“Safe” Lead Levels Linked to Depression, Panic

Linda’s comments:  “Safe” lead levels?????  What is that suppose to mean???  In my opinion there is NO safe lead levels., as I want it GONE from my body.   I focus daily on a lifelong detox program.  I had 14 amalgams removed and I will be at this for several years to come.  However, it is working and I’m so very happy to have learned the importance and how to do a lifelong detox protocol.   The FIGHT protocol ROCKS and the 1 1/2 years I have been on it is the best thing I ever did.  Lyme patients have panic attacks, but Lyme patients are also full of serious toxins, namely lead/mercury.  I have never and don’t intend to take pharmaceuticals  to remove the unwanted and toxic chemicals in my body.  You can listen to the Webinar on FIGHT at www.gordonresearch.com.  It is excellent and you can learn a lot…
 
At least this article talks about reducing our environmental exposures.  We can work hard at doing that, which I do daily, but with the “industry”, like Monsanto who continue to dump deadly toxins into our gardens, food and homes.  It is time THE CONSUMER, JUST SAYS NO MORE and stop buying these toxic chemicals.  Until the consumers walk up and put their foot down, the Monsanto’s of the world will continue to make our bodies a toxic dump. 
 
The one I worry about is pregnant mothers.  The baby they are carrying is a toxic dump from all the bad things the mom is exposed to and eats.  These babies don’t have a chance in hell.  They will be born with a body FULL OF TOXINS….Sad Sad thing…
 
You want to get rid of unwanted WEEDS.  Simple solution, take one gallon of Heinz WHITE Vinegar, pour in a cup of Morton’s salt, and one tablespoon of Dawn dishwasher detergent….Pour over the weeds and or spray the weeds you want dead.  It works and it is NON-TOXIC, using NO CHEMICALS.  So for approximately $3.00 dollars you can make the safest non-chemical WEED KILLER…..Shssssssssss  don’t tell Monsanto or they might come and get me….ROFL…..
 
Folks you can very easily began cleaning up your homes, offices and diets from chemicals, and begin a program like FIGHT.  Save your own lives, children’s lives and our earth.
 
Regards,
Linda or Angel
 
PS…..I have tried hundreds of detox techniques over the years (I’m 65 yrs old) but I have found that the products in my lifelong daily detox program works for me.  I feel blessed daily for this…

December 9, 2009 — Young adults with higher blood lead levels are more likely to have major depressive disorder (MDD) or panic disorder, even if they have exposure to lead levels generally considered safe, new research suggests.

Maryse F. Bouchard, PhD, Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues found individuals with lead levels of 2.11 μg/dL or more had 2.3 times the odds of having MDD and nearly 5 times the odds of panic disorder compared with those with lead levels of 0.7 μg/dL or less.

“What is most surprising is the finding that lead can be associated with adverse mental health status at such low levels of exposure,” Dr. Bouchard told Medscape Psychiatry. The mean blood level in study subjects was 1.61 μg/dL.

The study is published in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The investigators analyzed data from 1987 adults aged 20 to 39 years who were participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2004. Participants underwent medical examinations that included collection of a blood sample and also completed a diagnostic interview to identify MDD, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

The number of individuals who met diagnostic criteria for MDD was 134 (6.7%), 44 (2.2%) had panic disorder, and 47 (2.4%) had generalized anxiety disorder.

Because smoking is related to blood lead levels, the researchers conducted additional analyses excluding the 628 smokers. Among nonsmokers, the elevation in risk between the highest and lowest blood lead levels was increased to 2.5-fold for MDD and 8.2-fold for panic disorder.

Need to Reduce Environmental Exposure

Previous studies conducted in highly exposed employees from foundries, smelters, and battery plants show that these workers (who had blood lead levels averaging 40 μg/dL) have reported elevated symptoms of depression, hostility, and anxiety, said Dr. Bouchard.

A study conducted in nonoccupationally exposed older men showed that those with higher blood lead levels (averaging 6.3 μg/dL) also had a higher prevalence of self-reported anxiety, phobic anxiety, and depression. “In my study group, the mean blood lead level was only 1.6 μg/dL, which is representative of the exposure level in the general population,” Dr. Bouchard said.

Eliminating lead from gasoline has decreased average blood lead levels in the general population, but remaining sources of exposure include paint, industrial processes, pottery, and contaminated water.

However, Dr. Bouchard pointed out that blood lead levels reflect not only current exposure but also past exposures because lead is sequestered in bones and is slowly released into the blood.

“These findings suggest that lead neurotoxicity may contribute to adverse mental health outcomes, even at levels generally considered to pose low, or no, risk,” the researchers conclude. “These findings, combined with recent reports of adverse behavioral outcomes in children with similarly low blood lead levels, should underscore the need for considering ways to further reduce environmental lead exposures,” they write.

Dose-Response Relationship Questioned

Edwin van Wijngaarden, PhD, interim chief of the Division of Epidemiology, Community & Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester in New York, reviewed the study for Medscape.

“Although the data reported by Bouchard et al are certainly suggestive of an association between blood lead levels and major depressive disorder, the nature of the dose-response relationship is somewhat uncertain, with no clear pattern until the upper quintile.

“The authors emphasize the statistically significant trend statistics, which are appropriate if there is a true linear trend — not sure if that is the case here. The results for panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder suffer from limited statistical power and consequently statistically imprecise risk estimates, and I would be cautious interpreting the dose-response patterns reported for these outcomes,” he said.

Dr. van Wijngaarden also noted that the mental health outcomes studied were only available for adults aged 20 to 39 years and might differ for older adults with higher levels of cumulative lead exposure.

Dr. van Wijngaarden and colleagues recently examined population-based data on blood lead levels in relation to depression in the United States in a study that will be published in the near future.

This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Bouchard and Dr. van Wijngaarden have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66:1313-1319.