Website design By BotEap.comMercury is a heavy metal that can be toxic to our health even in small amounts. When someone has an autoimmune condition like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, having moderate to high mercury levels can exacerbate the condition. In fact, mercury can even potentially trigger an autoimmune response, leading to a condition like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Website design By BotEap.comThis is one of the main reasons why I recommend a hair mineral analysis to each of my patients. Although I also use this test to look at minerals (selenium, manganese, phosphorus, chromium, etc.) to see if there is an imbalance, I also want my patients to have this test to see if they have any heavy metal toxicities.

Website design By BotEap.comEveryone has some heavy metals in their tissues.

Website design By BotEap.comNow, truth be told, they will all have traces of the heavy metals. So when I look at the hair mineral analysis report, I expect to see small amounts of all the heavy metals. This includes aluminum (which is often high in people due to widespread exposure to pots and pans, canned foods, and deodorants), along with arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. After aluminum, the next mineral I commonly see high in people is mercury. This does not mean that in some people cadmium, arsenic and/or lead may be high while mercury levels are low. But it is more common to see high levels of mercury than these others.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen you consider that two of the most common sources of mercury exposure are eating fish and mercury-containing dental amalgam, then it’s not hard to understand why so many people have high mercury levels. To be fair, I’ve had patients with silver fillings whose mercury levels didn’t look too bad on hair mineral analysis. So I am not suggesting that everyone who eats fish and/or has silver fillings will have extremely high levels of mercury. But another thing to consider is that safe levels of mercury haven’t really been determined. In other words, even small amounts of mercury can cause problems, which is why you want to minimize your intake of fish (especially larger fish, which are more likely to have higher levels of mercury), and finally consider ditching dental fillings. silver. .

Website design By BotEap.comBut why is mercury considered toxic? Mercury has the potential to bind to any molecule that contains sulfur. When mercury does this, it will prevent certain enzymes from doing their job. For example, mercury can bind to the cells of the thyroid gland. When this happens, it can lead to hypothyroidism by interfering with some of the minerals that are required to make thyroid hormone. It can also affect the conversion of T4 to T3. And while most cases of hypothyroidism are probably not caused by mercury toxicity, this should be considered by anyone trying to restore their thyroid health naturally. In addition to the thyroid gland, mercury can affect other glands and organs in the body.

Website design By BotEap.comShould you be aggressive when it comes to removing mercury?

Website design By BotEap.comBased on the information I just gave, it probably makes sense that anyone with silver fillings would want to have them removed immediately. However, care must be taken when trying to remove mercury from the body. This is especially true with autoimmune conditions, along with other conditions, such as cancer. Even when mercury-containing dental amalgams are removed by a competent biological dentist, some of the mercury will evaporate and be absorbed, which can exacerbate the autoimmune component of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. So if one of my patients is looking to follow a natural treatment protocol, it would be best to wait until the autoimmune response is suppressed before removing dental amalgams.

Website design By BotEap.comBut what if someone with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis has very high levels of mercury? In this case, would it be a good idea to remove the silver fillings immediately? Obviously, everyone needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and there could be some people who would benefit from having their silver fillings removed before beginning a natural treatment protocol. Of course, due to the cost of visiting a biological dentist to have their fillings removed, some people choose not to have their fillings removed, even after their health is restored to normal. When someone feels much better and is able to reduce their dose of thyroid medication, or go off it altogether, they often forget about the potential risks of having mercury in their fillings.

Website design By BotEap.comCan removing silver fillings lead to relapse?

Website design By BotEap.comIf mercury can potentially trigger an autoimmune response, then one concern about removing fillings after someone restores their health to normal is that it can cause a relapse. From this point of view it makes perfect sense to have your fillings removed before starting a natural treatment protocol. It is definitely possible for someone to follow a natural treatment protocol, restore their health to normal, and then relapse from having their silver fillings removed. Honestly, I haven’t seen this happen in my practice so far, but that doesn’t mean the risk doesn’t exist.

Website design By BotEap.comBut that is why everyone must be evaluated individually. If someone who has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis comes to me and feels horrible from a symptomatic perspective, then the last thing I want to do is potentially make her symptoms worse. And this I have seen, as I have had some patients have their fillings removed while the autoimmune response was still active, and they felt even worse for weeks after the procedure. Of course, I have also had patients who had their fillings removed before or during a natural treatment protocol and had no problems. Ultimately, it’s up to the patient, because after seeing they have high mercury levels, some want to get them removed right away, and if so, I’ll support them.

Website design By BotEap.comShould Chelation Therapy Be Considered?

Website design By BotEap.comEven if someone removes their silver fillings and limits their intake of fish, they still need to get rid of most of the existing mercury in the body. There are numerous methods to accomplish this, and I’m not going to go into detail about each of them in this article. What I will say is that I generally start with a conservative approach, like balancing out the other minerals, which will help displace the mercury. He might also recommend certain supplements or herbs to help chelate mercury from the body. Chelation therapy is definitely an option, but in my opinion it is an extreme procedure that has some potential side effects and should generally be a last resort when it comes to removing mercury from the body. I will usually recommend sauna therapy before chelation therapy, but this is just my personal preference.

Website design By BotEap.comIn short, mercury toxicity is common in people who have autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. And while it is necessary to minimize fish consumption and eventually eliminate silver fillings, one must also be very cautious when trying to eliminate mercury. When it comes to methods of removing mercury, I tend to take a more conservative approach with my patients, but will consider more aggressive procedures, such as sauna therapy or chelation therapy, when truly necessary.