This is the case of an extremely fit and strong man who was feeling excessively tired with increasing aches and pains, including sore joints, especially in the morning. He felt that his sharpness of mind and enduring patience were not quite what they used to be. These complaints could easily have been put down to getting old, after all, he was 58 going on 60 and doing far too much exercise for his age! What was there to be complaining about? Most men his age are on several medications, overweight and hanging out for early retirement!
He came to see me. What caught my attention was his occupation which I will not mention, other than to say there was a high possibility that he had been exposed to toxins such as arsenic, cadmium and lead. Exposure to any of these and in the tiniest of amounts would explain his complaints. So we ordered a hair tissue mineral test - Bingo!
He has evidence of having been contaminated with a number of elements including iron, chromium, lead, tin and zirconium. Lead is the main one of concern. Other minerals iron, chromium, rubidium, nickel, tin and titanium are "companions" of the big bullies, in this case, lead. While the main mineral of concern such as lead may be very low on the HTMA, the presence of these companions and mineral patterns, are clues that there might be a lot more there than we can see, especially if signs and symptoms point in this direction as well.
Contamination by lead will explain a drop in intelligence, shortness of temper, bouts of extreme fatigue, fibromyalgia, joint and bone pain.
Along with cadmium, mercury and arsenic, lead is a factor in the eventual development of prostate disease which is an epidemic mostly affecting men who work with their hands (tradesmen, handymen, farmers, builders, men who own a gun, men who had a slug gun as a teenager, men who have renovated a house, firemen, men who work around and on ships, engineers and mechanics).
A hair tissue test is a record of what is coming out of the body via the hair cells. It only suggests what is deep in the body. Elements like lead are osteophilic and lipophilic in nature: they love bone and fat. If a person is exposed to these toxins, what is not immediately eliminated during the next few days ends up being sequestered in bone and fat (this includes the brain, unfortunately). As the body is capable, some of these toxins are mobilised and excreted from the body. This process will show as a hint of the toxin and some of its companions on the hair tissue test.
If a person is in poor health and/or including the insufficient supply of key nutrients that aid the process of mobilisation and elimination, detoxification may be slow and intermittent. It is not unusual to detect significant contamination still present decades after the suspected incident.
In this man's case, it was assumed that there had to be a lot more lead deep in his body, so the process of gentle detoxification began.
The hair tissue test was repeated several months later and we were right, he has a major deposit of lead that he is now, thankfully, eliminating (refer image below)!
This process of detoxification can include periods of feeling like going backwards as well as going forwards. I liken the process to that of tidal flushing of a contaminated estuary or stirring up the toxic sediment of a settling pond. It is an unpleasant process but, with each sweep or flush the concentration of the muck is a little less than the last. How long does the process take? As long as it takes is my answer. We have no idea of the size of the deposit, each person is different in their ability to detoxify and we must go gently to avoid smashing the person. Of great importance, we must ensure that the person is no longer putting more toxins into their body, hence why it is important to identify the source. Hopefully, the source is long gone.
Please read this:
We think that by eliminating lead from paint and petrol that the problem is solved. It is not. In fact, I am seeing more cases of lead toxicity than ever before. Some unusual sources of lead have included:
Enamel bathtubs with acidic water (think chlorine and fluoride - acidic)
The wick in candles with a lead filament in it
Eye-liner
Hair dye
Children's toys including playdough
Chooks eating lead flakes in contaminated soil then delivering it via their eggs
Chewing on the red paint of a pencil
Stripping paint off an old house
Burning contaminated timber
Paint dust collecting in a carpet too heavy to vacuum up then baby crawls
Working in an engineering or mechanics workshop.
The office workers on the mezzanine floor of a workshop - dust and fumes rise
Cleaning a gun on the kitchen table
Melting lead on Mum's stove for sinkers
Blowing smoke rings by sucking on the barrel of a shotgun
Being in a basement firing range
Putting lead pellets in one's mouth while loading a slug gun
Eating a duck that was shot with lead pellets
The good news is our man is well on the road to recovery and in excellent health, though with more road to travel. He went through a bad patch after we started but he is now on the up-and-up and we are now certain that we know what we are dealing with.
As the Sherrif of the Wild West used to say, "The only good lead is a dead lead" or something like that! We are going COVID - we are going for complete elimination!