Hair Analysis-Mercury testing

High-Aluminum (Al)	Aluminum, the "metal of clay", (i.e. Kaolin, a particle clay containing 35% Al and used in "Kaopectate to control diarrhea) is the earth's most abundant metallic mineral/element (12%). Aluminum is not usually so elevated in people unless it is absorbed through the diet or environment. Melons are known to have high AL levels. Other sources are cookware, Antacids, Antiperspirants (as you may already know), Aluminum cans, cheese on Mac's cheeseburgers (to help the cheese melt), acid soils yield high amounts of Al to plants, algae and other marine plants may also be high, industrial pollutants from oil shale and fly ash from coal furnaces(gets in our water and air).The aluminum found in plants is considered to be an organically bound colloidal form which appears not to have any of the negative effects associated with the inorganic/metallic form. In fact when derived from plants/produce it appears to be an essential element for human nutrition. (Al) is commonly ingested with food, medicine and water. Previously, aluminum was considered virtually non-absorbable and was thus freely used in a variety of food additives and over-the-counter drugs such as antacids. New research suggests that Al can cause neurological changes such as seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and dialysis dementia. Al can bind to DNA, resulting in abnormal neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Al inhibits the enzyme, hexokinase. It is absorbed in the intestine and excreted via the kidney. In persons with abnormal kidney function, Al is deposited in the bones.

	TOXICITY SYMPTOMS include ataxia, colic, and GI irritation. Serum levels >200mcg/L are associated with clinical symptoms.

SOURCE:	widely found in foods and water.

THERAPEUTIC CONSIDERATION:	Increased blood levels indicate increased exposure and uptake. To decrease uptake and increase elimination, support digestive and kidney function.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1521 Simpson Road East, Box 0297-Women''s L2602, 48109-0297 MI, Ann Arbor, USA

Received: 28 January 1992 Accepted: 7 February 1992

		Abstract; Aluminum intoxication is an iatrogenic disease caused by the use of aluminum compounds for phosphate binding and by the contamination of parenteral fluids. Although organ aluminum deposition was noted as early as 1880 and toxicity was documented in the 1960s, the inability to accurately measure serum and tissue aluminum prevented delineation of its toxic effects until the 1970s. Aluminum toxicity has now been conclusively shown to cause encephalopathy, metabolic bone disease, and microcytic anemia.
		Key words Aluminum - Childhood renal failure - Encephalopathy - Osteomalacia - Microcytic anemia - Aluminum-containing antacids
		Many studies have linked chronic exposure to metallic Aluminum to Alzheimer’ disease. Symptoms include a loss of reasoning, memory, and speech. Alzheimer’s disease affects at least 4 million Americans annually and is considered the fourth leading cause of death in adults after cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Wallach states that “in a study that appeared November 5, 1992 in the science journal, Nature, Frank Watt, et al (University of Oxford) used a highly accurate laboratory technique to quantify the levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. To their great surprise, they found they found the same levels of aluminum in the brains of non-Alzheimer’s controls as they did in their Alzheimer’s patients!!!” A genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s can be accurately revealed through our simple saliva test for the “Apolipoprotein (E) Genome”. This test needs to be done only once in a lifetime. (The cost of this test is $280.00)
		Furthermore, Wallach states “a July 1992 study released by UCSD stated that vitamin E would relieve memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients” and that “this result is not too surprising in light of the history of “star ? gazing” in poultry, where encephalomalacia or brain wasting (Alzheimer’s Disease) was prevented and in the early stages cured by high doses of vitamin E and selenium.” Other studies have implicated Mercury (HG) as having played a role in Alzheimer’s disease as well. Many of the symptoms of aluminum toxicity mimic those of Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. Colic, rickets, gastrointestinal problems, interference with the metabolism of calcium, extreme nervousness, anemia, headaches, decreased liver and kidney function, memory loss, speech problems, softening of the bones, and aching muscles can all be caused by aluminum toxicity. Studies reported in the Medical Journal of Australia have indicated that drinks from aluminum cans contained more aluminum than water from local water supplies thus adding another source of metallic aluminum to people’s diets.

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