and at a level that may be causing more damage than lead, mercury or arsenic.
What you hear most often from proponents of fluoride at council meetings and from policymakers, is that government agencies can vouch for fluoridation “safety and effectiveness,” and regulate the practice responsibly. The thinking therefore, is because they say that, it must be true.
However, instead of verifying the claims, policymakers have put their unquestioning trust in government agencies and media outlets have suspended their professionalism by not only blindly trusting the agencies, but also discrediting those who oppose fluoridation.46 However, under oath, representatives have proved that this mantra of “safe and effective” is only a baseless claim used to promote a failed policy.
Casey Hannan, director of the CDC’s oral health division,47 testified that the CDC has no data establishing the safety of fluoride’s effect on the brain,48 despite decades of touting the safety for all citizens, including children. Hannan also admits there is no prenatal or early life benefit.49
We can’t count on the mainstream media or the public health authorities to tell the public or decision-makers about what is happening. It’s up to individuals to pass this information to family and friends and encourage them to pass it along as well.
Please help us get to the finish line in a world without fluoridation. If you’re concerned about the health effects of fluoride, please support the Fluoride Action Network50 with your tax-deductible donation today.
- 1, 18 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; 17(6)
- 2 Environmental Working Group, January 22, 2020
- 3, 20 The Guardian, March 31, 2021
- 4, 5, 13 Environmental Working Group, Tap Water Database
- 6 American Society of Civil Engineers 2021 Report Card Page 88
- 7 The Intercept December 16, 2015
- 8 New Jersey Department of Health, Pesticides in Drinking Water
- 9 Environmental Health Perspective, 2000;108 (Suppl 1)
- 10 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 1, 2021, Water Fluoridation Basics
- 11 USGS, May 22, 2019
- 12, 14 Environmental Working Group, July 26, 2017
- 15, 17 Environmental Working Group, November 2021
- 16 Environmental Working Group, November 5, 2021
- 19 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; 17(6) Conclusion
- 21, 23 Natural Science, Vol.4 No.1, 2012 page 2
- 22 Natural Science, Vol.4 No.1, 2012
- 24 Journal of Cancer Prevention, 2015;20(4)
- 25 Fibre2Fashion, July 2008
- 26, 27 Yale Environment 360, June 12, 2014
- 28 Natural Science, Vol.4 No.1, 2012 page 2, left col, para 1, line 11
- 29 Green America, Toxic Textiles report 2019
- 30 Green America, Toxic Textiles report 2019, Page 7
- 31 Journal of Toxicology, 2011;2011:431287
- 32 International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2019;20(14)
- 33 Risk Analysis, 2021; doi.org/10.1111/risa.13767
- 34 DermNetNZ, August 2021
- 35 National Resources Defense Council, January 17, 2001
- 36 Consumer Reports, March 31, 2021 Section Arsenic
- 37, 39 National Resources Defense Council, Threats on Tap, 2017 Page 11
- 38 Consumer Reports, March 31, 2021 Section Lead
- 40 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- 41, 42 Nature, October 27, 2021
- 43, 44 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 1, 2021
- 45 Fluoride Action Network June 8, 2021
- 46 Healthy Debate, June 11, 2020
- 47 YouTube, December 31, 2020, Casey Hannan identified Minute 2:30
- 48 YouTube, December 2, 2020 Min 00:16 – 00:56
- 49 YouTube, December 31, 2020, Minute 4:45 – 6:15
- 50 Fluoride Action Network
Posted in Cancer, Fluoride, Health, Heavy Metals, Toxins, Water | No Comments »
Study Shows Significant Link Between Mercury and Autism
Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/12/09/is-mercury-linked-to-autism.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked December 09, 2021

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- A September 2020 meta-analysis concludes there is a significant relationship between autism and concentrations of lead and mercury in the body
- According to the researchers, mercury concentration is a pathogenic cause for autism, meaning it’s a causative factor
- According to a 2014 review, there is evidence of malfeasance and conflicts of interest in studies claiming that thimerosal in vaccines is safe
- Serious flaws and errors also plague studies that claim aluminum in vaccines is safe. A mathematical error found in a key FDA study has reignited concerns about the safety of aluminum in vaccines
- Glutathione is the dominant agent that binds to and helps move mercury and other heavy metals out of your tissues. Part of effective detox involves upregulating your biochemistry to facilitate the mobilization and elimination of metals
This article was previously published October 13, 2020, and has been updated with new information.
The controversy over whether mercury overexposure can trigger autism is a long-standing one. A new meta-analysis of previous studies sheds much needed light on the matter, concluding there’s a “significant relationship” between the two.
The review,1,2 published in the September 2020 issue of Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, looked at 18 studies conducted between 1982 and 2019 that examined the relationship between concentrations of copper, lead or mercury in blood, plasma, hair or nails and the prevalence of autism. While no relationship was found between autism and copper concentrations, a high degree of correlation was found for mercury and lead.
According to the authors,3 the relationship between mercury and autism is so strong that “the concentration of mercury can be listed as a pathogenic cause (disease-causing) for autism.” This held true even when outlier studies that might unduly influence the results were removed.
Mercury Is a Causative Factor
In the introduction, the authors point out that studies carried out in this area suggest mercury and other toxins are involved in the cause of autism, which include abnormal brain development that affects social interaction and communication skills.
“Metals’ biological effects are associated with their chemical properties, suggesting that excessive metal exposure can cause brain abnormalities around the world,” the researchers state.4
“Mercury is considered as a risk factor for autism since, according to previous studies, it has been recognized as a neurotrophic toxin. Reduction in mercury content in hair and teeth of the children with autism aroused the low disposal of mercury hypothesis.
Blaurock-Bush et al found that heavy metals are effective in the development of autism disorder. The role of mercury in the pathogenesis of autism has also been proven in other studies …
According to points raised in the present study … it would be quite reasonable to advise prevention of exposure to mercury and lead in children and provision of suitable conditions during the sensitive period of mothers’ pregnancy as vital measures to prevent the disease …”
A 2017 review paper,5 “The Toxicology of Mercury: Current Research and Emerging Trends,” details the “kinetics of this metal,” including “its metabolism, interaction with other metals, distribution, internal doses and targets and reservoir organs.” The paper cites several studies linking mercury and autism among its references, noting that:6
“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been demonstrated to be accompanied by distorted metal homeostasis. The degree to which people are affected by the metals seems to be largely influenced by the individual genetic makeup.
Especially Hg [mercury] exposure has become a suspected causative factor for many pathological conditions, and several sources of exposure to Hg compounds can be listed, including dental amalgam fillings, seafood, vaccines and increasingly from energy saving light bulbs as well.”
Malfeasance in Research Showing Thimerosal Safety
In the video above, the University of Calgary faculty of medicine illustrates how mercury causes neuronal degeneration in your brain. While there are many environmental sources of mercury exposure, some of the most prominent ones include high-mercury fish, dental amalgam and thimerosal-containing vaccines.
Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative used in certain vaccines. While it has been removed from most childhood vaccines, it is still used in some multidose vials, meaning vials that contain more than a single dose of the vaccine.
Remarkably, while the fact that mercury is neurotoxic is noncontroversial, health authorities still insist injected thimerosal is perfectly safe and has never been linked to neurological dysfunction. How could that be?
In 2014, a review article7 in the BioMed Research International journal titled, “Methodological Issues and Evidence of Malfeasance in Research Purporting to Show Thimerosal in Vaccines Is Safe,” noted that:
“The studies upon which the CDC relies and over which it exerted some level of control report that there is no increased risk of autism from exposure to organic Hg in vaccines, and some of these studies even reported that exposure to Thimerosal appeared to decrease the risk of autism.
These six studies are in sharp contrast to research conducted by independent researchers over the past 75+ years that have consistently found Thimerosal to be harmful … Many studies conducted by independent investigators have found Thimerosal to be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Several studies, for example, including three of the six studies covered in this review, have found Thimerosal to be a risk factor for tics. In addition, Thimerosal has been found to be a risk factor in speech delay, language delay, attention deficit disorder, and autism.
Considering that there are many studies conducted by independent researchers which show a relationship between Thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders, the results of the six studies examined in this review, particularly those showing the protective effects of Thimerosal, should bring into question the validity of the methodology used in the studies …
Importantly … five of the publications examined in this review were directly commissioned by the CDC, raising the possible issue of conflict of interests or research bias, since vaccine promotion is a central mission of the CDC.
Conceivably, if serious neurological disorders are found to be related to Thimerosal in vaccines, such findings could possibly be viewed as damaging to the vaccine program.”
Aluminum Is Another Neurotoxic Poison
Today, the most commonly used vaccine preservative is aluminum, not thimerosal. It’s unfortunate that the Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics review did not include it, because it’s likely that aluminum has a similar impact on autism as mercury.
According to a 2018 study,8 people with autism were found to have high amounts of aluminum in their brains.
“The mean (standard deviation) aluminium content across all 5 individuals for each lobe were 3.82(5.42), 2.30(2.00), 2.79(4.05) and 3.82(5.17) μg/g dry wt. for the occipital, frontal, temporal and parietal lobes respectively,” the researchers noted.9
The lead author on this paper was Dr. Christopher Exley, a leading expert in aluminum toxicology. He and a team of international scientists have also published a paper10 in the December 2020 issue of the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology.
In it, they provide evidence for their position that “the safety of aluminium-based vaccine adjuvants … must be seriously evaluated without further delay, particularly at a time when the CDC is announcing a still increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, of 1 child in 54 in the USA.”
As with thimerosal above, serious flaws and errors plague studies that claim aluminum in vaccines is safe, including a mathematical error found in a key U.S. Food and Drug Administration study has reignited concerns about its safety.
The FDA study,11 published in 2011, compared aluminum exposure from vaccines in infants to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) safety limit of oral aluminum, concluding that:12
“… the body burden of aluminum from vaccines and diet throughout an infant’s first year of life is significantly less than the corresponding safe body burden of aluminum modeled using the regulatory MRL.
We conclude that episodic exposures to vaccines that contain aluminum adjuvant continue to be extremely low risk to infants and that the benefits of using vaccines containing aluminum adjuvant outweigh any theoretical concerns.”
The problem, found by Physicians for Informed Consent, is that the FDA based its calculations on 0.78% of oral aluminum being absorbed into the bloodstream instead of the value of 0.1% used by the ATSDR.
“As a result,” Physicians for Informed Consent noted,13 “the FDA paper assumed that nearly 8 (0.78%/0.1%) times more aluminum can safely enter the bloodstream, and this led the authors to incorrectly conclude that aluminum exposure from vaccines was well below the safety limit.” Christopher Shaw, a professor at the University of British Columbia who has studied the effects of injected aluminum, explained in a news release:14
“We knew that the [2011] Mitkus et al. paper modeling aluminum clearance had to be inaccurate since it was assuming that injected aluminum kinetics were the same as the kinetics of aluminum acquired through diet.
Now, in addition, we see that they did their modeling based on using the incorrect level of aluminum absorption. What is particularly striking is that despite all these errors, since 2011, Mitkus et al. is used by CDC and other entities as the basis for claiming that aluminum adjuvants are safe.”
The Dangers of Lead
Lead is a naturally occurring metal that was once commonly used in gasoline, paint and children’s toys, and is still a part of batteries, pipes, pottery, roofing materials and cosmetics. Due to environmental pollution, food and water has also become a source of this dangerous toxin.
If you live in an urban area or near a busy road, it’s probably best to assume that your soil is contaminated with lead to some extent. This is also an issue if you plan to plant a vegetable garden, as vegetables can take up lead from the soil very efficiently.
Lead damages your brain and nervous system, and has been shown to lower IQ. Even small amounts can be dangerous, as lead builds up in your body over time. Children under 6 are especially at risk, as they absorb lead more easily than adults.
Herbert Needleman was a researcher who studied neurodevelopmental damage caused by lead poisoning,15 and he performed much of the foundational research showing even low levels of lead were dangerous. Another crucial crusader against lead was geochemist Clair Cameron Patterson, Ph.D.
It’s thanks to Patterson’s tireless work that lead was finally removed from gasoline, thereby saving untold billions of people from serious harm.16 He’s an unsung public health hero of the 20th century that most people have never heard of.
The video below is a short summary of the evolution of leaded gas, and ultimately, its removal, which was no small feat. Unfortunately, there are many other sources of toxic metals, and unless we address them all, we’re unlikely to get a handle on the autism epidemic.
We’re Getting Mercury Out of Dentistry
As mentioned, dental mercury is one pernicious source of mercury. Here, there is good news. After years of pressure from Consumers for Dental Choice and its allies, the FDA has finally released a long-overdue safety communication on dental amalgam.17 September 24, 2020, the FDA issued a warning that mercury fillings may adversely affect:
| Pregnant women and their developing fetuses |
| Women who are planning to become pregnant |
| Nursing women and their newborns and infants |
| Children, especially those younger than 6 |
| People with pre-existing neurological disease such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease |
| People with impaired kidney function |
| People with known heightened sensitivity (allergy) to mercury or other components of dental amalgam |
While the FDA downplays the importance of its changed recommendation by stressing that the benefits of dental amalgam likely “outweigh their risks for most patients,” this update is nothing short of monumental, and opens the door, finally, for the elimination of dental mercury for all patients in the U.S., as has been done in many other countries already.
Detoxifying Heavy Metals
Heavy metal detoxification is no simple matter. Glutathione is the dominant agent that binds to and helps move mercury and other heavy metals out of your tissues. Part of effective detox involves upregulating your biochemistry to facilitate the mobilization and elimination of metals. In summary, the three pillars of heavy metal detox are:
- Cleanse and clear your GI tract of metals and toxins
- Optimize glutathione
- Upregulate detox genes
One way to help improve your glutathione is by taking N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is a precursor to and rate-limiting nutrient for the formation of glutathione. Glutathione is poorly absorbed so, in many cases, it’s easier to raise your glutathione by taking NAC instead.
In addition to upregulating your biochemistry to mobilize and eliminate heavy metals, sauna bathing can also go a long way toward eliminating mercury and other toxins from your body.
In January 2020, I interviewed Boyd Haley, Ph.D., a chemist specializing in the development of chemicals to chelate toxic metals. Haley has developed a nontoxic chelating compound called emeramide or NBMI (brand name Irminix), which tightly binds to mercury and free iron (which is also highly toxic), and acts as a potent antioxidant, as it has two glutathione arms.
Emeramid is still under drug development but can be obtained via expanded access, named patient use, compassionate use or special use, depending on the country you’re in. An early access application and prescription, required by the EMA, is available on the company’s website, EmeraMed.com.18
In closing, the evidence strongly suggests exposure to mercury, lead and aluminum are significant risk factors for autism and other neuropathologies. The simplest answer to the autism epidemic is therefore to prevent children from these kinds of exposures. That includes banning dental amalgam and getting thimerosal and aluminum out of all vaccines.
- 1 Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2020;11:369-378
- 2 Nexus Newsfeed Large study concludes mercury can now be listed “as a cause of autism”
- 3 Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2020;11:369-378, Abstract Conclusion
- 4 Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2020;11:369-378, Introduction and Discussion
- 5 Environmental Research November 2017; 159:545-554 (PDF)
- 6 Environmental Research November 2017; 159:545-554 (PDF), Page 546
- 7 BioMed Research International June 4, 2014 Article ID 247218
- 8 Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology March 2018; 46: 76-82
- 9 Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology March 2018; 46: 76-82, Abstract
- 10 Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology December 2020; 62: 126632
- 11, 12 Vaccine. 2011 Nov 28;29(51):9538-43. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.09.124. Epub 2011 Oct 11
- 13, 14 Physicians for Informed Consent March 6, 2020
- 15 NPR June 5, 2016
- 16 The Better India August 21, 2017
- 17 FDA.gov September 24, 2020
- 18 EmeraMed.com
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