Hi,

We all have our 'pet' theories on the potential etiologies of PD and have explored many a possible environmental trigger. My fave theory of late has been an accumulation of metals- I think after reading on Autism, Manganese poisoning, Alzheimer's, MS, ALS, all share in common a sensitivity to trace metals and their neurotoxic effects set off a cascade of events in all of us resulting in various neuro-immune disorders. I have run across some interesting citations from researchers who believe that PD and Alz D are different manifestations of the same disorder.

Why metals? Trace metals are ubiquitous; they easily cross the blood-brain barrier, and can enter in different forms: vaccines, intestines, nose, skin, teeth, etc. Obviously, we need to have a hospitable environment for the metals to accumulate and do their damage in the first place; interestingly, researchers have identified a PARKIN mutation that shows a susceptibility for manganese accumulation. Imagine that!

Feeling a little inspired by Dr. Zamboni's ingenious Liberation Treatment, I wonder how many of us out here have undergone chelation? I mean serious butt-whipping chelation; the intravenous amino-acid kind, not some purple panacea sugar-pill offered at an exorbitant price on the Internet. I have been noting some serious research accumulating on developing and offering chelation as a potential treatment for various neurodegenerative disorders. To that end, I wonder how this impacts PWP:

- Know of anyone who has undergone chelation under the care of a physician?

-Know of any valid facility that even offers chelation treatments for PWP?

-Heard any potential positive outcomes from this treatment like a permanent benefit on symptoms and reduction in meds? It's weird how there is so much heresay in the patient sphere- people will post terse, cryptic messages under experimental treatments like X Cell, but we never hear any 'serious' reliable results.

-On a side note, who has had mercury fillings removed/replaced and have they received any feedback from their neuro on this? Have they noted any positive benefit?

I searched the archives and really haven't seen this discussed in depth on its own. I thought that chelation may be of benefit to PD patients given that it is used in helping to reverse or halt damage from manganese poisoning (which we know results in motor symptoms very like PD). It's been found that chelation treatment with para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) (a drug originally used to treat TB) resulted in a reduction of symptoms permanent over the course of many years (15+) for those who suffered from manganese poisoning. While manganese poisoning is not the same as PD, it looks like PD, and I wonder whether it would not hold some sort of benefit for us. Obviously, it's not going to halt anything, but it may just sweep away some of the toxins and help- sort of like cleaning the cobwebs out of the attic.

Laura

Hi Laura,

Great topic......I've never done it but i have had 3 colonoscopies- that should count for half - right lol

I can relate to wanting to know what metals. we have . but I wonder if i could handle it. ...i'm sure i'm full of them - having grown up along the steel mills on the river near Pittsurgh.

Such culture, i still have those values, and think corporate and .com are separating us in one way but thank God we have a place to congregate. I wouldn't know where else to get so many potential opinions about our ----back ends? haha

My teeth started to come apart and dentist said it's not your teeth, it's the fillings that aren't lasting.

I'll add anything i see.

paula

i tried serious chelation.
used the andy cutler protocol, the autism people at the time treated him like a guru. chelated around the clock, 1 week on, 1 week off for 8 weeks using ALA orally preceeded by a weaker sulfur peptide.

no affect. even met cutler and paid him$100 for a consult.

had my amalgams removed before i started since the chelating agents would leach the metals.

it had no affect and i actually felt worse. if done incorrectly, chelation can redistribute metals into your brain and very few chelating agents penetrate the BBB.
it's serious business. removing amalgams if done incorrectly releases mercury.

I'm sorry that you actually ended up feeling worse. Do you mean that your symptoms were permanently exacerbated or that you felt worse for awhile after then returned to a baseline?

You bring up some excellent points on this topic. I think because it is really unknown at this point which metals may have first infiltrated and started the whole ball rolling, so to speak, it is even harder to pinpoint the proper chelation technique. If I'm not mistaken, different treatments are required for different metals based on what the amino acids bind to. So if it's not manganese, what is it?

In turn then, as you point out, this can be potentially harmful. Either we could use the wrong treatment approach or end up with botched technique or procedures as in amalgam removal. I thought it sounded iffy to take out fillings, the thought of disturbing the amalgam and kicking up most likely more particulate and small pieces that would either be inhaled or swallowed, is not what we need

I am interested because it seems some researchers are pursuing this line of study or theory (particulate matter toxicity acting as a trigger) and looking into a future treatment in the form of chelation. First, they need to figure out what metals may be at fault and how it's entering our systems before they can do anything like clean out our systems. We're obviously not yet there, but I think there might be something to it for us in the future- just wondered how far off it might be.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.

Paula, loving the colonoscopy connection. Too funny

Laura

I have had a heavy exposure to toxic metals. My Ph.D topic was on new very unstable mercury compounds.They formed free radicals very easily!! I worked on tin compounds in industry for marine antifouling paints. These had to be as toxic as possible to kill the organisms growing on the ship's surface. Then I worked on barium and cadmium (very toxic metal) compounds for PVC stabilisers. Lead compounds were also made for PVC stabilisation, and I did much of the research on these. I also worked extensively on organotin methods of production, patenting a new route that made my employers millions. Not only metals, but my employers wanted to build an organophosphorus plant and I had all the research to do to design the plant. Phosphorus has been implicated in PD ie sheep dips etc.
I have had, and still have many mercury fillings. I have not had them removed since this can cause a very heavy dose of mercury. The company I worked for took out a licence from a Dutch institute on organolead biocides. Someone had to spend months in Holland checking out the processes in the lab. Who had to do that? Yes you have guessed it, me!!
Our friend curcumin has many positive properties, and is an excellent chelator of heavy metals. I take 1000mg daily. I have not explored chelation any further, and often wonder whether I have got rid of most of my accumulated metals with curcumin.
Ron

A good recounting of a positive experience:
http://www.rewritetomorrow.eu.com/re...h-heavy-metal/

I never thought about being allergic to metals before I ran across this study. LPS is the toxin suspected in the neuroinflammatory hypothesis of PD. Prenatally it can disrupt dopamine producing capacity of the adult and set up a hypersensitivity that ultimately destroys the SN. It causes widespread inflammation which weakens the BBB as well. Now add in the triggering of metal allergies with the weakened BBB allowing more metals to pass...


1. Clin Exp Allergy. 2007 May;37(5):743-51.

Lipopolysaccharide promotes and augments metal allergies in mice, dependent on
innate immunity and histidine decarboxylase.

Sato N, Kinbara M, Kuroishi T, Kimura K, Iwakura Y, Ohtsu H, Sugawara S, Endo Y.

Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku
University, Sendai, Japan.

BACKGROUND: Few adequate murine models exist for metal allergies, it being
especially difficult to induce Ni allergy in mice. OBJECTIVE: We examined the
effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on allergies to Ni and other metals in mice.
METHODS: Ten days after sensitization with a metal salt and LPS, the ears were
challenged with the same metal salt. RESULTS: LPS+NiCl(2) (1 mM) was effective at
sensitizing mice to Ni, LPS being effective at very low concentrations whether
injected intradermally or intraperitoneally. The ear-swelling response to Ni was
more severe and more rapid in C57BL/6 mice than in BALB/c mice. In
mast-cell-deficient mice, TNF-alpha-deficient mice, and interestingly even in
nude (T cell deficient) mice, NiCl(2)+LPS induced a Ni allergy similar in degree
to that in the respective control mice, but it induced Ni allergy only weakly in
TLR4-mutant mice, macrophage-depleted mice, and IL-1-deficient mice. The activity
of the histamine-forming enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC) in the ears
increased in parallel with ear swelling, and HDC-deficient mice were resistant to
ear swelling. Challenge with NiCl(2)+LPS augmented ear swelling (vs. NiCl(2)
alone). LPS induced effective sensitization to other metals (Cr, Co, Pd, or Ag).
CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that in mice, LPS is a very important inducer
of metal allergies, and potently promotes them (dependent on both innate immunity
and HDC induction in cells other than mast cells). We discussed the idea that the
bacterial environment is important for the establishment of metal allergies and
for their provocation, and that the current thinking (including the contribution
of T cells) should be reappraised in future studies.

PMID: 17456222 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Thanks, Rick for sharing this link. I really like their web site and approach at the EPDA- wish some so-calle patient advocacy orgs here would take note

I am particularly glad this person shared her experience on metal accumulation through the teeth in the form of amalgams...it prompted my memory of this study I ran across and may tie back into your LPS theory.
This is seriously scary stuff- especially as a new mom who already worries about Autism and my little one's brain health in general...it's an old study, but the insidious quality of manganese as particulate matter (think MMT the stuff we breathe as a gasoline additive) is still thankfully being pursued by researchers at UC:


Baby Teeth Measure Link Between Heavy Metal and Hyperactivity:

Tooth Biomarker Could Help Identify Role of Toxic Manganese in Neurological Disorders

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3375

I think my symptoms got worse. chelation is pretty simple, ithink if it was useful for pd you would see more anecdotal evidence but there isn't any. lots of people have tried chelation to treat ms, fibromyalgia, etc and some must have had pd too. plus naturpaths/md's would be pushing this really hard if there was the slightest evidence it helped. chelation is a huge $cash business.
i even went to a MD that charged $100/IV, a lot of desperate people were patients. my initial metals test showed low mercury but the MD assured me i would benefit from chelation. she had not treated a pd patient. tried a few IV's and then quit after finding i could do it myself using sulfur amino acids.

it's like IV glutathione, a lot of hype but why not widespread adoption?