Neuropsychological Problems - Part 1

Do you know someone who is suffering from anxiety, bi-polar, ADHD, depression, dementia, or even more serious behaviors such as schizophrenia?  These behaviors could be caused by imbalances in minerals or heavy metal exposure.  Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium are common in our environment and exposure is quite common.  These metals can cause emotional changes and neurological impairment. 

LEAD.  In adults lead toxicity can cause fatigue, anorexia, irritability, abdominal pain and muscle weakness.  Long-term exposure works with your memory.  Children with chronic exposure have learning disabilities, hyperactivity, distractibility and motor coordination.  Even just a small amount of lead can change an I.Q. score.   If you know of a child who suffers from ADHD or ADD, it is very important to get them tested for lead.  I have found that this is a very common culprit and you can see remarkable recovery in these children.

 

MERCURY.  Ever hear of the "mad hatter".  Workers in the hat industry were exposed to mercury and developed tremors, thus the name "mad hatter."  Actually, George Washington was accidentally killed by a well-intentioned doctor.  Treating with mercury was very common in George's day as was bloodletting.  George had developed a sore throat and after a couple of rounds of blood letting combined with mercury, he died.

 

Other signs of mercury toxicity include, weakness, irritability, headaches, rashes, slurred speech and pain in the extremities.  In infants mercury toxicity can include cerebral palsy syndromes and mental retardation.    Mercury can also mimic the symptoms of MS.  If you receive that diagnosis from your doctor, I would recommend a hair analysis to make sure it isn't caused from mercury toxicity.  If it is mercury you can take the steps to remove it from your system, thus removing the symptoms of MS. 

CADMIUM.  This metal is a neurotoxin and will damage the nervous system.  It also concentrates in the kidneys and heart, causing damage to the organs.  Behavioral abnormalities are very common with toxicity from this metal. Some sources of cadmium include cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and our water system.

ALUMINUM.  Aluminum is the one metal associated with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.  Don't wait until your doctor tells you that you have dementia to reduce your exposure to this metal.  Start now!  This is probably the most common metal we are exposed to.  It is in deodorants, our cooking utensils, our canned vegetables, soda cans and even the wrap we use to cover our food.  Be very careful with how you cook if you still use any aluminum pots and pans.  You should really consider changing to cast iron or glass. They are much healthier for you. 

These are not the only metals we need to be concerned with, there are others in the environment and our bodies fight with these on a daily basis.  Once you are exposed to these metals they never leave your system unless you take steps to remove them.  You could have even picked them up from your mother while in the womb.  Your body has a protective device whereas whenever it detects a metal it pulls it out of the blood stream and deposits it into the tissues.  If you doctor does a blood test you might not show a metal toxicity.  Since your hair is a tissue, a hair analysis is the ideal medium to test for these metals.  Hair analysis has been used for heavy metal testing for years and has proven very reliable.  With this test you can tell if your exposure is acute or is chronic.       

Watch for part 2 of this article and we will explore the nutritional minerals and their effects on behaviors. 

Stay Strong!