Dr. Gordon’s comments:

David Suzuki Foundation and Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) – Docs Talk

Pesticides bans are healthy for environment and people
Posted: 08 Dec 2011 09:42 AM PST

If you live in a province that hasn’t already banned cosmetic pesticides, tell your representative that you want legislation to ensure a clean environment for you and your children (Credit: OlivIreland via Flickr).

Dr. Gordon’s comments:

Mercury is seriously increasing in our environment from coal burning power plants, dentistry etc. How could you prove that mercury is not a contributor to anyone’s health problems, whether mental or physical?

Read this and realize that if treatment was free, and safe, probably everyone on the planet deserves mercury detoxification.

What is the dental component vs. the coal burning component? The answer to that will depend on the individual, as that is where the mercury in fish is largely coming from.

Here is an excerpt from this great well reference article by Mark Hyman MD:

“Whether your fillings are new or old, the mercury in them is constantly absorbed into your body. And even if you stop being exposed to that mercury, it sticks around. It takes up to 18 years for the body to clear half of the dose of mercury from the body. Once mercury is in the body it comes out only VERY slowly.

In fact, people with amalgam fillings have significantly elevated blood mercury levels, three to five times more mercury in the urine, and two to twelve times more mercury in their tissues than those without amalgam fillings.

However blood and urine mercury levels don’t necessarily relate to the mercury load in your body tissues or severity of clinical symptoms.

Research on sheep and monkeys with dental amalgams has shown that blood mercury levels remained low – even though their tissue mercury levels were raised.

Urine mercury levels aren’t much better as an indicator of your total mercury load. They mainly reflect the cumulative dose of inorganic mercury in the kidneys and there exists only a very weak correlation with levels in other target tissues”

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Link: http://drhyman.com/mercury-get-this-poison-out-of-your-body-85/

Excerpt:

10 Truths and Tips about Mercury Toxicity
1.Industrial exposure to mercury is significant and mostly comes from coal burning (220 million pounds a year) and chlor-alkali plants. 
2.The main ways that humans are exposed to mercury are from contaminated fish and dental amalgams or silver fillings. 
3.Mercury can affect nearly all your organs, especially the brain, heart, kidneys, and gut. 
4.Many chronic diseases may be caused or worsened by mercury, including neurologic disease, ADHD, autism, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and more. 
5.Some of us are genetically better adapted to detoxify mercury than others, leading to variable effects within the population. 
6.You should reduce your exposure by avoiding large ocean fish (like tuna, swordfish, shark, and tilefish) and river fish. Eat only small wild fish. If it fits in your pan, it is probably okay. 
7.Blood tests are relatively worthless for analyzing mercury toxicity, unless you have had a significant recent exposure or eat a lot of sushi or tuna. 
8.Hair tests only check for mercury from fish, not from fillings so they only give you a partial picture. 
9.The only way to find out your total body load of mercury is to take a medication with sulfur molecules that binds to the mercury like fly paper. This is called DMSA or DMPS. This test should ONLY be done by a trained physician and involves taking one dose of this medicine, followed by a 6- or 24-hour urine collection to see how much comes out. (In my opinion, the most reliable testing is done by Doctorsdata.com). 
10.If you are toxic and sick, you may consider addressing your dental health by seeing a biological dentist who can safely help you deal with mercury in your mouth. 

Traditional balsamic vinegars have always been procured using time-tested methods of barrel fermentation that instill the rich balsamic flavor loved by many. However research is beginning to show that many of these vinegars, particularly those that are aged for the longest periods of time, contain dangerously high levels of lead that could be contributing to childhood behavior disabilities like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

In 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set the maximum threshold of lead exposure in children to 10 micrograms (mcg) per deciliter, a level that more recent research suggests is too high. The CDC itself recognizes that the toxicity of lead is so severe that there is no specific minimum threshold for which adverse effects do not occur.

In 2002, a California lawsuit concerning lead-tainted vinegar led to state mandates that established the maximum allowable daily level of lead at .5 mcgs per day, which translates to 34 parts per billion (ppb). Shelves in the state stocked with untested or threshold-exceeding balsamic vinegar must contain a warning sign indicating that the products contain lead and may be harmful to health.

Since not all balsamic vinegars contain lead, and some more than others, producers are expressing concern that balsamic vinegar is receiving a bad rap despite the fact that many other grape products also contain lead. They also allege that independent experts have verified that grapevines tend to absorb lead from the ground and that the occurrences are completely normal and to be expected.

Some toxicologists and others, however, oppose the idea that lead contamination is occurring due to soil conditions and rather suggest that production and storage methods are the culprits. Testing has revealed that vinegars aged the longest in wood barrels had the highest levels of lead contamination.

Many producers are now independently testing and verifying their vinegar products in order to meet guidelines and to assure customers that their products are safe. Many brands meet or exceed the California threshold requirements and some even print a stamp of approval on their labels.

Since trace amounts of lead can be found in all kinds of foods, it seems unfair to simply target balsamic vinegar. However it is best to practice caution and seek out those products that have verifiably minimal levels of toxic carcinogens like lead.

There are also a variety of heavy metal detoxification regimens that can be utilized in order to keep the body in tip-top shape, including supplementation with chlorella, spirulina, sulfur-rich foods like cabbage and garlic, and fresh juicing. While it is best to keep heavy metal ingestion at a minimum, nutrient-rich diets play an important role in continually purifying the blood and detoxifying the body.

Sources:

Special Report: Some vinegars – often expensive, aged balsamics – contain a big dose of lead – Environmental Health News

Clinically Proven Oral Chelation: Baseline’s Alternative Health Newsletter

OEHHA Proposition 65 – Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986

Presented here at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting, a study conducted by investigators at the University of British Columbia and the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre in Vancouver, Canada, showed among 44 children aged 6 to 12 years with ADHD, rates of zinc and copper deficiency were 45% and 35%, respectively.

“There are a lot of studies in ADHD children looking at sugar intake, etcetera, but no one has ever actually looked at the dietary intake and subsequent nutrients of children with ADHD, ” principal investigator Margaret Weiss, MD, PhD, told Medscape Psychiatry.

With first author Joy Kiddie, RD, the study included 44 drug-naive and drug-treated ADHD children aged 6 to 12 years. Of these children, 17 were medication-naive, 18 were taking stimulant medications, and 9 were taking atomoxetine.

The children’s dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food record and 24-hour recall. The food record assessed macronutrient/micronutrient intake relative to the recommended dietary allowances and food group recommendations.

The 24-hour recall was used to assess the percentage of low–nutrient density foods, or so-called “junk food” intake.

The study revealed that serum zinc below laboratory norms was present in 77% of children aged 6 to 9 years and 67% of children aged 10 to 12 years, and 25% of the children were below the cutoffs for zinc deficiency. Serum copper below laboratory norms was present in 23% of children.

No Difference in Junk Food Consumption

The investigators found that the study sample consumed comparable levels of protein, carbohydrate, and fat compared with recommendations and population norms, and ADHD children were no different than population norms in intake of low–nutrient density foods. However, 40% of the children consumed less than the recommended levels of meat and meat alternatives and had low levels of related micronutrients that are essential cofactors for the body’s manufacture of dopamine, norepinephrine, and melatonin.

Measurement of blood levels of micronutrients replicated previous findings of zinc deficiency and demonstrated copper deficiency for the first time. In addition, a majority of children had serum ferritin levels lower than 50 μg/mL, a level considered necessary for entry into the central nervous system.

“There is a commonly held belief that children with ADHD eat more junk food than other children, but the study did not confirm this view,” said Dr. Weiss. “However, our data suggest children with ADHD are nutritionally different from the rest of the population in that they eat less meat, fish, and poultry and have low levels of related micronutrients that are essential cofactors for the body’s manufacture of dopamine norephinephrine, and melatonin.”

Need to Focus on Nutrition

In a separate study of zinc supplementation also presented here at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting, Eugene Arnold, MD, and colleagues from The Ohio State University, Columbus, found that supplementation with 15 or 30 mg of elemental zinc made no difference to symptoms compared with placebo in a group of children diagnosed with ADHD after 13 weeks of treatment.

This study, said Dr. Weiss, raises many questions because previous research has suggested that zinc supplementation does make a difference. “It may not just be a question of what children eat but also whether they can absorb or metabolize zinc, or whether they are excreting it. In other words, is there some kind of phenomenon of zinc wasting?” she said.

Dr. Weiss said that, based on this study, it is too early to make any clinical recommendations beyond ensuring that children with ADHD have an adequate diet that includes appropriate levels of fish, meat, and poultry. However, she acknowledged, this can be a challenge in children on stimulant medications because of the drugs’ appetite-suppressing effect.

She added that it is important that clinicians with expertise in the assessment of nutritional status provide parents with information about good nutrition. “Traditionally, the emphasis on ADHD has been on treating the core symptoms of the disorder, but it is also important to assess and manage basic issues of health such as sleep, nutrition, and growth. Good health makes a difference,” said Dr. Weiss.

Dr. Weiss has disclosed that she is on the advisory board of and/or has received research or grant support from Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Purdue University, Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56th Annual Meeting: Abstract 17.3. Presented October 31, 2009.