Mercury at the dentist’s office

With little fanfare, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this week acknowledged on its Web site that mercury amalgam fillings -- the silvery material used for decades to plug cavities -- could be harmful.

“Mercury is highly toxic to human beings.  In addition, having toxic metals in your body increases the activity and the damage done by free radicals…”

I missed part of the conversation on the radio the other day. A man who is part of the American Dental Association said that dentists are STILL using mercury for fillings, but that they don’t tell you it’s mercury, they tell you it’s silver. He even said that that phrase “silver” is encouraged and that dentists are discouraged to ever use the term mercury. He also said that mercury causes Alzheimer’s, and a host of other diseases, as well as can cause infertility. The dentist office itself, because it has mercury in the air is a toxic place, especially to pregnant women.

The radio host was shocked and kept asking why in the world were dentists still using mercury?  Apparently, the FDA thinks it’s safe.  “The FDA has, for decades, ridiculously insisted that mercury fillings pose no health threat whatsoever to children.” The guest explained that mercury fillings are faster because there’s less craftsmanship involved and it can mold much more quickly, etc.  Basically, a dentist can get far more patients in and out.  When asked if he thought Mercury could cause autism, his answer was yes.

“For years there has been debate in the dental profession regarding the pros and cons of using silver amalgam fillings, which contain about 50% mercury, to restore cavities.”

“A single dental amalgam filling with a surface area of only 1/2 square cm is estimated to release as much as 15 micrograms of mercury per day primarily through evaporation and mechanical wear.”

I explained my concern and what I had heard on the radio to a friend the other day.   She told me that her acupuncturist knew many Lupus patients who had their silver fillings taken out– only to show no improvement.

As I thought about it what my friend told me, I realized that if you don’t understand how drugs work with autoimmune diseases, then this acupuncturist simply isn’t putting two and two together.

Lupus, just like Rheumatoid Arthritis is medicated with corticosteroids and chemotherapy drugs, generally speaking.  This means that the body is being told not to react.  Both corticosteroids and chemotherapy drugs are immune suppressant drugs.  Even if an infection were to enter the body, a person who is on these drugs can and most likely will have trouble fighting off the infection because their body isn’t reacting to the infection in a normal, healthy way.  Instead, the drugs tell the body to basically shut off all reactions.  Even cuts are suppose to be reported to your doctor if you are on these drugs.  Cuts can turn into infections and infections can turn into serious complications which have in some cases, lead to death.   My suggestion to her was that, a Lupus patient wasn’t a good example of whether or not removing the fillings were helpful because of the drugs keep you from knowing what’s really going on.  If however, you took an autistic child that is being treated with diet only and not drugs, and changed out their fillings, then that might be a better example of how mercury fillings affect the body because they are so sensitive.

If you have a choice between a silver filling or a ceramic one, I think the choice is obvious regardless of the price.  “Amalgam is a blend of mercury, silver and other metals; when they bond together, the mercury is said to be rendered stable and unlikely to leach into your system. But lots of people beg to differ, saying the mercury not only is absorbed by the body but may cause neurological problems. Some believe mercury fillings trigger such disorders as multiple sclerosis, though research hasn’t borne that out.“”

Life is Full of Surpises!

If you haven’t seen Susan Boyle, then this is a must see.  And if you’re wondering how this could possibly relate to autoimmune diseases, well let’s just say that Susan is a great example of life’s unexpected pleasures.  She’s also an example of how people can be so judgmental based on appearance.

When 47-year-old small town spinster Susan Boyle stepped on to the stage of Britain’s Got Talent and announced she was unemployed, had never been married and “never been kissed, actually,” few in the audience would have wondered why. With unkempt hair and Leonid Breshnev eyebrows, and mention of her ten-year-old cat “Pebbles,” the Blackburn, Scotland lass resembled basically every other reality TV talent show timewaster who talks big and delivers nothing but personal humiliation on a national stage.-The Vancouver Sun

Her singing will give you goosebumps, and if you’re anything like me, you might imagine a Disney princess singing and stirring the whimsical magic all around her.  Watching this video should give you hope that life can be full of wonderful surprises.  This should inspire everyone to never give up hope on their dreams.  Maybe YOUR dream is to put your autoimmune disease in remission, or to help someone you know get better.  Whatever your dream, Susan is a prime example that you are never too old or too inexperienced.  You just never know when that day will come that will be a life changing event.  For Susan, it was this day and this performance.  I am sure her kiss is just around the corner…..

Update: The Master Cleanse, Is it all Hype?

watercolor painting

Day 4:

You guessed it guys, I got through day four and gave up.  My Husband called me in the evening.  He had the symptoms of the beginning of a urinary tract infection.  He was also suffering from possibly the onset of a cold.  I had him immediately take some cranberry pills and one airborn.  I on the other hand, was also suffering.  I knew to expect the revisit of aches and pains.  My tongue had been coated for days with a horrible taste in my mouth that wouldn’t go away, along with a smell that was EVERYWHERE.  My terrible hunger were finally becoming more bearable.   What I feared most however was the flare that was happening, along with brand new pains I had never felt before.  My left leg was hurting in an unusual way, feeling as if it might be swollen.  I chose to wear a loose skirt that day because my pants were too uncomfortable.  I also skipped my high heels and opted for sandals because my feet and ankles hurt.  All day it hurt to sit.  Not only was my leg hurting, but my hips were killing me.  I found myself pulling my left leg up, sort of sitting on my left foot if you could imagine, just to take the pressure off of my left hip.  Of course I was tired of drinking the lemonade concoction and I wasn’t experiencing the weight loss that was described on the Internet.  I had lost 1 1/2 pounds.  Weight loss wasn’t the reason I decided to stop.  I decided to stop because I started to really think about healing and how it works.  I know I don’t know everything, but I do know that healing takes time.  Rheumatoid Arthritis is a very serious disease.  If it’s severe, which mine is, it can damage a lot of joints, including organs very quickly.  And if you think about how long it takes to heal even a sprained ankle, another 6 days of the Master Cleanse isn’t going to heal everything that I have wrong with me.  I have hypothyroidism too, which means my thyroid doesn’t produce as much hormone as it’s suppose to.  Was the Master Cleanse going to heal that too?

I was in pain and getting worse quickly.  Not only did I have unusual pains, but I also had the typical pains from a flare, including very swollen fingers.  My doubts about the Master Cleanses ability to “heal all ailments” were growing.  I also looked up how the Master Cleanses inventor, Stanley Burroughs died.  I found conflicting evidence.  Wikipedia claims he “died of a massive hemorrhage of the mesentery in the abdomen.”   Other information on the internet claims, “Stanley Burroughs passed away in Newcastle, California, on June 16, 1991, at the age of 87, after a two-week battle against acute pneumonia. His death certificate also mentions leg fractures, apparently from a fall, and a urinary infection, as contributing conditions to his death.”

I wasn’t crazy about this diet to begin with, but several people whom I know closely were encouraging me.  They too were hoping my RA would magically disappear.  On the fourth day however, I realized knowing my body and what flares are like, that if this cleanse were really healing my body, there’s just no telling how long it could take.  Not only that, flares aren’t good for you.  Inflammation is bad.  You could, theoretically give yourself a heart attack or ruin an organ if inflammation gets too out of control.  I decided the risk wasn’t worth it, so I quit.

Since then, I’ve been exhausted, dealing with a sore throat every morning and recently, a partially swollen eyelid.  I have been suffering from an ongoing flare ever since I tried the Master Cleanse.  I just don’t believe, had I kept going that I’d be better off.  I don’t believe that it would have cured my hypothyroidism.  And I certainly don’t believe it would have cured, an even more complicated disease like Rheumatoid Arthritis.  There is just too much healing that would have needed to take place if it were even possible.

Bottom line is, I think the Master Cleanse is too drastic for people who have illnesses.  For instance, someone who suffers from Anemia, should not do a diet like this, in my opinion.  I am no doctor, but neither was Stanley.  I also think that because every person’s body is different, there’s just no telling what kind of effect, good or bad, a fast like this can have.