Kris Homme, MPH retired engineer turned science writer was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.
Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety – part 1
- chronic mercury poisoning effects at the molecular level: blocks enzymes, displaces minerals
- chronic mercury poisoning effects the cellular and organ level: mineral transport, destroys barriers like gut and brain, mitochondrial dysfunction
- effects on hormone imbalance, blood sugar regulation, food sensitivities, GABA/serotonin levels, autoimmunity
- why mercury toxicity is complicated and hard to test for
- subjective signs of chronic mercury poisoning
Here are some snippets from our interview:
Mercury inhibits methylation, which is the biochemical process that affects the production of many hormones and neurotransmitters. It also causes a selective loss of Purkinje neurons in the brain which produce GABA.
Mercury is known to concentrate in glands, including the thyroid and blocks the enzyme that converts T4 to T3. Also, your mercury burden is a chronic stressor that seems to provoke symptoms of adrenal fatigue.
Erethism: It’s the mercury personality, and that involves excessive timidity, diffidence, shyness, conflict avoidance, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive, a pathological fear of ridicule and explosive loss of temper when criticized. There are different versions of this definition and they’re all fun and they really resonated with me, so that can be interesting to look that up on the internet.
Here is the link to Kris Homme’s publication in Biometals, published earlier this year: New science challenges old notion that mercury dental amalgam is safe
Kris has gathered some additional information into this document – Chronic mercury poisoning: A brief summary of the science
It was lovely to recently meet Kris. After enjoying a nice cup of herbal tea with her, she shared a few things about mercury toxicity in her pretty back garden. Here is one of the videos we did – enjoy!
Here is a link to part 2 of this discussion- what to do and additional resources.
If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here www.theAnxietySummit.com
This was a very informative talk, and I am looking forward to part II. I think I have mercury toxicity from dental amalgams, though all but one have been removed. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, celiac disease, fibromyalgia, and 2 copes of MTHFR for methylation defect. I am trying to improve my methylation with supplements and get all these issues under control. I am eager to find a safe way to test and detox for mercury. Because of the MTHFR defect and leaky gut, is there a safe way to get the mercury out and not have it reabsorbed into the brain and elsewhere? Thanks.
Hi Linda
We’re pleased you found it informative – Kris is very thorough and detail-oriented! You’ll enjoy part 2.
One of the reasons I was initially hesitant to have someone come and talk on mercury is that I don’t have an answer on safe ways to remove the mercury so I’m afraid there is no easy answer for you on this one. One of the main reasons to talk about this is: creating awareness to prevent it continuing to happen (amalgam use and consumption of fish that are not very low mercury); and to give you some possible clues as to whether this could be one reason why you may may have strange unresolved health issues.
I thank Kris for helping me realize it is important that we get this information out. At the same time I’m aware it’s far from ideal when I don’t have a solution for detoxing from the mercury and I’m sorry about this.
I’ll have Kris hop on and add her thoughts too.
Trudy
Linda, I would suggest working with Pam Killeen (pamkilleen.com) on getting out the toxic metals and rebalancing the body.
Excellent research, thank you. For some reason, nobody tell about symptoms of mercury toxicity which I had: feeling heated even from walking for a long time, covering myself with comforter and especially when I took bath or shower. I had to take cool shower because my hear would pound at night. The reason- mercury starts to evaporate when it is heated. I have removed mercury and have done detox with challenge but still have palpitation and blood sugar fluctuations. Anxiety is greatly reduced which adrenal support and stress management.
Thanks for sharing Lisa – I’m so pleased to hear your anxiety is greatly reduced. And glad you enjoyed the research.
I’m going to see if Kris will comment on the heated feeling you mention and if she has heard it could be a symptom related to mercury toxicity.
In the meantime a few things come to mind: heat intolerance is a symptom of low serotonin and we heard how mercury toxicity can affect serotonin production. Also it could be a possible effect on the hormones – we often hear how the thyroid gland can be seen as the furnace and the pituitary gland as the thermostat.
Trudy
Excellent interview and so glad the topic has come up. I am one of those with so many issues, I am overwhelmed and don’t know where to turn. I have been on a healing journey for over 15 years and have been told by numerous practitioners that I have a “cascade of symptoms.” Even though I have known that mercury is probably a root cause for me, and I have tried to deal with it in different ways, I have not found a practitioner who can address it well. Most do not want to do another provoked test on me because I am extremely sensitive. The last test (2003) before I had my amalgams replaced showed high mercury, lead and cadmium. I was given penicillamine to test then to chelate me, and my candida really flared up. I have also heard that there needs to be a “balance” between the candida and the mercury. I think that is when I just gave up on this piece since candida continues to raise its ugly head. “Balance” seems impossible.
I live about an hour from D.C. and would love to know if anyone can recommend a good practitioner in this field. I have been a patient of NIHA in the past.
Thanks so much.
I would suggest working with Pam Killeen (pamkilleen.com). I don’t know whether she can help you long distance, but many holistic practitioners do. Good Luck to you.
Thanks for sharing this resource Beth – I’d like to look into what she offers in terms of heavy metal detox
You bet. These articles also might be useful:
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/metals-and-the-mind/
and
http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-diseases/copper-zinc-imbalance-unrecognized-consequence-of-plant-based-diets-and-a-contributor-to-chronic-fatigue/
and
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/nutritional-balancing-basics/
Linda,
The best tests are the hair test (but interpretation is key) and the porphyrins panel (if the sample is handled carefully). These are described in the link, “Chronic mercury poisoning: A brief summary of the science” that Trudy provided on this webpage.
Assuming you are a poor excretor, then as Trudy notes, there is no great way to remove the mercury. 🙁 Since your exposure has ended, the body can begin to remove it on its own, albeit slowly. Many practitioners have products that may or may not help with this, but it may be a long process, so find a path that you can sustain. You may want to read about the Cutler protocol for low frequent dose oral chelation, which is considered the most rational method, though may be too strong for some.
On the bright side, many people find they feel better once they understand mercury toxicity and learn how to compensate for it via nutrition and other health practices.
Kris
Lisa,
Your temperature dysregulation could be a symptom of a thyroid problem, which could be due to mercury. I didn’t realize that it also could be due to low serotonin as Trudy mentioned.
Heart palpitations are common with mercury toxicity, and might be alleviated with magnesium (in an absorbable form) and hawthorn, but Trudy may know more about this that I do.
Kris
Lynne,
We’re in a difficult situation, because mainstream medicine has ignored the issue of chronic mercury toxicity, whereas alternative medicine recognizes it but provides inadequate and conflicting information. (I hope it helps to at least have this problem acknowledged.)
There is no need to do another test for mercury. Once you test positive, mercury is likely the root cause of whatever symptoms you continue to have.
Candida can be very hard to overcome. It took me over two years of a perfect diet plus lots of sauerkraut and probiotics.
It’s best to view practitioners as consults rather than authorities; it’s best to do your own thinking. (Yes, it’s difficult.) I don’t know of a practitioner near DC, but you might look for an autism practitioner, since much of autism is mercury toxicity.
Kris
Regarding re-testing: I hope that all the supplements, natural detox practices, energy work, etc. have reduced the amount of mercury in my body, even though I still have a lot of mercury-toxicity symptoms. I had hoped I could test in a safe way and find out where my levels are. Is that possible and/or important? I did have a Melisa test from King James Medical Lab. in 2004 that showed I have a “significant allergy” to inorganic mercury, led and nickel. Do you think that could mean that even the smallest amount will create mercury-related symptoms?
Thanks so much. I appreciate your journey and your sharing. As you know, this can be “crazy-making” to say the least.
Lynne, there’s really no need to test again. Since you already had a mercury test of some kind that was positive, and since you continue have some symptoms that are consistent with mercury, you can continue on your healing journey, keeping in mind that mercury is a likely root cause for you, which means you probably need extra micronutrients and stress reduction. (I’m not a treatment expert; it’s highly individualized. The Internet support groups can help.) If you don’t mind spending money, you could order a hair test to see if your body is processing essential minerals normally, or not. Yes, this is indeed crazy-making!
Kris
Wow-Thank you SO MUCH! I was poisoned by mercury after a trip to the dentist in 1981. My life was turned upside down. Spent years trying to find help. Finally found a Hal Huggins book “It’s All in Your Head” that confirmed all my symptoms. Had my fillings replaced in 1990 which helped but I’m still on my healing journey. I was able to a find a doctor who didn’t think I was crazy who said I had Wilsons Syndrome -low body temperature.Not Wilsons(copper)disease)He was able to bring up my temperature 2 degrees and I felt a little better. Listening to you, I could relate to EVERYTHING–and it’s so nice to hear the explanation behind it all. In 2010, I found a chiropractor who does Nutritional Response Testing and he was able to diagnose me with high mercury levels through muscle testing and his “testing kit” and was able to remove the mercury with Standard Process Supplements Parotid PMG and Cholocol ll.
One pulls the mercury out of the cells and the other helps pass it through the body.It took about 2 months to remove it all.Not sure if it’s really all out as I feel better but I still have chronic fatigue, low energy and food sensitivities and spells of zoning out. I’m hoping to eventually repair ALL of the damage that was done–don’t know if that could ever happen but I can’t wait to hear Part 2! THANK YOU!
Eileen,
Glad you enjoyed it. You and I are part of the small subset of the population who become very ill from mercury exposure. I suspect that a much larger subset is slightly ill from mercury without realizing it. I too still have symptoms, and I too hope to get better, because the body is designed to heal.
Kris
Trudy, first I want to commend you on putting on an excellent, and truly helpful, summit. You are helping a lot of people with this info. Hats off to you, and keep up the great work.
Secondly, I want to let you know that your talk today with Kris Homme about mercury toxicity (esp. from dental amalgam fillings) being a root cause of many people’s anxiety, panic disorder, and/or depression (as well as bipolar depression) is, HANDS DOWN, the best talk of this summit.
It is an EXTREMELY important, and yet still relatively obscure, subject, that needs to get a ton more attention put on it, b/c a countless number of people are suffering tremendously everyday, needlessly, due to a lack of this information.
Not only is mercury toxicity (most often from dental amalgam fillings) often the ROOT CAUSE of these anxiety disorders – but it is a very POTENT cause of it of as well – meaning that it can often manifest in people as very SEVERE forms of anxiety (not just relatively “mild” cases) – even sometimes totally debilitating.
I know this extremely well from personal experience. About two weeks after I had my 8 amalgam fillings removed several years ago, my 20 year chronic/daily state of severe panic disorder, as well as severe bipolar-type depression, was completely and radically CURED.
(As a side note – from the many years of research I’ve done on this topic (similar to what Kris has been doing), I’ve come to discover that there are some different reactions in people to amalgam removal. Not everyone becomes cured of a severe ailment(s) as immediately as I did (but some do). For others, it takes longer – for a significant percentage, amalgam removal alone does not provide as radical an improvement – it also takes a good amount of time doing chelation, to do the job).
It’s a bit of a complex subject, as there are many variables, and everyone’s bodies and histories are different – but the bottom line is that there are many, many cases of people being either cured, or at least radically improved, after judiciously done chelation therapy (often over the course of at least a couple of years).
The type of chelation that I’ve been doing – and of which I’ve heard of such “success stories” mentioned above – is the low-dose, frequently administered, oral chelation protocol developed by Andrew Hall Cutler, PhD (of which Kris also advocates). (The other methods of chelation out there – such as IV chelation, or the use of “natural chelators”, such as chlorella – can be potentially harmful, and even dangerous).
The bottom line is that mercury toxicity, esp. from dental amalgam fillings (which is the largest source of mercury for most people), is 1) not a “conspiracy theory”, and 2) not actually a “controversial” subject in the true sense (it’s only “controversial” b/c the people who consider it controversial still don’t know enough facts about it).
The topic of amalgam mercury poisoning in people (causing diseases and disorders) is simple *biological reality*.
Perhaps one day – and hopefully one day soon – the “mainstream public” will finally catch on to this fact. In the meantime, talks like Kris Homme’s today, help deliver such messages to a wider audience. Thank you to you both, Kris and Trudy!
Hi Suzanne
Thank you for sharing your story and for your very kind words! I agree with you – Kris is really quite the hero and very active in getting this message out there. I am so pleased to have the opportunity to help her do so!
Kris, I also wanted to say to you – that as a fellow amalgam mercury poisoned person, I really commend you on what you are doing… for giving this excellent talk today on the Anxiety Summit (can’t wait for Part 2!! Thank you Trudy, for giving this very important topic two sessions!)… and also, I know about some of the other things you’ve done for this cause.
I saw a video a while back, of you speaking about this topic in front of a packed room, in front of FDA officials (at an FDA Town Hall meeting type thing). That took a lot of guts. And whenever or wherever you speak, you do so in a very articulate and knowledgeable way. You do us amalgam mercury poisoned people proud!!
Also, I know of the help and input you’ve provided people in the past on the Yahoo amalgam mercury poisoning online groups.
In my eyes, you are quite a hero – and I hope your journey to recovery and good health are going well and as quickly as possible!! Thank you again!
Thank you!
This interview really gave me more ideas about missing pieces. I was surprised to hear the limits of metal bloodwork– I ruled out metal tox after everything tested negative. Also found the connective tissue and mitochondrial info revealing. Glad to know more what to look for in the hair analysis as well. And funny to hear some of those erethism’s, spacing out, sensory overload, etc. have physiological connections.
Thank you both for exploring the subject in such a considered and informative way. I had my amalgams removed over 25 yrs ago, with a dental dam (cutting edge at that time– and sadly, that dentist died close to age 50 of unexplained illness). I’ve been chronically ill the past 3 years with a list of symptoms that have led to many discoveries, including compound heterozygous MTHFR gene.
Last year Cleveland clinic MD asked if I could just narrow my list of symptoms because it was too complex. He rolled his eyes at my supplements. But I’m hearing so many people in these summits with similar levels of multi-system complexities. I didn’t consider mercury a factor until now.
I can’t tell you what a gift it is to have seminars like this & the digestive & depression summits, that empower us with ideas, approaches and the knowledge we are NOT MAKING THIS UP.
Trudy, your interviews are so clear and focused. You not only highlight the speakers’ knowledge, your whole manner conveys compassion, balance & generosity of spirit.
Hi Kris and Trudy
Thank you for such a fascinating talk. So much new information and more to come in part 2!!
I am an ex dentist and just finished naturopathy but due to depression/ anxiety and the ‘ Mercury’ personality you talked of, I have not managed to start work yet.
I believe Mercury could be the root cause of my illness. Nutrients and herbs help instead of SSRIs but not enough. I have had two hair mineral analyses done that show low essential minerals and low Mercury visible. I have Andy cutlers Hair interpretations test and a good lab here, Interclinical labs have a wealth of practitioner manuals but it’s all a steep learning curve.Gene testing also is another huge area. I shall try the Porphyrins test if available here in Australia.
Thank you again and all the best for your future research
Fran
Her brainwashed pseudo-science beliefs on “climate change” diminish her credibility. She should listen to Chris Monckton and Alex Jones.
Suzanne,
Thanks for your enthusiasm about this topic and for your detailed, insightful comments. I hope Trudy will continue to cover this issue. I know it’s difficult and I realize it might not appeal to a wide audience due to lack of awareness about its insidious toxicity.
I’m glad that your mood disorders were cured by amalgam removal. And I’m glad you pointed out that individual recoveries can vary widely.
You mentioned the FDA hearing on amalgam in 2010. I naively thought that after we gave the agency our science-based testimony and our science-based legal arguments, they would restrict amalgam. We learned that the staff had drafted a response but it was blocked by the H&HS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius — so it must have contained some restrictions that were unpopular with the dental industry. The agency recently agreed to respond to our legal petitions by the end of this year, but it wouldn’t surprise me if industry pressure causes them to miss the deadline. However, the science has become irrefutable in recent years, so it’s just a matter of time before the FDA must restrict amalgam. And at that point, mainstream medicine may start to acknowledge this devastating illness.
Kris
Miriam,
I’m so glad you find the summit useful. I had hoped to reach people like you, who’ve been tested incorrectly for mercury, who’ve had to put up with impatient doctors dismissing symptoms and rolling their eyes about supplements. I wrote the journal article (to which Trudy has linked at the top of this blog) to be short and readable, with the intent that patients could give it to any disbelieving doctors (although doctors still don’t want to deal with complicated illnesses).
I agree that Trudy is terrific. In our pre-interview chats, she really honed in on the details to clarify what is science versus speculation, and I think the result is a talk that is packed with good information.
Kris
Fran,
I’m glad you enjoyed the talk. Your training in both dentistry and naturopathy is ideal for a number of things, including teaching dentists and other naturopaths about mercury toxicity. Or writing about it if you prefer self-paced work. You might enjoy joining the IAOMT. Incidentally, Andrew Cutler’s Amalgam Illness book lists a number of lab anomalies that are associated with mercury — this can give you some insight about whether you have a burden, without spending money on a porphyrins test.
Kris
John,
I’m sorry if you were sidetracked by my discussion of Boyd Haley’s advocacy. He is courageous for withstanding the peer pressure that scientists face to avoid advocacy on almost every science issue.
Kris
Complicated issue. Klinghardt MD has lots of info about this. Mercury testing is iffy. Mercury can hide so testing blood or hair will only give a piece of the picture. Mercury needs to be mobilized then binders are needed for excretion. Alpha lipoic acid and or cilantro mobilize mercury out of the brain where it can hide and chlorella binds it and move it out. Long process. Cutler’s protocol is way too complicated and has not been that effective for me. Mercola.com also has some info on this.
Barbara,
Thank you for your comments. I’d like people to know that the hair test is useful not as a direct test for mercury levels but as an indirect test to see whether mercury is altering the processing of ESSENTIAL minerals. You are right that the issue is complicated.
Kris
Wow. First of all I”m sorry to hear Kris suffers from mercury poisoning. However I am glad she is putting it to such a positive use by educating the rest of us about the dangers. Hope the Summit is going great.
Thanks, Mary Ellen.
Is there no solution to Mercury poisoning?
Jessica
It’s challenging but there is much we can do. We discuss much of this in part 2 https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/anxiety-summit-hidden-mercury-burden-likely-root-cause-root-causes-anxiety-part-2/. This interview will also be replayed on Monday
Trudy
Jessica,
Recovery can be very slow, which is why I think it’s crucial that the FDA ban mercury dental amalgam.
Kris
This is good information to have. I have avoided flu shots because I read they have high levels of mercury in them. I’m afraid to get more in my body than I already have.
Great information. It’s amazing how even after all this time there’s still not a lot of publicity about how dangerous mercury poisoning is for our health and, now we know, our mental wellbeing.
Thank you for all you are doing to bring this information to a broader awareness.
Your articles always provide excellent and helpful information which is not readily available anywhere else in one place.
Whoa information overload! So much good info coming from your summit I think I will have to go back again and again!
Trudy,
Do you have a list of common symptoms of mercury poisoning?
That would be handy.
Write on!~
Lisa
Lisa
Kris lists them and other great info in the document linked to in the blog post above
“Symptoms are nonspecific and varied, and may come and go in the early stages. Common symptoms include chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, fibromyalgia, auto-immunity, immune dysfunction (including chronic Lyme and Candida), diabetes, cardiovascular disease, allergies, digestive disorders, thyroid and adrenal problems, stress intolerance, infertility, insomnia, tinnitus, erethism, depression, psychiatric disorders, hearing loss, vision loss, and neurodegenerative problems.”
Trudy