As far back as 2007, the World Health Organization made statements regarding heavy metals that have accumulated in our environment. The impact of these heavy metals are associated with a wide range of conditions, ranging from cancer to organ damage/failure to psychological/behavioral and emotional disorders. Even trace amounts and small exposures can cause symptoms. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 13 heavy metals of significance to human and environmental health: arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, tin, and titanium (World Health Organization, 2011). Some of these elements, like copper and zinc, are essential for sustaining life, but the vast majority have no safe exposure level. Toxic heavy metals cannot be biodegraded and accumulate in living organisms, causing serious diseases and disorders (Avangbenro & Babalola, 2017). Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are listed among the ten chemicals of major public concern by the WHO for their potential to be carcinogenic and inflict acute organ damage (Tchounwou et al., 2012). Heavy metals can enter your system through droplet, air, ingestion or skin absorption.
As mentioned above, symptoms can vary, but may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, tingling in hands or feet, shortness of breath, chills, weakness, confusion, weight gain organ damage, behavioral changes, difficulties with thinking and memory – to name a few. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should consider scheduling an office visit which will also include a separate nutritional evaluation. You will most likely undergo heavy metal testing to gauge the amount of the metals that have accumulated in your system. This is a great starting point to dose and target therapies to help rid your body of the toxic metals. Most often, heavy metal toxicity therapy involves chelation, either oral or IV therapy or a combination of both. We offer this service to you at Guyer Wellness Group and we would like nothing more than to get you feeling amazing again!
Ayangbenro, A. S., & Babalola, O. O. (2017). A New Strategy for Heavy Metal Polluted
Environments: A Review of Microbial Biosorbents. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(1), 94. doi:10.3390/ijerph14010094
Tchounwou, P. B., Yedjou, C. G., Patlolla, A. K., & Sutton, D. J. (2012). Heavy metal toxicity and
The environment. Experientia supplementum (2012), 101, 133–164. doi:10.1007/978-3-7643-8340-4_6
World Health Organization. (2011, October). Children’s Health and the Environment. Retrieved
October 2019, from https://www.who.int/ceh/capacity/heavy_metals.pdf.