heavy metals

Just Who Am I? Aluminum, Dementia & a Case of ADD

Aluminum toxicity is one of the most commonly cited factors in the development of dementia and Alzheimers disease.  Cookware and utensils has been a major of source of exposure.  Increased awareness has brought a reduction in the domestic use of these implements in more recent years, but comes too late for the current elderly generation amongst whom dementia has become epidemic.  Even so, cooking techniques which bring aluminum foil into direct contact with foods are still common and the use of aluminum cookware is still widespread in institutional cooking and restaurants, as well as the developing world for reasons of affordability and convenience.

Pharmaceutical medication is another often overlooked route by which aluminum is introduced into the body.  While the presence of mercury has gained much more notoriety, aluminum is also used as a preservative in vaccinations and other drugs.

It is no wonder then that in the homeopathic treatment of dementia, a remedy derived from aluminum - or more specifically aluminum oxide is one of the most common prescriptions.  

Thermography

Concerned about the antibiotic residues in the chicken you are eating?  It turns out that antibiotics is only one of a number of ‘additives’ that may be finding their way into poultry meat. Scientists from Johns Hopkins and Arizona State University researching the presence of antibiotics in poultry not only detected banned antibiotics but also found traces of Benadryl, Tylenol, caffeine, arsenic and personal care products (which could mean anything from chapstick to cosmetics to perfume).1

 To quote one of the authors of the study, “It is unbelievable what we found...."

Thyroid Dysfunction

One of the most common clinical problems I seein my practice is thyroid dysfunction. Nearly twenty years ago, while working in Sri Lanka, it was common to see people, the great majority of them women, walking about with huge lumps - some the size of a tennis ball, some closer to a bowling ball - under their chins. These goitres, or enlarged thyroid glands, were for the most part a result of malnutrition, specifically a lack of iodine in the diet.

At the time I was working as an acupuncturist in a rural clinic, and it was possible to achieve considerable success in treating this condition through nutritional advice and acupuncture. The thyroid problems I see today in this country, though, are of a different sort. Rarely are they caused by a simple iodine deficiency.