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Have you ever got yourself tested for heavy metal toxicity like mercury, copper etc. I have reasons to believe that these are strongly linked to diseases like MS, Autism etc.

I haven't had any testing, but since my 1st sx a couple of my doctors (including my neuro) have thought they might be a result of the chemotherapy I had back in 1996.

I had cisplatin and carboplatin, which are both platinum-based and known to cause nerve damage, but my neuro sx didn't start until over a dozen years later. The lag makes the connection seem unlikely, but a recent study showed that one of the two (can't remember which) has a half life in the human body of several years (so I certainly still have some excess platinum)...

Taurus wrote:Have you ever got yourself tested for heavy metal toxicity like mercury, copper etc. I have reasons to believe that these are strongly linked to diseases like MS, Autism etc.

I had a toxic metals urinalysis done a couple of years ago for reasons unrelated to MS. The procedure used the chelation agent dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). Even with the chelation agent, my mercury levels were quite low. What was surprising was that the DMSA pulled out some gadolinium even though it had been roughly 10 years since my last MRI.

NHE wrote: What was surprising was that the DMSA pulled out some gadolinium even though it had been roughly 10 years since my last MRI.

Looks like you're not alone on gadolinium sticking around, NHE.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/818077

"Hyperintensity in the DN and GP on unenhanced MRI may be a consequence of the number of previous Gd-CM administrations," lead investigator Tomonori Kanda, MD, PhD, said in a statement.

These new findings, said Dr. Kanda, raise the possibility that a toxic component of the contrast agent may remain in the body long after administration.

"Because gadolinium has high signal intensity in the body, our data may suggest the fact that the toxic gadolinium remains in the body for a long time, even in the normal renal function patient," he said.

Dr. Sclafani linked this on his thread....it's concerning.

Heavy metals affect the permeability of the endothelium, which could make the BBB more open.
http://as.vanderbilt.edu/neuroscience/r ... oxicology/
cheer

Heavy metals like mercury leave the blood and go into the tissues of the body so it is hard to test for these metals. Heavy metals such as mercury are neurotoxins and do not belong in the body. Lot of evidence linking mercury to neurological disease. Some people remove the mercury from their mouths and they get better.

http://orbisvitae.com/ubbthreads/ubbthr ... sMwlMKA3IU

I had a blood panel done for heavy metal. Nothing was significantly elevated. I did have some trace amounts of cadmium I believe. I am intrigued by the study that showed MS patients have a high aluminium load. I wonder why we haven't heard of follow up studies to that.

I did a hair analysis and that also showed nothing. I did have amalgam in my baby teeth, but they fell out. I had probably six or seven when I was growing up

The articles Cheerleader mentions discuss the linear form of gadolinium. While there are several forms of gadolinium contrast agent, this is likely the gadopentetate form. http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.50087.html I would like to know if there has been anything similar published about the branched chain versions such as gadodiamide (also known as omniscan)? http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary ... ?cid=60754

OK, I just found the following paper which indicates that gadodiamide may be problematic as well.

Progressive Increase of T1 Signal Intensity of the Dentate Nucleus on Unenhanced Magnetic Resonance Images Is Associated With Cumulative Doses of Intravenously Administered Gadodiamide in Patients With Normal Renal Function, Suggesting Dechelation.
Invest Radiol. 2014 May 27.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the association between the serial number of gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations and the signal hyperintensity of the dentate nucleus on unenhanced T1-weighted images in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and those with brain metastases (BMs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 38 patients with MS and 37 patients with BM who had undergone at least 2 consecutive enhanced MRI examinations in our institution were examined for this retrospective observational study. The average T1 signal intensity of the dentate nuclei and the pons was obtained, and the dentate nuclei-to-pons (DNP) signal intensity ratio was calculated. These values were compared between patients with less than 6 and 6 enhanced MRI scans or more (eMRI). Relative changes of the DNP were plotted against the number of enhanced MRI scans (eMRIn).

RESULTS: A progressive increase in the T1 signal intensity of the DNP ratio was observed both in the MS group and in the BM group. The DNP ratios of the last eMRI scans in the subgroup of patients with 6 eMRI scans or more were significantly higher than those of the first eMRI scan in the MS group (P < 0.001) and in the BM group (P < 0.01). Relative changes of the DNP showed a positive correlation with the eMRIn with a Spearman ρ of 0.96 (P < 0.001) in the MS group and that of 0.88 (P < 0.001) in the BM group. Curve regression analyses of the relative change of DNP ratios showed linear models to best fit the data with r of 0.89 in the MS group and r of 0.74 in the BM group.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the increase in the unenhanced T1 signal intensity has a linear relationship with the eMRIn in patients with MS and BM. Indeed, we estimated a linear regression model to fit the progressive increase in T1 signal intensity of the dentate nucleus after multiple enhanced MRI scans. This finding suggests substantial dechelation of gadodiamide in patients with normal renal function, raising further concerns regarding the stability of this agent. Further comparative studies with other gadolinium chelates, specifically both linear and macrocyclic, are strongly recommended.

A blood test only really tests for recent exposure as heavy metals will be absorbed intonorgan tissues and leave the blood. So basically testing blood isn't very accurate at all.

Heavy metals accumulate over time, hence why hair tests are best. You then have to understand how to interpret thw hair tests...its not straight forward. I recommend Andy Cuttlers.book "Amalgam Illness" and the frequent dose. Chelation group on yahoo.

I had my hair tested. Levels of lead where very high, followed by mercury and aluminium. Google "lead and demyelinating lesions" you get some interesting results.

I definately want tondo something about the heavy metals as I believe they are definately involved.

Dont expect.your neuro to take an interest if big pharma doesnt....

Question: Will lipoic acid (a dithiol) function as an effective chelator of gadolinium