Linda’s comment:  FINALLY a doctor that gets it…..

Excerpt:

Today, clinicians have major concerns with Toxic Body Burden, consisting of toxic heavy metals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) and pathogen load, and how these poisons adversely affect the nutritional status of their patients. A particularly critical example of the interference of toxins with nutritional status and biochemical function is the competitive aspect of Mercury and Magnesium.     

Mercury, Magnesium and Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Mercury specifically competes with Magnesium and interferes with all Magnesium-dependent metabolic pathways, such as production of energy from ATP and GTP, which directly leads to lack of chemical energy. Every cell in the body requires chemical energy derived from ATP or GTP to function, heal and regenerate. Adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional nucleotide that is critical as the “molecular currency” of intracellular energy transfer. In this role, ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. It is produced as an energy source during the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration and consumed by many enzymes and a multitude of cellular processes, including biosynthetic reactions, motility and cell division. In signal transduction pathways, ATP is used as a substrate by kinases that phosphorylate proteins and lipids, as well as by adenylate cyclase, which uses ATP to produce the second messenger molecule cyclic AMP. If Mercury is present, this cannot occur.