I did some checking and from what I read what you say seems to be true. However, we have to remember that there was not much known at that time and that's how doctors learned - thru trial and error. This still goes on today whether it be an operation, chemo, radiation, etc. Works for some and not for others.

Human trials today seem to help weed out some of the mistakes. As we know, there are many trials going on for all kinds of disorders.

The Mayo Clinic today is one of the top notch places to go when you have medical disorders that can't be totally helped in your local community. This is true of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Dr. Burton Berkson is the doctor to read about in regards to ALA, I have his books. He is a integrative MD.

After thinking about this, I kinda remember this discussion before, and no I did not search for it again as quite frankly I have more rambling abound in my head than I need right now, but even if this has been discussed before, there are always new people visiting this forum, that do not know it has been discussed and do not know to "search" for it.

I just think it's helpful, in all honesty, even when subjects get brought up again and again as it helps new visitors and reminds some of the old ones...me, to maybe look into it again if I didn't before.

Sometimes I read so much that I have to selectively choose to put a topic on a back burner and visit it again later.

I am wondering if this theory applies to R lipoic acid also. ( have not researched again, just too tired to do it right now, I am wrapped up in a lot of other theories, ideas, plans, supplements)

Always good to hear new ideas on old topics.

Respectfully, nothing I said was directed personally. First, I was responding in general -- not to your OP in particular. Second, you didn't mention that in your OP.

Were you told that was fact or theory, because I just had the same discussion with my dentist and doctor about 2 weeks ago because of the various supplements & meds I'm on, and they both said that was a theory, but that there were no studies supporting it.

What can I say? I'm a child of the sixties; I was taught by loving, educated, saavy parents, teachers, and mentors to question everything -- especially "authority". My doctors have never had a problem with that (the ones I've kept, anyway -- in fact, they've commended it, especially when it comes to things gleaned from the internet).

They and I know they've been mistaken before (I've learned from experience and reading others' posts here on NT that medical professionals can be in error and/or disagree on various things), and I wanted to get to the bottom of it myself. So in answering Stacy, I spent about 3-1/2 hours online trying to track down the science, and the links I provided were the best I could find. There may be more -- I don't know. They were the best I could find. Most of what I saw was as I stated. Take a look.
alpha lipoic acid mercury fillings
Of the 10 hits on the first page, 9 link to other discussion forums and blogs, and the tenth links here. Obviously I went much farther than that, but for the most part, results reflected what is IMO, unsupported fear mongering, often going around in circles. That's one reason a lot of doctors don't like and/or won't except information garnered online. Every medical professional I've ever known has said as much, and I understand their point.
Sorry if our sources conflict. That happens sometimes, and as you say....

I agree, and that's what I did -- express my opinion based on my online search. I reported what I found, and acknowledged the sites that bothered to put things into perspective by specifying the amounts of ALA they were talking about (the concensus of what I found was less than 200 mg/day of RLA is ok; more than that isn't.)

I stand by my statement to consider sources.
Thank you, that's exactly what I meant. As always, it includes me, and I have said as much many times. IMO, respected sources & studies outweigh unsupported claims and heresay.

Respectfully,

Doc

Want medical horror? The Road to Wellville is on our "wish list".

I have a small collection of 19th C. medical books. They used mercury to treat lead poisoning and lead to treat mercury poisoning.

Re: Mayo, Alfred Nobel, who used his fortune to posthumously institute the Nobel Prizes, made much of that fortune from his invention of dynamite, selling armaments, and war profiteering. He became so villified during his lifetime that he wanted to atone by creating the Prizes.
Doc

For those interested further:

Drawing Blood
by Keith Wailoo associate professor in the dept. Of Social
Medicine and the Dept. of History Univ. of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. (at the time of the book's writing) 1997.

I am now on chapter 4: pernicious anemia and Dr. Mayo
is still doing splenectomies for this problem too.( and the
Majority of his patients are still dying.

What this history reveals is also the attitudes of doctors,
Which patients are not privy to. In that regard it is very
Horrifying and revealing. I really don't think much has
Changed today except that Big pharma has taken hold
of many doctors to the patients' detriment. But that is
just my opinion and experience.

Amazon has this book in its used section for very
little cost.

It is very helpful to read older posts here. Some posters
move on but contribute helpful things. We have so many
Posts on this subject it is worth looking at them.

In my own long history in both professional and personal medical research, and being on health forums, "scientific studies" don't always carry much weight for me ... I have personally seen how studies can and do get "skewed" to suit the research....so that is where I, a child of the Fifties and teen of the Sixties, do frequently question rather than just accepting!

My own preference has always been Integrative and holistic healthcare rather than "conventional", and anyone who knows my history knows how often I question things, nomatter who is claiming it as "fact".

"Anecdotal evidence" for alternative treatments saved my son's life, when some conventional medical professionals were adamant it would harm him......... so I do question when anyone just dismisses it as fear mongering or quackery.........message boards and the patients and caregivers that post to them are frequently way ahead of the curve, simply because of the wealth of personal experience that can sometimes light the way to breakthroughs that the conventional medical field may not even have considered as viable before.
NeuroTalk is a clear example of that!

And there are also many brave physicians who do think outside the textbook, and risk ridicule from their peers because they have seen enough personal case histories to believe something, even though there may not yet be "scientific studies" to prove what they already know.

So, back to my only reason for having posted here. I had toxic mercury levels and my only known mercury exposure was from multiple, and in some cases cracked or chipped, dental amalgams. i saw highly experienced Integrative and holistic professionals who gave me advice that made sense to me...and that was simply to be cautious about ALA in someone who already had high mercury levels due to its ability to cross the BBB with chelated mercury.

This has nothing to do with PN or the dose of ALA found helpful here (which I know nothing about) ......or anything else other than the OP posting about ALA and mercury, to which I responded from my personal experience of safely being treated for dangerously high mercury levels without bad side effects.
And I absolutely stand by that...........

Now I will excuse myself from this discussion

Dr. William Worrell Mayo died in 1911. Dr. William James Mayo died in 1939 and Dr. Charles Horace Mayo died in 1939.

Spleenectomies are still done today. Here is a site: Scroll down to "Hemolytic Anemia".

http://www.mayoclinic.org/anemia/treatment.html

Here is a history of the Mayo Clinic:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/history/

I can't say that the Mayo Clinic was "established" for the purpose of doing spleen removals for a fraudulent diagnosis of spleen anemia.

Very interesting, as I've been prone to use this in the past. Going to take a look at some suggested links and research some of own

I am only relating what is stated in
The book I referenced. I did not write
The history myself. The bibliography in
This book is 80 pages long! You are welcome to
buy or borrow the book for your own purposes and
Read further.

The splenectomies were done for the erroneous belief
In splenic anemia. These surgeries are still done for
Some uncommon other reasons today but back then
Were done for common anemias.