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Posts tagged ‘heavy metal toxicity’

Love and Other Drugs

Anne Hathaway at the 81st Academy Awards

Image via Wikipedia

Just saw the movie called “Love and other drugs”. I wasn’t expecting a good story line but it turned out to be a great one. Lots of interesting points in the movie. Among these includes a lesson in what happens to people with Parkinson’s disease or Parkinsonism. Basic info on Parkinson’s disease. It is a progressive neuro-degenerative disorder that affects motor skills, cognition and the autonomic nervous system as well. It is characterized by depletion of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the substancia nigra part of the brain. Initial symptoms include bradykinesia, rigidity and tremors. The simplistic approach to treatment is to prevent further depletion of dopamine (and diminish motor symptoms) using medications such as Sinemet or MAO inhibitors. What are the possible causes of PD? An obvious cause involves repeated head trauma such as seen in boxers (Muhammad Ali and Manny Pacquiao’s boxing coach). In the medical literature, there’s idiopathic PD, meaning the causes are unknown. Of course, other possible causes are not explored and these include the presence of heavy metal toxicity (mercury, arsenic, lead, aluminum), excitotoxins (chemicals such as pesticides or MSG which excite neurons to death) and oxidative stress. Anyway, I’m surprised that the movie even mentioned chelation therapy, which is the accepted form of treatment for heavy metal toxicity. Chelation therapy involves the administration of chelating agents such as EDTA, which attach to heavy metals and are then excreted through the kidneys primarily.

One other interesting point is when Anne Hathaway went to accompany seniors across the border to Canada to purchase their prescription medications. Sad but true. We’re spending more on the same medications that are sold elsewhere for less. And then another one is when Hank Azaria, who plays the doctor, confides to Jake Gyllenhaal, the erstwhile drug rep, that his job isn’t as fulfilling anymore because of HMO’s, paperwork and worry about medical malpractice lawyers just waiting to prey on him.

Anyway, the most important lesson in the movie I believe is unconditional love. We should love one another just because……

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Balance Bars……

Fire and Ice

Image by ecstaticist via Flickr

That’s one of my favorite Olympic sports. I remember as a kid trying to balance myself on our “pader”, which is the Tagalog word for wall or a tall fence made of cement basically. It is a delicate balancing act. One wrong step and you’re off to the ground (just like Humpty Dumpy). Anyway, it’s the same balancing act that goes on with our hormones. Factors such as nutritional deficiencies (lack of selenium prevents conversion of T4 to T3), heavy metal toxicity (mercury attacks some hormones), or oxidative stress (excessive free radical formation could affect every cell in the body including our endocrine glands) could influence hormonal balance. Hormones by the way, are chemical messengers (secreted by endocrine glands in our body) that act on different target organs. Our hormonal/endocrine system is intimately connected to the nervous and immune systems (which secrete neurotransmitters and cytokines, respectively). These three systems work together bringing optimal communication among every cell in the body. There is such a strong connection among these systems that it’s difficult to treat one system without messing with the others. That’s the reason why we need to be careful about what we take in (whether it’s food, drugs, supplements, water, and yes, even our thoughts) because it affects everything. We cannot isolate one part of the body from the rest of it. In fact, I’m reminded of one Biblical verse which says that, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” Just thought I’d mention that. Hope everybody’s having a great week!

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What A Hot Oily Mess!

Alternative Energy Galore

Image by rpeschetz via Flickr

Finally, I’m making a comment about the oil spill that’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico. What does this have to do with health in general? A lot! What’s happening is an environmental disaster of epic proportions (not trying to be dramatic here). It’s going to affect everything up the food chain eventually. What strikes me as odd is the way the emergency response has been all this time. The “topkill” solution didn’t make any sense at all. It’s like putting a band aid on a gushing wound hoping that by some miracle, it’s going to stop. Hello? This is a good example of treating the symptom, rather than addressing the root of the problem. We need to end our dependence on oil (not just foreign oil). There are a lot of alternative energy sources out there that we haven’t tapped as extensively as we could (like geothermal, hydroelectric or solar; not a fan of nuclear though). As far as our personal health is concerned, we also need to find out the root causes of symptoms, rather than just treating the symptoms alone. A good example is that of high blood pressure. Diet, exercise, weight loss, herbs and medications do help. But, we need to find out whether factors like nutrient deficiencies, stress, heavy metal toxicity or hormonal imbalance play a role in the situation.

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