Hello and How is Your Gut Today?

This typically isn’t the question your doctor asks you when you say you don’t feel well, but it should be. Your gut (or intestinal system) dictates the state of your general health. And most people who suffer from chronic illness, especially autoimmune disorders, have a leaky gut. Also known as intestinal permeability, leaky gut is at the core of many ailments including chronic fatigue, food sensitivities/allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, eczema, psoriasis, migraine headaches, and muscle pain. Leaky gut syndrome has also been linked to autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and Type 1 diabetes. Since more than half of the brain’s neurotransmitters are created in the gut, this deterioration can also result in mind and mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and ADD.

When I first heard the term “leaky gut,” I thought it was a joke name. It sounded so unscientific to me. However, this is the description that most medical professionals actually use when referring to the gut wall where substances that aren’t supposed to get into the bloodstream sneak past the body’s natural intestinal barriers.

Lining the gut wall are villi--numerous elongated projections set tightly one to another. Their primary purpose is to help you absorb nutrition and transfer the nutrients into the bloodstream. Together, they also create a protective net or defense against the spread of toxins into the rest of the body. However, certain substances can cause junctions between the villi to widen. These gaps then allow larger molecules to slip through (in many cases, proteins such as gluten, bad bacteria, and undigested food particles). This sets up a reaction from the immune system, which treats them as foreign invaders. 

I like to use the analogy of a window screen. If there is a hole in it, bugs can fly into your house (where they aren’t supposed to go). When you wildly chase the bug around, trying to eliminate it with a fly swatter, this action can be compared to the frenzy experienced by the immune system.

There are many agents that can cause the breakdown of the gut wall. Herbicides, especially the ubiquitous glyphosate by Monsanto, include some of the worst offenders. Glyphosate kills good bacteria in the gut and gives full reign to the proliferation of pathogenic (bad) bacteria. Other culprits are gluten and lectins in grains, certain medications, parasites, yeast overgrowth, cortisol from prolonged stress, and heavy metals.  

Because of my previous blog about biological dentistry, I have something to say about heavy metals, specifically mercury. It poisons us from many sources, but most commonly through amalgam fillings. You might ask “How does something in my mouth get into my gut?” Here is a brief and simplistic description of the pathway: when you chew, mercury vapor is released from the fillings and when you swallow, it travels to the gut and sets up an inflammatory condition—contributing to leaky gut. 

Traditional dentists’ offices are full of mercury vapor so even if you visit for some other reason like a checkup, you just have to breathe normally to get a good whiff.  This vapor also moves quickly through the blood-brain barrier to create inflammation in the brain. Mercury can travel to any part of the body and wreak havoc along the way, damaging cells, tissues, and organs. It has also been linked to glandular dysfunction, including thyroid disorders like Hashimoto’s disease. Children with autism manifest with toxin-induced inflammation both in the gut and the brain.

Getting back to leaky gut syndrome: there are many ways to overcome this condition, but first you must remove the offending agents to start the healing process. For more information on leaky gut and how it might be impacting your health or that of your loved ones, please refer to the links below. Stay tuned for the next blog on Friday, October 3^rd, where I will discuss the immune system’s role in preventing and overcoming cancer.

References

http://www.theunion.com/opinion/columns/10584486-113/glyphosate-disease-celiac-gut

http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/12052-leaky-gut.html?c=tca

http://youtu.be/FTIbnGMIHmE

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/13/mercury-detoxification-protocol.aspx

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21410934

 

Biological Dentistry: An Approach Ahead of Its Time

by Debbie Neumayer

Copyright September 19, 2014. All rights reserved.

When I was 13 years old, my father obtained a new job offering an HMO-type of family dental coverage. With the best of intentions, he thought it would be a great idea to take the whole family to the dentist for checkups and any necessary work. Prior to that time, I had never had a toothache in my life and my mom kept us away from drinking soda and eating candy. She cooked “from scratch” and I remember we ate lots of salads and whole wheat bread. But that trip to the dentist changed everything for me. 

As an adult I look back and realize how unscrupulous this dentist was, but had no knowledge back when I was barely into my teens. He drilled nearly all of my teeth and put in mercury fillings. Since that time, I’ve had to have extensive follow-up dental work done because of the fillings falling apart and breaking the remaining top tooth structure. Later, when talking to a biological dentist about my experience, he acknowledged that type of thing (drilling sound teeth for money) was unfortunately commonly practiced by many unethical dentists.

The positive news is, because I was in good health otherwise, the mercury in the fillings didn’t cause immune system dysfunction but I’ve had to shell out money through the years for crowns and various other reconstructive dental procedures.  Due to life circumstances, I didn’t have the means to proactively get the mercury fillings removed, but most of them have self destructed on their own. (Note: Removal of mercury fillings MUST BE conducted by a special protocol to protect both the patient and dental personnel).¹

My Dental Odyssey

In my mid-twenties, I began seriously researching natural medicine and practicing it in my own life, incorporating the use of herbs instead of drugs and adopting a lifestyle of preventive health. During that time, I became familiar with the work of biological dentistry pioneer, Dr. Hal Huggins. Because of his published research, I learned to circumnavigate through subsequent dental visits armed with knowledge regarding which practices to embrace and which to avoid.

When I was 30 years old, I had a molar in which the mercury filling had corroded and partially fallen out. I was attending college at the time and supporting two children as a single mom. I visited a dentist for an examination and he recommended a root canal. As I sat in the dental chair, he challenged me right then. “I can give you a temporary filling or start a root canal. Make up your mind right now.” Because I was familiar with the work of Dr. Huggins about the dangers of root canals and I didn’t have dental coverage anyway, I opted for a temporary white filling.

About eight years later, that filling finally wore away and it was off to another dentist. He also wanted to do a root canal, which I refused, so he put in another white filling. Finally, about 10 years later, that tooth had had it with drilling, and weakened to the point of falling apart on its own.

Fortunately, at that time in my life I was working a fulltime job in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and had excellent dental coverage. In researching to find a biological dentist, I found that one of the very best, Dr. Vernon Gaffner, was practicing in that town. At my first examination in his office, I thought for sure that the afflicted tooth would have to be pulled because its remaining structure had broken off near the gumline. However, Dr. Gaffner was an expert at making crowns. He did serum compatibility testing on me to determine the least reactive dental materials, built up a foundation on that tooth and installed a biocompatible ceramic crown in 2003--which is still strong and holding to this very day. 

Another perk while I was living in Idaho Falls was that Dr. Gaffner hosted a lecture given by my hero, Dr. Hal Huggins, and I was able to attend and talk with the renowned professional afterward. A decades-long pioneer in the field of biological dentistry, Dr. Huggins has endured persecution--including license revocation and death threats--while he has unyieldingly and steadfastly championed the use of mercury-free dentistry. Fortunately, more and more dentists are joining the ranks of this remarkable field and offering their patients the safest non-toxic dental techniques available.

What Is Biological Dentistry?

According to the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine: “Biological dentistry is concerned with the whole body effects of all dental materials, techniques and procedures. It is fluoride-free, mercury-free and mercury-safe. Individualized testing for biocompatibility of dental materials is a must. It insists that all clinical practice be designed of components that sustain life or improve the patient’s quality of life…

“Biological dentists may be general dentists, periodontists, orthodontists, oral surgeons or pedodontists. They also have extensive training in dental toxicology and specific modes of healing, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, herbology, homeopathy, iridology and energy medicine…We also share a deep and constant belief in the Hippocratic dictate ‘First, do no harm.’ ”²

My personal experience with biological dentists has shown they are decades ahead of the game in their philosophies and procedures. They are also a brave lot, enduring persecution from government agencies--and even their own colleagues--for not adhering to the status quo and daring to challenge protocols that endanger their patients’ health.³

To find a biological dentist in your area, please visit http://iaomt.org/find-a-doctor/search-for-dentist-physician/ or http://iabdm.org/directory_listings/

Please note: In my previous blog, I explained how mercury can contribute to a leaky brain. The next blog—to be  released next Friday, September 26—will examine how toxins impact the other end of the body, and contribute to a condition known as “leaky gut.” Stay tuned!

References

1.      http://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/protocol.php

2.      http://iabdm.org

3.      http://iabdm.org/education/articles/biological-dental-patient-comments/

ALS, Mercury, and the Leaky Brain

by Debbie Neumayer

Copyright September 2014. All rights reserved.

 

Many disorders affecting health of the brain and entire nervous system are reaching epidemic status today. These neurodegenerative diseases include multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after a famous ALS-afflicted American baseball player who eventually passed at the age of 36 from complications). 

ALS is short for “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.” Symptoms of this disease manifest as progressive loss of voluntary muscle movement that impacts a person’s ability to eat, speak, walk, and sometimes even breathe. Currently, ALS is considered 100 percent fatal (as far as drug interventions go).

Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge?

The recent Ice Bucket Challenge has raised awareness for ALS by making a two-week splash all across America. It soaked the media during the first two weeks in August, 2014, promoted heavily by online and print media. Common citizens and celebrities alike rallied forth and participated in this much publicized campaign.  

According to the ALS Association website, this movement was a resounding success. “Between July 29 and today, August 12, the ALS Association and its 38 chapters have received an astonishing $4 million in donations compared to $1.12 million during the same time period last year.”

Their stated mission is to find a cure while funding the highest quality of care for people afflicted with ALS. But in what direction are they going to find a cure? The website states: “Currently, there is only one drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS, which only modestly extends survival by two to three months.”

Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of The ALS Association declares, "With more people aware and more people engaged in the fight against ALS, we are poised to work collaboratively with not only other ALS organizations, but also with pharmaceutical companies and academia to expedite new treatments for people impacted by the disease."1

That is a worthy philanthropic quest, but isn’t there a vast difference between a treatment and a cure? Isn’t one just palliative and the other absolute? You can treat the symptoms of a disease forever and not get to the root cause. Pharmaceuticals may offer temporary symptomatic relief but—given the choice--wouldn’t an ALS patient opt for eliminating the entire disorder?  This would offer a much better quality of life than being relegated to a lifetime of taking expensive drugs that might even cause additional harm.  

Once you discover the cause(s) of a disease, therein lays the cure. So it makes cents (pardon the pun) to (1) educate people on the source of a disorder, (2) remove the offending agents, and then (3) give the body the natural help it needs to get well.

The Case Against Mercury Fillings

I remember as a child, my mom wouldn’t let me play with a thermometer. She was afraid I would break it and those little silver roly-poly globules of mercury would come out and poison me. As it turns out, I didn’t have to worry about mercury from a broken thermometer and neither did most children my age. It turns out that, with the best of intentions, our parents were paying good money for dental procedures that poisoned us slowly with mercury from the inside out.

How is this possible? It’s been discovered that vapor from mercury dental fillings is one of the most hazardous substances known. This outdated dental material is an amalgam (mixture) of various metal materials, typically an alloy of 50 percent mercury, 35 percent silver, 13 percent tin, 2 percent copper, and a bit of zinc. According to historical records, mercury amalgam fillings have been used since the 1800s. At that time, they were called “amalgam plugs” and the mercury was called quicksilver, probably because of its silver color.

Even back then, the dental community was divided as to using this toxic metal in fillings and is still a subject of controversy among them to this very day. Even though mercury is considered a toxic substance by the Environmental Protection Agency and there is much evidenced-based science attesting to its deleterious effects on the brain, nervous system and entire body, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and American Dental Association (ADA) still adamantly refuse to budge and outlaw these fillings.

It used to be thought that the mercury couldn’t leak out, once the filling was placed in a tooth. However, with the aid of modern testing techniques, we now know better. Mercury fillings release vapor at every chew and this vapor infiltrates the blood brain barrier, causing brain inflammation via oxidative stress from cascades of free radicals. Neurological damage begins with a domino effect of “excitotoxicity” that literally shakes the neurons to death.

There is much evidence linking ALS and similar neurodegenerative diseases to mercury and other heavy metal toxicity. Mercury vapor makes its way from the teeth to the brain, and through a series of biochemical pathways, changes into methyl mercury.

This form of mercury is especially damaging to cell membranes, and can bypass the protective shield in the brain known as the blood brain barrier. Mercury has shown to penetrate and degrade this tight network of capillaries and force its way in, causing what some have dubbed a “leaky brain.” After mercury invades the brain and nervous system, this insidious poison sets up a chain reaction of nerve cell death, setting the stage for neurodegenerative disease. ²

In many ways, our body systems and pathways are similar to that of certain species in the animal kingdom. Shouldn’t we be concerned and alarmed when studies show that within one year of placing amalgam into the teeth of monkeys and rats, widespread mercury accumulation has been discovered in their bodies, including the brain, trigeminal ganglia, spinal ganglia, kidneys, liver, lungs, hormone glands, and lymph glands? ^{3,4,5, 6,7}

Where Do We Go from Here?

Right on the heels of the Ice Bucket Challenge, the fourth annual Mercury-Free Dentistry Week was held from September 7-13. Although this seven-day event especially highlighted the dangers of mercury in fillings, the crusade to abolish them is ongoing and won’t stop until the public is educated and government officials make some serious changes to laws.

The global movement to eliminate the use of mercury in dental fillings is supported by many professionals around the world. In the United States, they include Consumers for Dental Choice, Dr. Joseph Mercola, and biological dentists. You can get up to speed on the topic via Facebook, and informative websites like  http://www.toxicteeth.org/  and www.mercola.com ⁸

Don’t worry if Mercury-Free Dentistry Week has come and gone…you can still become involved and spread the word about this vital issue to others via social media (sans buckets of ice).

One caution: before you have your mercury fillings yanked out, it’s very important that you contact a biological dentist who is trained in the correct protocol for removing them. There are certain precautions that must be in place to protect you and your body from the flood of mercury vapor that will be released during the procedure.  

In my next blog, I will examine the differences between biological and traditional dentistry. Stay tuned and read all about it on Friday, September 19!

References

1. www.alsa.org
2. http://www.medical-library.net/mercury_toxicity.html
3. Fenglian XU, Svetlana Farkas, Simone Kortbeek, et al. Mercury-induced toxicity of rat cortical neurons is mediated through N-methyl-D-Aspartate receptors. Molecular Brain 2012, 5:30.
4.  Galic N, Ferencic Z et al, Dental amalgam mercury exposure in rats. Biometals. 1999 Sep;12(3):227-31;
5. Arvidson B, Arvidsson J, Johansson K,. Mercury deposits in neurons of the trigeminal ganglia after insertion of dental amalgam in rats. Biometals. 1994 Jul;7(3):261-3
6. Danscher G, Horsted-Bindslev P, Rungby J. Traces of mercury in organs from primates with amalgam fillings. Exp Mol Pathol. 1990 Jun;52(3):291-9
7. L.Hahn et al, Distribution of mercury released from amalgam fillings into monkey tissues”, FASEB J.,1990, 4:5536
8. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/04/07/dangers-of-mercury-contamination.aspx