As part of my continuing education, I attend a variety of conferences in North America that deal with broad naturopathic medicine, and also conferences geared towards medical doctors but in “alternative” specialties, such as chelation or environmental medicine.
But I also love detailed reviews on conventional internal medicine, including the reviews put forth by the specialty board for internal medicine in the US. These conventional internists have a blog here.
I bring it up because here is an excerpt I did not expect to hear, having to do with mercury:
Monday, July 28, 2008
Teach a man to fish
It can be frustrating at times to balance all the competing info on what you should and shouldn’t eat. Case in point: A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that Japanese men realize cardiovascular benefits from eating a lot of fish. So o.k, their arteries aren’t as clogged, but how are their mercury levels? What kind of fish did they eat? Does Japan even have the same issue with mercury as the U.S.? And if we all eat fish, what about the whole problem of over-fishing the waters?
Sigh. Maybe someday we will just get our food from nutritionally-balanced pellets.
That’s interesting. I thought only naturopathic physicians, and some nutritionally-oriented, holistic-minded MD’s cared about mercury levels.
On a side note, I have definitely seen elevated blood mercury levels in patients who eat a lot of fish, and also in patients with amalgam fillings. That’s elevated blood mercury, a conventional assessment of toxicity, meaning that levels have to be quite high to be positive. Urine tests and provoked urine tests give a better idea of chronic levels in the tissue.
The other issue with fish is whether or not wild salmon is available instead of farmed salmon. Farmed salmon is a terrible source of nutrients, as it is so high in pesticide residues. When I go out to eat sushi, I will take oral DMSA and fiber to help decrease the absorption of mercury from the fish. If wild salmon is not available, then I will avoid salmon.
Best thing to do from a preventative standpoint is to have both the blood mercury checked and a chelation challenge test done if:
1. you eat seafood in any frequency
2. there is any history of neurological disease, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease
3. if you are at risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly rhythm disorders of the heart
4. if you have immune system problems, including both autoimmune diseases or allergies
