Korn
May 5th, 2004, 11:49 PM
I still have a couple of amalgam fillings that needs to be removed... What about you?
---
In addition to negative effects on your B12 levels, there's a lot of other negative aspects of using amalgam. Here's some stuff from an an article I found:
"Mercury linked to heart disease
ROME, ITALY. Medical researchers at the Catholic University in Rome report that patients with congestive heart failure (idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or IDCM) have vastly elevated concentrations of mercury and antimony in their heart tissue. They compared trace element concentrations in biopsy samples from the left ventricle among patients with IDCM and patients with valvular disorders or no heart disease at all. The IDCM patients had mercury concentrations 22,000 times higher than in the controls. Antimony concentrations were 12,000 times higher and silver, gold, chromium and arsenic levels were also highly elevated. Holter monitoring revealed frequent ectopic (premature) beats in all the IDCM patients and ventricular tachycardias in six of the 13 patients. None of the patients had had occupational exposure to the trace elements. Researchers at the University of Calgary point out that dental amalgams would be the most likely source of the mercury.
Frustaci, Andrea, et al. Marked elevation of myocardial trace elements in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy compared with secondary cardiac dysfunction. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 33, May 1999, pp. 1578-83 [32 references]
Lorscheider, Fritz and Vimy, Murray. Mercury and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 35, March 1, 2000, p. 819 (letter to the editor)
Trigeminal neuralgia linked to amalgam fillings
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. Dr. William Cheshire, a physician at the Mayo Clinic, reports on a case where a woman's trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux) was traced to a galvanic reaction between an amalgam filling and an adjacent gold-alloy crown. Consumption of tomatoes and other acidic foods produced intense jolts described as being like those of an "electrical battery". The jolts in turn resulted in excruciating pain in the trigeminal nerve. Replacing the amalgam filling with a composite resolved the problem. Dr. Cheshire points out that dissimilar metals in contact with saliva can form a galvanic cell which can generate electrical currents with several hundred millivolts of potential. He points out that many patients with trigeminal neuralgia describe their pain in terms of "electrical" jolts and concludes that his patient's neuralgia may well have been triggered by the galvanic reaction between the amalgam filling and the gold crown.
Cheshire, William P., Jr. The shocking tooth about trigeminal neuralgia. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 342, June 29, 2000, p. 2003 (correspondence)
Dental alloys affect cellular energy production
NOTE: We usually do not report test tube or animal experiments, but thought we would make an exception in this case. The findings that commonly used dental alloys may interrupt the normal function of human cells is a first and could have wide-ranging effects.
Dental amalgams come under fire - again!
TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND. The New Zealand Ministry of Health is reviewing its policy on the use of mercury-containing amalgams for tooth fillings. This review comes hard on the heels of a precautionary advice from the UK Department of Health which warns pregnant women not to have amalgam fillings installed. Dr. Mike Godfrey, a leading environmental physician, points out that several major amalgam manufacturers have issued Material Safety Data Sheets and Directions for Use which clearly warns of the many dangers of amalgam fillings. Among the restrictions - amalgam fillings should not be used next to fillings or crowns containing other metals, they should not be used under crowns, they should not be used in patients with kidney disease, in pregnant women or in children aged six years or younger. The manufacturers also warn that mercury vapours from amalgam fillings can induce psychiatric symptoms in extremely low concentrations. Depression, mental deterioration, and irritability are among the symptoms listed. Amalagam fillings are banned in Sweden and Health Canada has proposed a limit of one (two surfaces) amalgam fillings in a child and four (eight surfaces) in an adult. Dr. Godfrey points out that his chronic fatigue syndrome patients have an average of 15 amalgam fillings each and exhibit many of the symptoms that the amalgam manufacturers are warning against.
Godfrey, M.E. and Feek, Colin. Dental amalgam. New Zealand Medical Journal, Vol. 111, August 28, 1998, p. 326 (letters to the editor)
Depression and amalgam fillings
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. There is some evidence that people with dental amalgam fillings are more likely to suffer from depression than are people without such fillings. Now researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Institute report that removal of amalgam fillings can markedly improve the symptoms of manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder). Their study involved 20 patients who had been diagnosed with manic-depressive illness. All the patients had amalgam fillings (an average of 10 fillings each). The concentration of mercury in the mouth was measured at the start of the study and was found to increase almost 300 per cent after chewing gum for 10 minutes. Other research has shown that 75 per cent or more of the mercury vapor released by chewing is inhaled into the lungs where it enters the blood stream and subsequently passes into the brain. Eleven of the patients were assigned to have all their mercury fillings removed and were also given multi-vitamins and antioxidants to help chelate and remove the mercury released during the dental work. The remaining nine patients had a sealant placed over their fillings and were told that this sealant would prevent mercury from being released from their fillings. In actual fact there was no evidence that it would do so. The control group patients were given a supplemental vitamin and mineral tablet. The patients all completed various questionnaires designed to evaluate their mental health before and six to eight months after treatment. It was very clear that the patients who had had their amalgam fillings removed had improved very significantly in such important parameters as anxiety, depression, paranoia, hostility, and obsessive compulsive behaviour. Some of the patients were able to discontinue their lithium medication after amalgam removal. The researchers caution that their study was relatively small and urge large scale clinical trials to validate their findings.
Siblerud, Robert L., et al. Psychometric evidence that dental amalgam mercury may be an etiological factor in manic depression. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 13, No. 1, First Quarter 1998, pp. 31- 40
Amalgam fillings may damage kidneys.
NEWSBRIEF. Amalgam fillings and skin-lightening creams both contain significant amounts of mercury. Researchers at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have just completed a study aimed at determining whether the mercury actually gets into the blood stream. The study involved 225 women (aged 17 to 58 years) who had their urine measured for mercury, creatinine, urea, uric acid, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and glucose. The urinary mercury level varied between 0 and 204.8 micrograms per liter and was directly related to the number of dental amalgam fillings present in the women's mouths. The researchers conclude that chronic exposure to mercury may be associated with deterioration of renal (kidney) function.
Biometals, Vol. 10, October 1997, pp. 315-23
Amalgam fillings and hearing loss
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. The leaching of toxic mercury from amalgam fillings has been implicated in hearing loss. Mercury toxicity has also been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS). It is believed that the toxic effects of mercury cause damage to the blood brain barrier, demyelination (damage to the nerves' myelin sheaths) and slowing of the nerve conduction velocity. Now researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Institute provide convincing proof that dental amalgam fillings may be responsible for the hearing loss often experienced by multiple sclerosis patients. Their experiment involved seven women aged 32-46 years who had been diagnosed with MS. The women underwent a standard hearing test in a sound booth and then had all their amalgam fillings replaced with composites. Six to eight months later they were again given the hearing test. Six of the seven patients had significantly improved hearing in the right ear and five of the seven showed improvement in the left ear. Overall, hearing improved an average of eight decibels. The researchers conclude that amalgam fillings may be a significant factor in hearing loss experienced by MS patients and could be a factor in hearing loss in other people as well.
Siblerud, Robert L. and Kienholz, Eldon. Evidence that mercury from dental amalgam may cause hearing loss in multiple sclerosis patients. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 12, No. 4, Fourth Quarter, 1997, pp. 240-44
Chronic mercury poisoning is widespread
HILLEROED, DENMARK. A Danish dentist, Dr. H. Lichtenberg, reports that most of his patients with amalgam fillings suffer from chronic mercury poisoning. Dr. Lichtenberg measured the actual concentration of mercury vapour in the mouths of his patients and found that it varied between 3 micrograms of mercury vapour per cubic meter of air and 329 mcg/m3 with an average of 54.6 mcg/m3. This compares to a maximum permitted level in the workplace of 50 mcg/m3 for people working eight hours a day five days a week. NOTE: This level applies to Denmark; the maximum level permitted in Switzerland is 10 mcg/m3 and in the USA it is 100 mcg/m3. A recent conference in Canada proposed a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for mercury vapour of 0.014 mcg/kg of body weight per day; this corresponds to a maximum tolerable daily intake of 1.0 mcg for a person weighing 70 kilograms. Most of Dr. Lichtenberg's patients were thus exposed to 50 times the TDI. More than half of Dr. Lichtenberg's patients exhibited one or more of the following symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning - fatigue, poor concentration, poor memory, bloating, joint pain, muscle fatigue, cold hands and feet, irritability, and headache. Mercury poisoning from dental fillings has also been implicated in Alzheimer's disease and heart disease.
Lichtenberg, H. Mercury vapour in the oral cavity in relation to number of amalgam surfaces and the classic symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 2, Second Quarter 1996, pp. 87-94
Mercury linked to heart disease
HELSINKI, FINLAND. Researchers at the University of Kuopio in Finland have just completed a major study which clearly implicates mercury as a major cause of heart attacks and other coronary and cardiovascular diseases. The researchers set out to discover why men in Eastern Finland who eat lots of locally caught fish have an exceptionally high mortality from cardiovascular disease. Their conclusion was that the non-fatty freshwater fish eaten in Eastern Finland contains large amounts of mercury. The researchers discovered that men who had a high fish consumption not only had a high mercury content in their hair and urine, but also had a two-fold higher risk of having a heart attack and a three-fold higher risk of dying from heart disease than did men with a lower content of mercury in their hair. Men who ate fatty, ocean-caught fish such as salmon, herring, and tuna did not have an increased level of mercury in their hair. The researchers believe that mercury promotes heart disease in several ways: mercury promotes free radical generation; it inactivates the body's natural antioxidant glutathione; and it binds with selenium thus making it unavailable as an antioxidant and component of glutathione peroxidase. All these mechanisms would lead to an increased level of lipid peroxidation and subsequent heart disease. The researchers also point out that earlier studies have discovered a clear correlation between the number of amalgam tooth fillings and the risk of heart attack. Selenium and vitamin E have both been found to have a protective effect against mercury toxicity.
Salonen, Jukka T. et al. Intake of mercury from fish, lipid peroxidation, and the risk of myocardial infarction and coronary, cardiovascular, and any death in Eastern Finnish men. Circulation, Vol. 91, No. 3, February 1, 1995, pp. 645-55"
http://www.yourhealthbase.com/amalgams.html
(More about amalgam and B12 here (http://www.google.com/search?q=amalgam+fillings+B12&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8))
---
In addition to negative effects on your B12 levels, there's a lot of other negative aspects of using amalgam. Here's some stuff from an an article I found:
"Mercury linked to heart disease
ROME, ITALY. Medical researchers at the Catholic University in Rome report that patients with congestive heart failure (idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or IDCM) have vastly elevated concentrations of mercury and antimony in their heart tissue. They compared trace element concentrations in biopsy samples from the left ventricle among patients with IDCM and patients with valvular disorders or no heart disease at all. The IDCM patients had mercury concentrations 22,000 times higher than in the controls. Antimony concentrations were 12,000 times higher and silver, gold, chromium and arsenic levels were also highly elevated. Holter monitoring revealed frequent ectopic (premature) beats in all the IDCM patients and ventricular tachycardias in six of the 13 patients. None of the patients had had occupational exposure to the trace elements. Researchers at the University of Calgary point out that dental amalgams would be the most likely source of the mercury.
Frustaci, Andrea, et al. Marked elevation of myocardial trace elements in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy compared with secondary cardiac dysfunction. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 33, May 1999, pp. 1578-83 [32 references]
Lorscheider, Fritz and Vimy, Murray. Mercury and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 35, March 1, 2000, p. 819 (letter to the editor)
Trigeminal neuralgia linked to amalgam fillings
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. Dr. William Cheshire, a physician at the Mayo Clinic, reports on a case where a woman's trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux) was traced to a galvanic reaction between an amalgam filling and an adjacent gold-alloy crown. Consumption of tomatoes and other acidic foods produced intense jolts described as being like those of an "electrical battery". The jolts in turn resulted in excruciating pain in the trigeminal nerve. Replacing the amalgam filling with a composite resolved the problem. Dr. Cheshire points out that dissimilar metals in contact with saliva can form a galvanic cell which can generate electrical currents with several hundred millivolts of potential. He points out that many patients with trigeminal neuralgia describe their pain in terms of "electrical" jolts and concludes that his patient's neuralgia may well have been triggered by the galvanic reaction between the amalgam filling and the gold crown.
Cheshire, William P., Jr. The shocking tooth about trigeminal neuralgia. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 342, June 29, 2000, p. 2003 (correspondence)
Dental alloys affect cellular energy production
NOTE: We usually do not report test tube or animal experiments, but thought we would make an exception in this case. The findings that commonly used dental alloys may interrupt the normal function of human cells is a first and could have wide-ranging effects.
Dental amalgams come under fire - again!
TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND. The New Zealand Ministry of Health is reviewing its policy on the use of mercury-containing amalgams for tooth fillings. This review comes hard on the heels of a precautionary advice from the UK Department of Health which warns pregnant women not to have amalgam fillings installed. Dr. Mike Godfrey, a leading environmental physician, points out that several major amalgam manufacturers have issued Material Safety Data Sheets and Directions for Use which clearly warns of the many dangers of amalgam fillings. Among the restrictions - amalgam fillings should not be used next to fillings or crowns containing other metals, they should not be used under crowns, they should not be used in patients with kidney disease, in pregnant women or in children aged six years or younger. The manufacturers also warn that mercury vapours from amalgam fillings can induce psychiatric symptoms in extremely low concentrations. Depression, mental deterioration, and irritability are among the symptoms listed. Amalagam fillings are banned in Sweden and Health Canada has proposed a limit of one (two surfaces) amalgam fillings in a child and four (eight surfaces) in an adult. Dr. Godfrey points out that his chronic fatigue syndrome patients have an average of 15 amalgam fillings each and exhibit many of the symptoms that the amalgam manufacturers are warning against.
Godfrey, M.E. and Feek, Colin. Dental amalgam. New Zealand Medical Journal, Vol. 111, August 28, 1998, p. 326 (letters to the editor)
Depression and amalgam fillings
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. There is some evidence that people with dental amalgam fillings are more likely to suffer from depression than are people without such fillings. Now researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Institute report that removal of amalgam fillings can markedly improve the symptoms of manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder). Their study involved 20 patients who had been diagnosed with manic-depressive illness. All the patients had amalgam fillings (an average of 10 fillings each). The concentration of mercury in the mouth was measured at the start of the study and was found to increase almost 300 per cent after chewing gum for 10 minutes. Other research has shown that 75 per cent or more of the mercury vapor released by chewing is inhaled into the lungs where it enters the blood stream and subsequently passes into the brain. Eleven of the patients were assigned to have all their mercury fillings removed and were also given multi-vitamins and antioxidants to help chelate and remove the mercury released during the dental work. The remaining nine patients had a sealant placed over their fillings and were told that this sealant would prevent mercury from being released from their fillings. In actual fact there was no evidence that it would do so. The control group patients were given a supplemental vitamin and mineral tablet. The patients all completed various questionnaires designed to evaluate their mental health before and six to eight months after treatment. It was very clear that the patients who had had their amalgam fillings removed had improved very significantly in such important parameters as anxiety, depression, paranoia, hostility, and obsessive compulsive behaviour. Some of the patients were able to discontinue their lithium medication after amalgam removal. The researchers caution that their study was relatively small and urge large scale clinical trials to validate their findings.
Siblerud, Robert L., et al. Psychometric evidence that dental amalgam mercury may be an etiological factor in manic depression. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 13, No. 1, First Quarter 1998, pp. 31- 40
Amalgam fillings may damage kidneys.
NEWSBRIEF. Amalgam fillings and skin-lightening creams both contain significant amounts of mercury. Researchers at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have just completed a study aimed at determining whether the mercury actually gets into the blood stream. The study involved 225 women (aged 17 to 58 years) who had their urine measured for mercury, creatinine, urea, uric acid, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and glucose. The urinary mercury level varied between 0 and 204.8 micrograms per liter and was directly related to the number of dental amalgam fillings present in the women's mouths. The researchers conclude that chronic exposure to mercury may be associated with deterioration of renal (kidney) function.
Biometals, Vol. 10, October 1997, pp. 315-23
Amalgam fillings and hearing loss
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. The leaching of toxic mercury from amalgam fillings has been implicated in hearing loss. Mercury toxicity has also been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS). It is believed that the toxic effects of mercury cause damage to the blood brain barrier, demyelination (damage to the nerves' myelin sheaths) and slowing of the nerve conduction velocity. Now researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Institute provide convincing proof that dental amalgam fillings may be responsible for the hearing loss often experienced by multiple sclerosis patients. Their experiment involved seven women aged 32-46 years who had been diagnosed with MS. The women underwent a standard hearing test in a sound booth and then had all their amalgam fillings replaced with composites. Six to eight months later they were again given the hearing test. Six of the seven patients had significantly improved hearing in the right ear and five of the seven showed improvement in the left ear. Overall, hearing improved an average of eight decibels. The researchers conclude that amalgam fillings may be a significant factor in hearing loss experienced by MS patients and could be a factor in hearing loss in other people as well.
Siblerud, Robert L. and Kienholz, Eldon. Evidence that mercury from dental amalgam may cause hearing loss in multiple sclerosis patients. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 12, No. 4, Fourth Quarter, 1997, pp. 240-44
Chronic mercury poisoning is widespread
HILLEROED, DENMARK. A Danish dentist, Dr. H. Lichtenberg, reports that most of his patients with amalgam fillings suffer from chronic mercury poisoning. Dr. Lichtenberg measured the actual concentration of mercury vapour in the mouths of his patients and found that it varied between 3 micrograms of mercury vapour per cubic meter of air and 329 mcg/m3 with an average of 54.6 mcg/m3. This compares to a maximum permitted level in the workplace of 50 mcg/m3 for people working eight hours a day five days a week. NOTE: This level applies to Denmark; the maximum level permitted in Switzerland is 10 mcg/m3 and in the USA it is 100 mcg/m3. A recent conference in Canada proposed a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for mercury vapour of 0.014 mcg/kg of body weight per day; this corresponds to a maximum tolerable daily intake of 1.0 mcg for a person weighing 70 kilograms. Most of Dr. Lichtenberg's patients were thus exposed to 50 times the TDI. More than half of Dr. Lichtenberg's patients exhibited one or more of the following symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning - fatigue, poor concentration, poor memory, bloating, joint pain, muscle fatigue, cold hands and feet, irritability, and headache. Mercury poisoning from dental fillings has also been implicated in Alzheimer's disease and heart disease.
Lichtenberg, H. Mercury vapour in the oral cavity in relation to number of amalgam surfaces and the classic symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 2, Second Quarter 1996, pp. 87-94
Mercury linked to heart disease
HELSINKI, FINLAND. Researchers at the University of Kuopio in Finland have just completed a major study which clearly implicates mercury as a major cause of heart attacks and other coronary and cardiovascular diseases. The researchers set out to discover why men in Eastern Finland who eat lots of locally caught fish have an exceptionally high mortality from cardiovascular disease. Their conclusion was that the non-fatty freshwater fish eaten in Eastern Finland contains large amounts of mercury. The researchers discovered that men who had a high fish consumption not only had a high mercury content in their hair and urine, but also had a two-fold higher risk of having a heart attack and a three-fold higher risk of dying from heart disease than did men with a lower content of mercury in their hair. Men who ate fatty, ocean-caught fish such as salmon, herring, and tuna did not have an increased level of mercury in their hair. The researchers believe that mercury promotes heart disease in several ways: mercury promotes free radical generation; it inactivates the body's natural antioxidant glutathione; and it binds with selenium thus making it unavailable as an antioxidant and component of glutathione peroxidase. All these mechanisms would lead to an increased level of lipid peroxidation and subsequent heart disease. The researchers also point out that earlier studies have discovered a clear correlation between the number of amalgam tooth fillings and the risk of heart attack. Selenium and vitamin E have both been found to have a protective effect against mercury toxicity.
Salonen, Jukka T. et al. Intake of mercury from fish, lipid peroxidation, and the risk of myocardial infarction and coronary, cardiovascular, and any death in Eastern Finnish men. Circulation, Vol. 91, No. 3, February 1, 1995, pp. 645-55"
http://www.yourhealthbase.com/amalgams.html
(More about amalgam and B12 here (http://www.google.com/search?q=amalgam+fillings+B12&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8))