My experience with mercury toxicity - Letters to the Editor - Letter to the Editor

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Jan, 2004  by Chuck Balzer

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Editor:

After dissolving yet again into tears of frustration, pain, and perplexity, I went to a local Emergency Room (ER) in March of 2002. Approximately six months prior to my ER visit I had begun feeling slowly progressing lower leg pains and discomfort that grew to searing pain upon standing still for more than a few minutes. At first I had self-diagnosed this pain as achilles tendonitis and accepted it as an inevitable fact of life that accompanies an active lifestyle in an aging body. As it progressed and was joined by other symptoms, I became concerned and frightened.

My primary complaints upon ER admission included bilateral lower leg pain, exacerbating arthritis, fatigue, and a feeling that I can only describe as my legs feeling unstable under me. I was greeted with the same perplexity I had been receiving over recent months from various physicians across the medical discipline spectrum. These opinions varied from a Rheumatologist's demoralizing diagnosis of depression-induced fibromyalgia, to an ER physician questioning me about the use of "hard street drugs." One kind ER physician recommended that I be evaluated by the hospital's Chief of Neurology. I again felt a swell of tears building as I had recently been evaluated by a Neurologist whose treatment plan was to give me a prescription for Darvocet, along with a pat on the back. As she was leaving the room, I mentioned to the ER physician that "for what it's worth, I'm also having strange bodily twitching." An inquisitive look came over her face and she stated that she wanted to test my mercury level. I did not think much of it and was released on advice to rest, medicate for pain as needed, and follow up with a Neurologist. Three days later an ER nurse phoned me and stated that my serum mercury level was elevated. I called poison control and was met with a curt response that if I had consumed seafood within 72 hours prior to testing, the result was meaningless. My General Practitioner (GP) also assumed lab error, or recent ingestion of seafood and had the test repeated. This time I had been seafood-free for ten days--again the results were an elevated level of mercury. My life, knowledge, and perspective on many issues ranging from medicine to the environment would never be the same.

Mercury--The Toxic Metal

Mercury (Hg) is an extremely toxic metal, second only to cadmium as the most poisonous on earth. (1) This toxin has an affinity for the human nervous system, with deleterious neurological effects extremely well documented in medical history. (1-4) In fact, the term, "mad as a hatter" comes from the psychosis associated with 19th century English Hatters who used Hg to stiffen cloth. Mercury has also been called "the great mimicker," because toxicity can affect so many bodily systems, giving birth to multiple and diverse pathology symptoms. A partial explanation for this is that its damage is incurred by interfering with metabolic processes at the cellular level. Mercury's multiple physiological capabilities include:

* Interference with enzyme functions (2), (5)

* Elevating oxidative stress and depleting/disrupting antioxidant protection (2), (4-6), (12), (25)

* Altering and damaging the cardiac, renal, and immune system (7-10), (12), (32)

* Peripheral nerve damage (3), (11)

* Altering calcium homeostasis (2), (4), (12)

How Does One Become Mercury Toxic?

Our environment is relatively replete with mercury, thus making minute exposure unavoidable. Coal-burning power plants dump approximately 40 tons of mercury into the atmosphere per year. (13), (14) This vaporized Hg eventually finds its way into lakes, rivers, and oceans. Bacteria in water and soil convert mercury to its most toxic methylated form. (13), (14) Contaminated food sources are then ingested by aqueous creatures, thus increasing their bodily mercury levels in accordance with their place on the food chain. (14) This modern biological fact has recently prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to advise the general public to limit their intake of specific species of fish. (14) In addition, pregnant women have been advised not only to limit, but to avoid consuming fish high on the food chain. The species of fish included in this warning are swordfish, shark, mackerel, and tuna. (14), (15)

As a Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian I've been a life-long advocate of a healthy lifestyle. I was rightly taught that seafood is a "healthy" food choice--rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids. Even as a child, while my brother was eating hamburgers, I was eating swordfish. This preference and habit carried over into my adulthood, with the addition of copious portions of canned tuna at least twice a week.

A controversial source of mercury is from dental amalgams. "Amalgam" is a generic term for "silver" dental fillings that contain up to 50% liquid metallic mercury. The scientific research is clear that the more amalgam fillings one has in their mouth, the higher their level of systemic mercury. (6), (8), (16-18) In fact, mercury amalgams are the primary source of systemic mercury in the human population. (see figure below)